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Arrival & Departure Dates

Arrival in Venice: Sunday, October 25, 2009. Everyone is expected to arrive in Venice EXACTLY on this date, between 9am and 5pm. Do not plan to arrive earlier or later.

Departure from Venice: Saturday, December 19, 2009. Everyone is expected to leave Venice EXACTLY on this date, at any time. Do not plan to leave earlier or later.

Before leaving WPI

Please fill out the forms at the Project Center, indicating your mode of travel to Europe and your expected mode of arrival in Venice, including date (should be as above for all) and estimated time of arrival. Also, leave us your whereabouts off-campus and/or on-campus between the end of school and the time you leave the country, in case we need to reach you. Give us your off-campus and/or on-campus phone numbers and your email address(es). Check your email regularly before leaving.

Before leaving the U.S.A.

Check your email and send us an email to confirm your departure date and your arrival plans. Check with the Project Center/ATC to pick up laptops (if applicable). Leave us a trail of phone numbers for all the places you plan to be (even tentatively) between the time you leave the U.S. and the above arrival date.

Before arriving in Venice

For those not traveling directly to Venice: if possible, check your email and send us messages to tell us your whereabouts as you move around. Right before arriving, send us your best estimate of arrival time and place.

To contact us in Venice, you can use the following:

  • Email for both advisors: carrera@wpi.edu and dgibson@wpi.edu
  • Phone/fax for the VPC: +(39) 041 523-3209. (39) is country code (when calling from outside of Italy), and 041 is the Venice city code. If calling from outside of Italy, you will need to dial an "access" code (the "+" above). The most likely "access" prefix if calling from outside of Italy would be (00), but this may vary. From the US, the "access" code is (011). From a cell phone, you can press and hold the zero (0) key and you should get the plus sign (+), so you don’t have to worry about the access code. You will always need to dial 041, even for local calls within Venice.

As soon as you arrive in Venice

The view as you fly into Marco Polo airport.

Arrivals will receive assistance from VPC staff during working hours (9am to 5pm). Calls before 9am will not be attended to, except in emergencies. If you think you will arrive outside these hours, you must let us know well in advance; it may still not be possible to assist you. If you plan to arrive after 5pm, please arrange for one of your apartment-mates to meet you.

If you don't have any euros with you when you arrive, you should pay a quick visit to the nearest ATM since you'll need them to buy local transportation tickets. See the Money Matters section for more information.

As soon as you set foot in Venice, or as soon as you get out of the arrivals hall at Marco Polo airport, you should use a cell phone or find a public phone (orange or silver color), purchase a telephone card (at any newsstand or tobacconist's shop), and call the VPC at 041-523-3209. You will be instructed on how to proceed. If you can’t get through to the VPC, call Prof. Carrera’s cell phone number: 335-581-5292. Try Alberto Gallo's cell phone (335-623-9391) or Prof. Gibson's cell phone (34X-XXX-XXXX) as a last resort.

If that should fail, try some of the other numbers listed elsewhere in the Vademecum (try your apartment's cell phone or other students' cell phone numbers). Or, start heading towards the VPC on your own. Directions can be found here.

If you arrive at Venice’s train station (Santa Lucia)

Outside the train station.
Take the LINE 1 boat right outside the train station. Make sure you get on the boat that is going towards Rialto/S. Marco. It will cost you about €6, and you may also be charged for each piece of luggage. Disembark at the Ca' d'Oro stop and follow the directions to the VPC here.

If you arrive at Venice’s airport (Marco Polo)

There are two principal ways to get from Marco Polo airport to Venice: bus or water shuttle.

Bus #5

Your first view of Venice as you arrive by bus.
This is the cheaper, albeit less glamorous and less scenic way to get to Venice. Walk out of the arrivals area and turn left. Look for a booth with a sign saying COOPERATIVA S. MARCO and/or ALILAGUNA and/or ATVO. You can buy a ticket there. Alternatively, you can buy a bus ticket at the tobacconist/newsstand inside the departure area. Tickets will cost about €5 ($7) each.
The Piazzale Roma.
Right across from the departure area entrance is a bus stop where you will see buses pull up. Look for Bus #5. It will say VENEZIA and/or PIAZZALE ROMA on it.

The bus will make stops along the way but eventually will get to Piazzale Roma, which is Venice’s car terminal. Everyone will get off there, since it is the end of the line. Once off the bus, walk left toward the water, which is where the boat stops are. Follow the flow of people; the majority of those who get off the bus will make their way to the nearby boat stops. Follow them. Call the VPC (041-523-3209) before getting on a boat. You will need to buy another ticket for the boat (another €6 or so). Take boat line #1 toward S. Marco/Rialto, disembarking at the Ca' d'Oro stop. Then follow directions to the VPC as detailed here.


