Rich B

Some time ago someone recommended staying in Mestre, where apparently the main train station is, rather than in Venice Itself. Anyone have any info or experience with this?

Gina

I wouldn't recommend staying in Mestre. The train stops there, yes, but that's not the "main" Venice train station-- the station for Venice proper is Santa Lucia, on Venice itself. <BR> <BR>Mestre is a really charmless industrial place, and while lodging there is cheaper, there's a reason for that. There's nothing to see or do in Mestre, and one of the real joys of staying in Venice is getting up with the dawn and wandering out of your hotel down to the Grand Canal before the crowds come in... watching the boatsmen haul newspapers and vegetables and fruits to the shops, seeing the sun come up over the lagoon. <BR> <BR>Okay, stop me before I book a flight right now. Anyway, that's hard to do if you're staying in Mestre--you *could* do it, of course, but you'd have to get up even earlier and take an early train and...yech. <BR> <BR>Staying up late and wandering around Venice in the late evening is also beautiful. Again, the crowds of daytrippers are gone and you can have the city a little more to yourself. And again, that's less fun when you have to worry about when your train back to Mestre is. <BR> <BR>Although affordable lodging in Venice isn't easy to find, it can be found and it's worth it. I think if you treat Venice as a day trip (even if it's several day trips from Mestre), it's harder to really get the feeling of the place.

howard

Right on, Gina! Visiting Venice without staying there means you're not having the real Venice experience. Forget Mestre!

john

I whole heartedly agree!! Venice, like NYC (sorry for the comparison) is one of those towns that needs to be Experienced, not visited! <BR>JOHN

Paulo

I also fully agree. The only special situation that I think one may reasonably consider Mestre as an alternative is when one has a single night available, a car to take care of and on a tight budget ... <BR> <BR>The train trip from Mestre station to Sta. Lucia takes less time (10 minutes) than the vaporetto from Sta. Lucia to, say, San Marco. There are very frequent trains from very early in the morning to well past midnight. One could, say, go to Venice in the early afternoon, staying till midnight including dinner. The next morning one could leave Mestre very early to experiment Venice at dawn in a 2nd visit. Doing this ONCE is not really a big deal ... <BR> <BR>Paulo <BR> <BR>

Rex

Answering from Venice (Lido) which I chose this time to save money. Although this place is nice (Villa Stella) for the very nice treatment and in our case, it made it possible to stay a second night with the students, this is my fourth time to Venice, and I will not stay on Lido again. Too much hassle. Stay IN Venice. Economize elsewhere. I stay with earlier recommendations for Hotel Bonvecchiati. <BR> <BR>And although I remain lukewarm on Hotel Marconia (right by Rialto Bridge), I can report that they now have totally free, no strings attached internet in their lobby (used it yesterday), using cheap (but not free) service via a laptop, provided here by Villa Stella tonight. <BR> <BR>Best wishes, <BR> <BR>Rex