We're renting a car when we leave Venice, but we're thinking of getting it a day earlier and doing a day trip driving up to Asolo. Any idea how much it will cost to park overnight, probably at the big garages by Piazza Roma? I'm trying to figure out if it's worth renting the car and then parking, or if we should just do Asolo by public transportation instead. If parking is something like 25 euro a night, that could be the clincher.

18 euro per night at Tronchetto - - from http://www.veniceparking.it/en/index1.htm - - I consider it just as good as Piazzale Roma, though you can walk from PzR, and not from Tronchetto. Accodringly, I would expect that PzR is a little more expensive.

Best wishes,

Rex

In Mestre there are several parking garages across from the train station. They were about 5€ for 24 hours in summer 2002. Train from Mestre to Venice was 1€ and took 10 minutes (I have heard that is faster than driving over the causeway). So since you also have to take the train back to the car the total cost to park overnight in Mestre would be about 7€ (well actually 9€ if there are two of you).

Patrick, this site might be helpful.

http://151.36.224.12/transcat/09citya3.htm

I'd definitely park in Mestre at the train station. It's easily the lowest cost, and it isn't a hassle like parking in the P.R. garage can be. Good luck.

So how frequent are those 1 euro trains to Mestre? That does sound easier in the long run.

Isabel, thanks for the tip in the Mestre parking lots. WE usually park at PR and it is spendy.

Cheers,
Jan

Agree with Isabel. I have parked here twice. The name of the garage is Brega on Piazzale Stazione 23 directly across the street from the train station. Cost was about 6 euros and is a guarded lot.
Trains leave Mestre about every 12 minutes and ticket was less the one euro.

It always amazes me what some people will endure to save 9 Euro. My garage in Manhattan charges $18 for the first hour. 18 Euro for 24 hours at P. Roma seems like a bargain to me. I've never endured any hassle with the P. Roma garage (but I guess in high season it could get busy).

What is a hassle to me is schlepping luggage up those stairs at Ferrovia and climbing aboard trains. Plus, who wants to deal with buying tickets and train schedules? Will you care if your train stops on the way along the bridge due to whatever? This happens all the time.

Getting off at P.Roma with your bags is so easy and convenient, especially if you are two. One can stand there with the luggage while the other retrieves the car. You really don't have to walk far with bags since everyone seems to load their car right there in front of the ACTV office and then off you go. If you're on vacation, you should treat yourself well. You can save the 9 Euro by skipping a bad movie when you get back home.

Well 9€ is 9€ and they do add up. But it really isn't any trouble at all to take the train. You don't need a "schedule" - the trains run every few minutes. I walked over to the Piazza Roma to check it out when we were there and it looked like a big zoo. And one of the reasons I had parked in Mestre in the first place is that I had heard that the traffic over the causeway can be very slow. One person I know said it was bumber to bumber for over an hour. Perhaps they were there during a busy season, I don't know. But the train only took 10 minutes. I had also read that in the summer the big garages in Venice can be full. So all in all Mestre seemed simpler and it did turn out to pretty easy. I suppose if you are the type to travel with tons of luggage it might make a difference. I'm just glad I had heard about it before hand so wanted to let others know.

Agree with NYCFoodSnob on this. Naturally it's nice to get a bargain on the big expenses like air fare, hotels etc. But to have to spend a vacation balancing convenience versus cost for a couple of dollars here or there makes the whole process very painful. He's right - skip a bad movie - save $30 -$40 and make your vacation a little more enjoyable.

Some very interesting points.
I do remember once arriving by train and crossing the causeway seeing miles of cars sitting bumper to bumper on the bridge/causeway. At the time, I know I remarked, "Thank God we're not driving."

Regarding the luggage, that certainly is no problem for our day trip as we wouldn't have luggage. Rolling one suitcase each and lifting onto a train is hardly something I think of as having to "endure". I do it all the time without even thinking twice about it. I'm undecided. Perhaps on our return to Venice that day we'll make a decision based on the traffic. I'm guessing the traffic into Venice in the late afternoon will be far worse than the traffic early the next morning when we leave. But we'll see.

