Venice pkg.- cont'd.
 

Thanks for recent helpful posts on parking in Venice (and transporting cheeses!). I have one more question: do these major lots ever fill completely? I will be arriving Venice late afternoon (4pm+or-)after driving all day on June 30 and would hate to find no place to park. I thought I read somewhere about reserving a space ahead by FAX. Has anyone ever done this or is there a need to even consider such an option? Any details would be most appreciated.

Yab, I've no experience arriving late. I've driven into Venice many times end June/beginning July but I always arrived between 11am and 3pm. I've never parked in the Tronchetto island. In 6 or 7 times I drove into Venice at this time of year, I managed to find vacancies in the Autorimessa only once. On the other hand, I never failed to find vacancies in the more expensive Garage San Marco.<BR><BR>What follows, now, is mere speculation ... A couple of times, I LEFT Venice quite early in the morning. Both times, the garage (San Marco) was actually with LESS cars than I found it on arrival. Therefore, it wouldn't surprise me if the situation late in the day is actually quite better than around 2pm!!!! Venice has loads of daytrippers every single day. Quite a few approach the city by car, specially on weekends. When these trippers are gone, there are no enough "newcomers" to fill the vacant space. If Venice parking facilities indeed get completely filled, I'd expect this to happen between 2 and 4pm. If somebody arrives during this time frame and finds no space, the only option would be to drive back to the continent and use the Fusina parking lot. Once the car is safely in Fusina, it doesn't make sense to move it to Venice. I'd therefore bet that you shouldn't have any problems at all.<BR><BR>Finally, Tronchetto's parching lot is huge ... I can't immagine it beeing completely taken at night.<BR><BR>If you don't mind having (eventually) to pay a bit more, I'd recommend you to use my approach. First try the Autorimessa, which is only slightly more expensive than Tronchetto island (I wouldn't be surprised if you'll have better luck than I did). If that doesn't work, go on to Garage San Marco. If that's crowded you may start getting worried but don't despair. Find your way to Tronchetto.<BR><BR>Paulo

Ooops ... and if I'm completely wrong and you're completely out of luck ... either drive back to Fusina or take the ferry over to the Lido and park at the curbside.<BR><BR>Once I never worried over this issue, it never crossed my mind to make a reservation. I doubt that the Autorimessa would do it, once it's run by the comune ... Both San Marco and Tronchetto are private and it wouldn't surprise me if they have reservation scheme guaranteed by a credit card.<BR><BR>Paulo

Last July I arrived at Tronchetto on a Friday, and I drove past entire floors of empty parking spaces. I cannot imagine that you will find the lot full. <BR> <BR>And I agree, late in the day, lots of cars are leaving. <BR> <BR>Deborah

Paulo and Deborah: <BR>Thanks so much for your insights and suggestions. Sounds like there are plenty of alternatives.