Venice Marco Polo (VCE) to the City by Boat

Venice Marco Polo’s express coach reaches Piazzale Roma, the square at the edge of Venice where the roads end, in about 20 minutes, and from the airport’s own boat dock the Orange line water bus crosses the lagoon to Madonna dell’Orto, the Gothic church where Tintoretto is buried, in about half an hour.

The airport water bus crosses the lagoon in half an hour

The Alilaguna water buses leave from Marco Polo’s own dock, the darsena, a covered walk of about ten minutes with moving walkways from the terminal, for 18 euros a ride. The Orange line makes its first Venice stop at Madonna dell’Orto, on the northern edge of the Cannaregio district, in about half an hour, then runs down the Grand Canal past the Rialto Bridge, about an hour from the airport; the Blue line goes round by the islands of Murano and the Lido instead. Water bus tickets can be booked ahead. Water taxis leave from the same dock, roughly 110 euros for the boat to St Mark’s on the city’s tariff, and land you at a hotel’s own water door.

On land, the express coach to Piazzale Roma takes about 20 minutes for 12 euros and the city’s line 5 bus about 25 for 10, both every fifteen to twenty minutes from around four in the morning to about one at night. The main Venice guide starts from Piazzale Roma and rides the Grand Canal to St Mark’s, and the Piazzale Roma guide covers the Frari and Tintoretto’s Scuola Grande di San Rocco ten minutes from the bus bays.

Tintoretto’s tomb at Madonna dell’Orto

Madonna dell’Orto, a Gothic brick church on the canal of the same name in Cannaregio, Venice’s northern district, stands close to its own water bus stop. Tintoretto lived nearby, painted ten canvases for the church, and is buried in the chapel to the right of the high altar; his Last Judgment and his Worship of the Golden Calf fill the chancel walls, and his Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple is here too. Entry is 3.50 euros, Monday to Saturday from mid-morning to 5pm. The Jewish Ghetto is a short walk west through Cannaregio.

Left luggage at Marco Polo Airport

Marco Polo’s left-luggage room, run by the porters’ cooperative Trasbagagli, is near Exit 1 in the arrivals hall, open every day from 6am to 8pm, at roughly 6 to 7 euros a bag for 24 hours. Boarding the water bus means a gangway onto a moving pontoon, and Cannaregio’s bridges are stepped, with no ramps; a luggage storage point near Piazzale Roma is the alternative for a stop spent on the Venice side.

Collect the bag on the way back to the dock or the coach bays, and allow half an hour on the boat from Madonna dell’Orto, or about 40 minutes door to door by coach from Piazzale Roma, before check-in.