And while in the past I wouldn't think twice about spending an extra 9 euro or so per day if it really is easier (and I'm not so sure it is), I really am sort of counting my pennies this year so I can still do a two plus month trip and hopefully be able to do so again the following year. While some keep saying, "what's 9 or 10 euro?" -- save that much every day of our trip and that means a total savings of over $1000! It must be nice to keep saying, "so the hotel is only 30 euro a day more, big deal, and the restaurant is just 20 euro a person more and so what if each euro costs you 25 cents more than it did a year ago" those things really do add up, especially on long trips.

drove once into Venice. that was once too often. we sat on the causeway for at least an hour trying to get to the garages at Roma. we would have turned around if there was any way to do that.
do yourself a favor and stop and park when you get to mestre.

One point about traffic on the causeway - - expect it pretty much every Friday afternoon.

My suggestion is spend the night in Asolo- don't go back to Venice. It is a lovely little town, and hotels are much more reasonable there than in Venice. Then just go on with your plans to drive around in Italy- no need to worry about parking lot in Venice.

Interesting, Rex. That's the day we'd be going on the day trip and returning late in the day -- a Friday, as we leave Venice on Saturday.

In fact, I'm beginning to rethink this and am tempted to just do the train and bus to Asolo and not get our rental car until we leave on Saturday. I've just been unsure of whether we'd want to do other stops (by car) that day, or just spend all day in Asolo.

Ooops, Sally, we posted together.
Asolo overnight would be nice, but since we're already renting the apt. in Venice by the week, it would be a WHOLE lot more expensive to leave it empty one night and rent a hotel as well. Last year we had booked Villa Cipriani in Asolo, but changed our itinerary and had to cancel -- that's still high on my list if we like Asolo and want to do a return some time.

"Rolling one suitcase each and lifting onto a train is hardly something I think of as having to "endure"."

Now, there's a man traveling with another man talking.

Clarifying my point...OF COURSE, if you're luggage free or your luggage is an insignificant weight, you can make whatever choice you wish without concern. I'm never luggage free and my luggage is always heavy.

I usually travel to Venice with two bags going and three returning. My very large Tumi-on-wheels always comes in just under 75 lbs. I have it down to a science because the damn bag is almost 20 lbs. empty. My shoulder-strap camera bag is another 50-60 lbs, depending of the amount of film (20-60 rolls) and accessories I carry. The third bag is for gifts. (I always bring back glass from Venice for my dearest friends.) I think the picture is clear why convenience means EVERYTHING to me.

I don't go to Venice in the summer and as a veteran professional traveler, I've learned NEVER to plan travel on any Friday or Sunday after Noon. I have followed this rule for over a decade and it continues to serve me well. Therefore, I've never been in or seen bumper to bumper traffic on Venice's causeway. (I wouldn't blame anyone for trying to avoid that at all costs.)

Financially speaking, I'm a pretty conservative gal even though I choose to live in one of the most expensive cities in the world. My father taught me the value of saving for a rainy day and I have since I was very young. When my salary was barely $30,000, I still managed to maintain a savings account, which was very challenging in NYC, no matter what year it was.

Of course a 9 Euro savings here and there adds up. It's all about choosing your sacrifices wisely. That lovely luggage ramp at the 82 boat exit at P. Roma makes me smile every time I have to leave Venice by car. To me. that smile is worth far more than 9 Euro.

This is in response to NYCfoodsnob's comments: I'm sure that when Patrick posted his question, the last thing he was looking for was a summary of NYC's life and financial status. The point of these message boards is to get advice, not to flaunt "smart spending habits" or "veteran travel status". Like my dad always said..if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything.

Our style: never rent a car until you arrive in the area where you'll use it, and you'll need it. Don't buy the notion you'll see more if you're driving, if all you're doing is covering ground on a tight schedule. Trains are excellent, and easy.