bluemeansgo

2 Questions:

We're planning on renting a car in Verona and returning it to Venice. On the Hertz site, it says that in Venice Piazale Roma:

**"Special Instructions – If you are returning your vehicle to the Municipal Garage above the location a parking fee of € 49.50 will apply."**

I'm not sure what this means. Is it referring to after-hours drop offs? Has anyone returned a car to Venice before? Would it be a safer bet to return it to Venice Mestre ( open til 6pm ). At Mestre, it has clear instructions:

**"Out of hours return is confirmed with a fee of € 14.64 (including tax) for cars"**

Or just take it to VCE airport, which is open until midnight every day and there doesn't seem to be a surcharge there at all. We're staying in Venice itself, so the Airport is a bit out of the way.

Question 2: I get considerably cheaper rates on autoeurope.ca. Has anyone had good/bad/neutral experiences renting through them? In this case, it was still Hertz. Hertz.com was charging ~164€ for a Compact. Autoeurope was around $150 CAD ( ~ 100€ )! That's a considerable difference. The cars looks like the same class, the same company ( Hertz ).

nytraveler

Parking at Piazzale Roma is very limited and if you put your car at the parking lot (versus the small area of the office) you will have to pay the rate for the public parking garage.

I would contact the agency you are renting with to determine what their hours and rules for drop offs are. (We have only left a car there while in Venice so don't know details of drop off. But there is not much room besides the public garage.)

Michael

Autoeurope.ca is the same agency as the on in the U.S. with the same toll free number. Chances are that it does offer lower prices, but since you can cancel a contract up to a week in advance without penalty, act as if you do want the contract, print it out and read the fine print. Then compare it to what Hertz itself is charging. Is the insurance coverage the same? Mileage limitation?

Michael

and I forgot: the train ride from Mestre to Venice takes 20 minutes at the most. Leaving the car in Mestre is a no-brainer, in my opinion.

rialtogrl

If your lodgings are close to an Alilaguna (ferry from the airport) stop, it may be easier to drop the car at the airport and take the Alilaguna into town. It depends on where you are staying...

NYCFoodSnob

Venice does not have a "Downtown." If you look carefully at any decent map, you will see that Piazzale Roma is the end of the road for vehicles with tires. This is as close to Venice as you can get with a car, and the rental car agencies have office locations here.

The €49.50 fee is the cost of leaving your car in the Municipal Garage when the rental agency offices are closed. Certain places in Italy charge a premium for operation during closing hours, and since the parking garage at Piazzale Roma is always in high demand, it's also the most costly place to safely store your vehicle overnight.

I'm a big fan of convenience, so any business in Mestre is out of the question for me. As long as you are returning the car during normal business hours, dropping the car at Piazzale Roma is easy, convenient, and cost effective. For those who plan their trips with less care, and must face the €49.50 fee, you have other choices: Mestre and the airport, but that process will take longer.

When it comes to AutoEurope, always shop where you get the best prices, just make sure each offer you view is the same.

Pepper_von_snoot

I agree with Rialtogirl.

If your hotel is near an Alilaguna stop, this form of transport would be your best option because no matter where you drop off the car you are still going to have to get from Piazzale Roma or Santa Lucia Station (adjacent to Piazzale Roma) to your hotel.

But none of us can really help you until you tell us where you are staying.

Thin

bluemeansgo

Thanks everyone. We're staying a block or so north of the Rialto bridge on the San Marco side. Looks Like 300 m or so.

The plan would be to return the car before office hours but we are coming from Cortina and I'm sure we'll find some beautiful scenery to gawk and stop at so I have feeling that we won't make it for 5:30 – 6pm.

I'm leaning toward the airport but in either case is it wise to drop off my party of 3 and backtrack to return the car myself? Seems that would avoid 3 x 15€ Fares... Otherwise why not just pay the 49€ fee and keep it convenient.

I realize that they'll have to take a vaporetto or water taxi to the Rialto bridge stop themselves or wait for me. My guess is that there's considerable savings there but I'm not sure. We will be in Venice 2 nights after that leaving Sunday morning.

spaarne

<i> Return a car to Venice downtown?
Posted by: bluemeansgo on Jan 25, 16 at 4:20am</i>

As you drive around keep ZTL in mind. A violation can cost you mucchio euro.

See this discussion from a year ago:
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...have-a-ztl.cfm

Helsie

We dropped the car off at the airport and travelled from there. Easy. Go off at a stop just before St Marco.

NYCFoodSnob

<i><font color=#555555>"I'm leaning toward the airport but in either case is it wise to drop off my party of 3 and backtrack to return the car myself?"</font></i>

When it comes to the issue of spending money (check out the tip threads for a good example), everyone will have a different opinion.

If you were alone or with a partner, the decision to spend an extra €49 would be easier. Now you add "party of 3." Perhaps it's a "planning" discussion you need to have with your party. For instance, is the cost of the rental being split by 4 people? If so, it would be very easy for me to add €49 to the cost of the car. Several hours of extra time to see stuff that I find interesting, fascinating, and beautiful, that I may never see again, is certainly worth an extra €12.25.

Now, if you are "treating" your party to the cost of the rental, then by all means, good hospitality dictates that you drop your party at Piazalle Roma and not force them to endure your decision to save money by dropping the car at an inconvenient location. Only you should have to endure the hassle of getting back to the Rialto from further away. Dragging three other people through an inconvenient drop-off location, forcing them to miss those minutes strolling around Venice, is not kind or generous, even if they insist on it. On the other hand, if they "need" you to get them back to the Rialto location, and you must stick together, then, if I were you, I would bite the bullet and spend the extra €49, and call it a mitzvah.

Pepper_von_snoot

If it were me, I would drop off car at Marco Polo and then take Linea Arancio Alilaguna from the docks to Rialto Stop.

Or you could also take a private water taxi to your hotel. 3 people splitting the fee would be worth the cost. Arriving by private water taxi is an experience.

If you drop off car at Piazzale Roma, you will pay 50€ fee plus vaporetto tickets costs.

Thin

nochblad

Downtown Venice truly has the most respected ZTL!

bluemeansgo

Great advice all. Especially about ztl. I'm glad most of our driving will be north in bozen.

The the adults are my wife and her parents. It's essentially all on one bill.

I'm a little confused about the difference between vaporetto and alilaguna. Essentially are they the same thing once in Venice?

Have I got it right that a ride in the vaporetto is 7€ And the alilaguna is 15€?

rialtogrl

The vaporetto is the city's public transportation. It does not run to and from the airport. A single journey is €7.50 but you can also buy a two day pass and use it the whole time you are there (well, assuming you will be there exactly 48 hours.) The two day pass is €30.

The Alilaguna is a private firm that mainly runs boats to and from the airport to many locations. They are used to dealing with luggage, they pile it up and you go sit down. The price is indeed €15 unless you buy in advance on the internet, then it is €14.
http://www.alilaguna.it/

bluemeansgo

Got it. For others finding this thread it looks like there is a few wants to combine passes on http://www.veneziaunica.it/en/e-commerce/services

Not a huge savings mind you. Also the airport combo service is the bus. 75' ride and you're still at the entrance of Venice.