Bob McGrail was kind enough to file this report about a visit to
Chioggia. It was written in 1998, but the basic information is still valid
(though you'll want to double-check departure times):
There is an
excursion boat which departs once a day from Chioggia direct to Venice at 9 a.m. It arrives
at a vaporetto dock right next to the San Zaccaria stop at approximately 10:50 a.m. (as
approximate as you can get in Italy, that is).
Originally, we thought this dock was just for the Chioggia boat, but we have seen the
vaporetto #1 stop there as well (it is not marked as such).
The excursion boat departs from the same dock back to Chioggia at 5p.m.. It also stops
as Sottomarina (right next to Chioggia), but in the Chioggia-Venice direction, it stops at
Sottomarina before Chioggia (so the boat tends to arrive in Chioggia full). In
the Venice-Chioggia direction, it stops ast Sottmarina after
Chioggia.
There is
another boat (a local) that also departs the same dock at Chioggia every hour. I don't
know where it goes; I'm only writing this to warn people that more than one boat uses this
dock. I think the boat can get you to Venice, but I suspect it is a long roundabout route
that also involves a bus trip somewhere along the line.
The boat
dock is located right at the foot of the main drag in Chioggia, outside the newly
refurbished 4 star Hotel Grande Italia. I highly recommend the hotel (where my family
stayed), but it is not cheap.
NOTE: There is
not a kiosk at the dock to buy tickets for the express boat. About 5 minutes before the
boat arrives, a man appears on the dock with what looks like a black handback over his
shoulder. He then asks if anyone needs to purchase tickets. You buy the tickets directly
from him (cash only).
Durant
& Cheryl Imboden's