Water shuttle (Alilaguna)

This option is more expensive, but well worth the money because it affords views of the lagoon that you may not get to see otherwise. Once out of the arrivals and luggage pickup area, turn left. As you approach the end of the terminal building, you will find a booth (the last one) with a sign saying COOPERATIVA S. MARCO and/or ALILAGUNA and/or ATVO. You can buy a boat ticket there. It will cost about €13.

Figure 1. The "Alilaguna" shuttle boat and its dock.
Once you purchase a ticket, go outside to the curb. There used to be a shuttle to the water buses, but it seems that the service is being phased out. You can walk to the boats in five or ten minutes by bearing left outside the arrivals hall and walking under the plexiglass canopy. The boat docks are about 1,000 feet away. Once you get to the water, you will embark at a floating dock in the water basin.
Figure 2. The "Alilaguna" lines. Click here for the offical map.
There should be only one floating dock, in the middle of the basin, so you can’t miss it. Alilaguna boats are yellow/tan color, usually made of metal, and rather big (Figure 1).
Alilaguna on its way into Venice.

There are four lines: the RED line, the BLUE line, the GOLD line and the ORANGE line (see Figure 2). Each line has a different schedule and makes different stops along the way back to Venice. The RED and ORANGE line boats are not useful for our destinations, so don't use them. Click here for official Alilaguna information. Depending on which apartment you are staying in, one line or another would be preferable for getting you as close to your apartment as possible, as follows:

Arco I and II Apartments: Preferably, take the RED line and get off at Arsenale. Alternatively, take the BLUE or GOLD line and get off at the San Zaccaria stop. Follow the directions to Arco I or Arco II from there.

Ca'Corte Apartments: Take the BLUE line and get off at the Fondamente Nuove stop. Follow the directions to Ca' Corte from there (it is quite close).

The Fondamente Nuove boat stop.

Miracoli Apartment: Take the BLUE line and get off at the Fondamente Nuove stop. Follow the directions to VPC from there, and then thedirections to the Miracoli apartment from the VPC.

S. Pietro Apartment: Take the BLUE line and get off at the Fondamente Nuove stop. Take ACTV boat line 42 or 52 toward the Lido from there. Get off at the S. Pietro boat stop. Then follow the S. Pietro apartment directions from the S. Pietro boat stop.

Venice Project Center: If you want to reach the VPC directly, you should take the BLUE line and get off at the Fondamente Nuove stop (see directions from Fondamente Nuove to the VPC here).

The trip to San Zaccaria should take about 1 hour, whereas the trip to Fondamente Nuove only takes half an hour. For more up-to-date details about ALILAGUNA schedules and stops, click here. For more schedule info on the ACTV public transportation boats (city vaporetti), click here.

If there's time, call the VPC before leaving the airport. Otherwise, call from the boat using a cell phone or call as soon as you get off the boat in Venice. Use these numbers: VPC 041-523-3209, Prof. Carrera 335-581-5292, Alberto Gallo 335-623-9391.

When you call the VPC or one of the advisors' or staff cell phones, you will be given instructions as to what to do and where to go. If you go straight to your apartment without contacting us first, there may be nobody there to let you in!

If you arrive in Venice before October 25

If you happen to be in Venice before the designated arrival date above, we suggest you call the VPC (041-523-3209) when you arrive. Talk to Alberto Gallo (gallo@formaurbis.com) and arrange a visit to the VPC on or before Saturday, October 24 so you can be given your boat pass and be shown to your apartment. You may be able to stay in your apartment on the night of Saturday, Oct. 24th, but there is no guarantee.
A vaporetto, which you get to use for free with your boat pass.
If so, you will be given the apartment keys, a cell phone (if you don’t already have one that works in Venice), and you will be shown around and instructed on the use of appliances and the like. If we are not able to let you into your apartment ahead of Sunday, you will need to fend for yourself in terms of finding a place to sleep. We still encourage you to visit the VPC beforehand, and to be prepared to be one of the first to move in on Sunday.

The assumption is that you will then act as a “chaperon” on Sunday, October 25th, when the rest of your apartment-mates arrive. In other words, we will expect that you will be reachable by phone on Sunday and also that you will be there to welcome your apartment-mates and possibly meet them at a boat stop and then lead them to the apartment. Once they have received their keys, boat passes and basic instructions on how the apartment works, they can also help later arrivals into the apartments. We will leave all sets of keys (minus the one we retain at the VPC in case we need it) and all boat passes in the apartment so that future arrivals can be sent directly to their apartments without going by the VPC first. This will save everyone from lugging their bags all around the city when they are already tired after the long trip.

First group meeting on Monday, October 26 at 3:00pm in the VPC

After you have settled in, relax, buy some necessities for the first couple of days, take it easy, get acclimated and enjoy your new environment. Practice finding your way to the Venice Project Center, so you can make it there on time for the first group meeting, which will take place on Monday, October 26th at 3pm. Use the directions to the VPC.



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