Better to rent a car in Venice or Padua?

Old Feb 28th, 2015, 07:29 PM
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Better to rent a car in Venice or Padua?

We need a car for a few days after staying in Venice. We plan to drive to the Lake Garda area for a couple of nights then return the car in Verona. We would like to tour Padua on the way to Lake Garda. Is it better to take the train in Venice, arrive in Padua and rent the car in Padua or rent the car in Venice? Thank you very much
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Old Mar 1st, 2015, 02:30 AM
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What do you do with your luggage while touring Padua (a worthwhile place to tour, certainly)?
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Old Mar 1st, 2015, 04:06 AM
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I'm pretty sure there is a left luggage facility at Padova station, so picking the car up in Padova would be my choice. That way I would avoid both parking hassles and ZTLs. Just be very aware of the open/close hours of the rental offices in Padova. Booking through AutoEurope usually makes this easy to find out.
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Old Mar 1st, 2015, 04:26 AM
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As long as you're renting anyway I would pick the car up in Venice (Piazzale Roma). No need to haul your luggage around on the train and then deal with checking it - IF Padua does have checked luggage facilities (many stations don't).
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Old Mar 1st, 2015, 04:34 AM
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I'd probably just go ahead and rent in Venice, then make the drive to Padua (+/- 45 mins?). Just check and see what the parking situation is in Padua; never driven there so can't advise.

Since you'd have to make your way to the train-station area either way, it seems to make sense to just head over to the nearby car-rental areas to get a vehicle. And getting out of Venice by car from there is pretty easy.

Again, though, I'd check on the parking/driving situation in Padua.
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Old Mar 1st, 2015, 05:49 AM
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Yup. There is baggage storage with an attendant at Padova station (Deposito bagagli con personale)

http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stazione_di_Padova#Servizi

There are 3 car rental offices with a short walk of the train station.

Trains from Venice S.Lucia station to Padova take 25 minutes, and there are trains departing every 30 minutes.

Depending on what time of year you are traveling and what day you are traveling, the Venice car rental offices may be much busier than the Padova car rental office.

If you do decide to rent the car in Venice, make sure you understand the ZTL in Padova (where you are forbidden to drive) and parking rules.

http://www.padovanet.it/lista.jsp?ta...11&tassid=1619

http://www.padovanet.it/lista.jsp?ta...11&tassid=1649
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Old Mar 1st, 2015, 11:31 AM
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Thanks to everyone.

We are travelling in June.

We are thinking that if we get the car in Padova, we can do it upon arrival, near the train station, simply leave the luggage in the trunk, perhaps, just park the car somewhere near the train station and explore Padua on foot or public transport(I still have to do research on that). Then get back to the car and continue from there.

I have used the train station in Venice many years ago when we arrived from Florence on the train. I don't remember much except that it was quite easy to get to our hotel from there on vaporetto. If the car rental places are harder to reach in Venice then taking the train becomes more desirable. We will be staying in a central location near St Mark's square. How much easier is it to get to car rentals from there versus the train station?
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Old Mar 1st, 2015, 11:45 AM
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If you are staying in San Marco you will need to go the train station area to pick up a rental car. There are no such offices near San Marco.

I don't think it is a good idea to pick up a car at the Padova train station and then go looking for parking, because you could inadvertantly enter a ZTL If you want to pick up the car in the morning, you might as well pick it up in Venice and head for a parking lot in Padova that you know at the edge of town, away from any ZTL.
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Old Mar 1st, 2015, 12:18 PM
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So the train station in Padua is inside the ZTL zone or it might be. Good to know.

I know that it is not possible to rent a car near San Marco. I was just asking whether it is easier to get to the car rentals versus the train station from the San Marco area. From what you have written I understand that the car rentals are in the train station area, so both places are equally easy or hard to get to. Am I right?
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Old Mar 1st, 2015, 12:30 PM
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I doubt the train station is inside a ZTL in Padova. But you can find maps of the Padovan ZTLs in the links I gave to you. The issue is whether once you have picked up the car you can easily navigate your way to parking in Padova without inadvertantly driving into a ZTL area. You might want to call the car rental agency and ask them if you could rent the car in the morning but leave it parked right there until later in the afternoon (and be sure you are able to access the lot even if the office is closed).

Most people picking up a car in Venice do so at one of the rental agencies with offices in the Piazzale Roma, which is not far from the train station, at the same end of Venice (opposite end from San Marco). You can look at map and see where both are, relative to your hotel.
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Old Mar 1st, 2015, 12:32 PM
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You can park at the station in Padua because it is not in a ZTL, but you will need coins for the parking machine/tickets, and the spaces are only for two hours, if I recall correctly.
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Old Mar 1st, 2015, 12:59 PM
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I don't how much you want to see in Padova, but most people would want to spend more than 2 hours there, and most sights of interest are not ringing the train station.
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Old Mar 1st, 2015, 01:02 PM
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(If it would take you less than 2 hours to see what you want to see in Padova, then you could consider doing it as a daytrip by train from Venice, and then pick up the car in Venice later in the morning, after you've made up for the time you spent in Padova by lingering in Venice, and head straight to Lago di Garda.)
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Old Mar 1st, 2015, 04:04 PM
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Thanks so much for the info. I guess, it makes sense to arrange a car rental in Venice and find a parking lot outside ZTL in Padua.
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