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I am traveling to Italy at the end of April/beginning of May and I am traveling alone. I have never been to Europe or traveled anywhere internationally (Canada and Mexico excluded). My flight takes me to Venice from New York (direct) and I will return from Rome to New York (direct). I will stay three nights in Venice, three nights in Florence, and three nights in Rome. I have read advice from many different sites but it appears to be conflicting. I am taking credit and debit cards and plan to pick up some money from an ATM once I get to Venice.

Question: What can I expect going through customs arriving in Venice and what is the best mode of transportation to get from the airport to the Venice Island Piazzale Roma area? Finally, is this area relatively central and safe?

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Welcome to Travel.SE. While your question is very detailed you should break it up because it covers a range of topics which is not really constructive for this site. Please review the FAQ for more guidance on asking good questions. – Karlson Mar 10 at 3:08
I apologize for not checking the FAQ first. In the hope of starting on a better track, let's start with Venice and arriving into Italy. – Kristen Mar 10 at 3:25
Great. Could you edit your question to narrow down the scope please. :) – Karlson Mar 10 at 3:35
Sorry about that - I posted a second question about just Venice to start with. Thanks! – Kristen Mar 10 at 3:42
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for the matter of getting to Venice from the airport, see travel.stackexchange.com/a/3001/46 which lists a number of options – Kate Gregory Mar 10 at 13:45

1 Answer

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I have never been to the USA, so I can't really compare the airport in Venice to any American airport.

The airport in Venice is rather small and organized in a standard way (for Europe and Asia at least). After you arrive, you get to the passport control desk, then you need to find your luggage on the correct conveyor belt. If you have nothing to declare (most probably the case), you can take the green door and arrive in the main hall of the airport (that was customs).

The easiest way to get to Piazzale Roma is by a shuttle bus (20 mins, €6). You can buy tickets inside the terminal (the ticket desk is clearly signposted, if I remember correctly you need to turn left after getting though customs) - they speak English and they do accept credit cards.

If you need money, the only cash machine at the airport I could find is upstairs in the departures area. Note however that it didn't work when I tried it around a month ago. Obviously there are numerous cash machines in Venice itself as well.

Venice is very small, so almost everything seems central in some way. It is very touristy, and feels rather safe. I would guess that pickpockets are the biggest threat, but I didn't have any issues myself.

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There was another cash machine right at the far end of arrivals, instead of turning left to go outside' keep going. This was about 18 months ago though. – dsas Mar 11 at 21:36

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