I’m going to fly Lufthansa from Milan or Venice to Munich, then Chicago. Any input on the difference between the two origin airports? Venice must be smaller.
Assuming you mean Malpensa for Milan, yes Venice is smaller. Malpensa is also ~45minutes outside of downtown MIlan in good traffic so allow for that too. Obviously in very different areas of Italy, so a lot depends on where you’ll naturally end up. If your trip will naturally end up in one of those cities I’d not bother getting to the other just to fly out to Munich
Thanks, no consequence to the trip. We will go Rome-Florence-Venice-Milan, or just flip-flop the last two. The train aspect would be pretty similar, and flight cost is the same.
Personally I’d end in Venice unless you have an afternoon flight out of Milan. But I dont see Milan as that attractive unless you’re into the design or the shopping. Venice is fun for a couple of days itself and, of course, there’s the surrounding hill country which is lovely.
Keep in mind that Marco Polo Airport is about 5 miles northwest of Venice across the lagoon. You would need to take a water taxi or water bus to the airport. If you have an early am flight out of Marco Polo, check the water bus schedules because the water buses don’t start running until 5 or 6 am. Water taxi is fastest, but it will set you back 90-100 euros. Marco Polo is smaller than Malpensa,
and it can get chaotic during the high season. There are several hotels very near Marco Polo for those travelers who do not want to leave Venice in the very early am to catch a flight.
Marco Polo is much smaller than Malpensa. Even though it’s an international airport, it’s more like a small regional one. Easier to get in and out of, if you know your way around or if someone is picking you up.
Thanks for the info. I decided to leave out of Venice. The flight is just after lunch so we should be able to find our way there without big time-pressure.
Marco Polo airport in Venice is not that small. Flew out of there a few times, the last being in February. We had an 11 am flight and rolled our bags and walked 15 minutes from our apartment in San Polo to Piazzale Roma. From P. Roma, we took a cab (with wheels and travels on roads) that took 15 minutes to get us to the airport with 2+ hours before our flight.
A few years ago, we stayed in San Marco area and took nearest vaporetto from our hotel to P. Roma and, again, cabbed it to the airport.
Just want to add that in case Milan’s Malpensa is re-considered, there is a very fast, traffic-free express train from downtown straight to the airport. It’s called Malpensa Express. The other airport, Linate, is 15-20 minutes cab ride to downtown MIlan.
I’d probably base it 100% on logistics.
The compelling reason to do end in Venice is to save a couple days car rental at the end. Car is worse than useless in Venice.
By the way, it’s expensive but the splurge on a water taxi all the way to the airport makes the last day much nicer.