I will be picking up a new car in Germany. I want to drive to Venice, but I don't really want to leave the car and keys in the parking garage outside Venice. Is there a town close by that would be a safe place to leave the car and take the train in to Venice? Or is there a hotel nearby with secure parking that we could stay there and just take the train in?

At the Tronchetto garage you take your keys. They also have what they call a VIP section which their website says is secured and has continuous video monitoring. I don't think your new car would be safer in Mestre unless you made some arrangements with the hotel to secure it.

Get a hotel with parking in Padua -- a nice town in its own right?

but as flinn says the Tonchetto Parking Garage is probably as safe as any place in the area - never heard of any problems there anyway.

Hi
We parked in that Garage a couple years ago and had no problems with a very new rental car. Did take our keys and could pick where we wanted to park, actually selected a spot that was well lit, and near a station. Remember not to leave anything visible in the interior of the car, not personal possessions or any debris (newspapers, cups etc)

If you park on Tronchetto Island, you can take the People Mover train to Piazzale Roma and get a vaporetto to your hotel.

You can also park at Piazzale Roma, but it supposedly costs a fortune.

You could also find a hotel in Mestre with parking and take the train into Venice (Santa Lucia Station). Takes about 10? minutes.
Santa Lucia station is right next to Piazzale Roma.

However, Mestre is NOT at all charming.

Padova is a very nice city, but I would not want to stay there and commute to Venice.


Thin

'However, Mestre is NOT at all charming.'

Quite true.. but do go eat at Marco Polo's restaurant if you like fish.

Another idea:

Take the ferry to the Lido island and stay there in a hotel. There is free streetside parking on the Lido and some of the hotels have their own parking. I would consider Lido much safer than any other town in Italy mainland - it is an upscale neighbourhood.

From Lido, the vaporetto takes you within 12 minutes to San Marco square. Besides, you have a beach on the Lido.

We had done that once in October, when it was past season, and enjoyed it very much.

The Lido isn't a bad idea. It's a bit inconvenient, compared to staying in Venice proper, but since you're open to the idea of staying someplace like Mestre, Lido might work for you.

Next to the station in Mestre there is a large public car park if you want to use that. I wouldn't leave much like a car in the streets of Mestre over night.