Parking in Venice
 

I would appreciate any suggestion for parking in Venice. We are going to Italy next month and we are planning to rent a car, from Rome to Florence and then to Venice. <BR>Thanks a bunch <BR>Lucia

Where are you going after Venice? Home? Logically, you would turn it in as soon as you hit Venice, since there are no streets in Venice, unless you want to keep it for Lido or Mestre. Search "Tronchetto" on this forum for more info about parking there, if you want to keep your car in Venice for use once you leav there. <BR> <BR>Best wishes, <BR> <BR>Rex <BR>

There is a large parking garage right across from the boats. If you don't want to park there--it is more expensive but also easy to go into Venice---you can park around Mestre in a lot and then take a bus into Venice. If you are not stopping any other places than Rome,Florence and Venice you would be better off taking the train. <BR> Cheryl

The Tronchetto is the large parking garage for Venice and close to the boat ramps. As you drive in to the parking structure try to get as far back as you can get as that will make you closer to the boat pickup areas. Aviod any Italians hawking places to park. That is not the Tronchetto. Just follow the signs after you cross the bridge. <BR> <BR>Another tip: Ask if your hotel has coupons to help reduce the parking fee. Ours did. You have to have it with you when you pay upon departure.

The previous poster mentioned "avoid any italians hawking parking", because they look like parking attendants but they are not. All they are trying to do is get you on their very expensive boat & point you to cheap parking which may in fact get you towed. Been there, done that, ain't going to get rooked again.

Assuming that you do need to park in Venice, here are specific instructions: Venice is an island which is reached by a causeway from the mainland city of Mestre. Since there are no vehicles in the city, you must park your car at the end of the causeway and then go by ferry boat to your destination in the city. As you approach Mestre, watch for direction signs to Venice rather carefully. Once you get on the causeway, look carefully for signs to the "Tronchetto" parking area. Again, it isn't marked as well as you might expect. The Tronchetto parking garage is very large, clean and well organized. You take a ticket from a machine on entrance and pay at a payment office on departure. After you enter the Tronchetto garage go as close as you can to the far end, because that is where the ferry boats depart. Just park your car (of course lock it and don't leave anything in sight) and then walk out to the end of the garage. You will see a one story building in front of you (this is where you pay on departure) and the ferry boat dock is just beyond it to the left. There are signs in English for just about everything.

Is the Tronchetto pretty secure? Has anyone ever had a locked car stolen there? Is there another lot close by it that is more secure?