Venice with Car
 

We are traveling through Venice for 4 nights with a rental car. Venice is in the middle of our 24 day Europe trip so we can't pick up or drop off before/afterwards.

I am still trying to book my hotel so the question is -- what is the least expensive but still practical option?

(1) Book a hotel in Lido with free parking and take a car ferry over to basically 'store' the car.

(2) Book a hotel in Venice and park our car in Tronchetta.

(3) Book a hotel with free parking outside of Venice/Lido entirely and take a boat bus to Venice on the several days we'd want ot visit.

THANK YOU everyone!

Tronchetta. (Don't know if it's the least expensive but it's the most practical.)

Park the car at the secure lot across the street from the Mestre train station. Cost is 5 Euros per day. Take the train into Venice (1 euro and 6 minute ride).
Stay in Venice!!!
We did this last May and were so glad we stayed in town.

2 certainly sounds like the best option to me. You could also park at Piazzale Roma, which probably has better transport options into Venice proper.

1 and 3 are things that I personally would not want to do.

Stay in Venice! Absolutely don't compromise your Venice experience by staying on the Lido or outside. As grimmy suggests the cheapest option is probably to park at mestre and take the 10 min train ride.

We parked in Mestre and stayed in Venice. While we did not try to park closer to Venice, I gather that this is the cheapest solution for parking a car, and it is very convenient.

We've left ours at Piazzele Roma 3 times and it worked fine. Just be sure you leave nothing in the car - or trunk. There are porters with carts for luggage right there and you can easily grab a water taxi to your hotel (we always get one with a dock so we don;t have to drag luggage thrugh the street and over bridges.)

THANK YOU everyone! No. 2 it is!

Sorry...and one last question. I am traveling with 2 children from a 6 hour car ride. Do you suggest we do that drop off thing where my husband would be given a 'drop off ticket' to drop us off with our luggage at the hotel and go by himself to park in Mestre. I thought I read about this somewhere??? Has anyone done this?

K,

No your husband cannot drop you off at the Venice hotel. There are no roads in Venice, just canals and pedestrian walkways.

You would be best to just park the car and all take a boat - vaporetto or private water taxi to the hotel. Some hotels have their own boats for guests.

Buon viaggio!

You have to drop the car at the garage. Then, you, your husband, the kids and all the luggage have to take a boat to the hotel.

First you need to find where your hotel is located - and if it has a private dock or you need to use one of the public docks.

If the former you can rent a water taxi just for your family and go directly to the hotel. At the dock the boat's pilot will ring a bell and a bellman from the hotel will come with a dolly for your luggage. This taxi ride will be in the region of $80 or so.

If your hotel doesn't have a dock - or if you prefer not to pay for a private taxi - you need to ask your hotel where the nearest water bus (vaporetto) stop is). You and your family and luggage then need to get tickets for the water bus, take the bus (along with all the other passengers) to the stop named by the hotel. From there you will need to walk to the hotel with your luggage.

(To avoid this trekking with the luggage we always get a hotel with a private dock. But - Venice is not large and as long as you don;t have tons of luggage the trip to the hotel usually isn't bad - just make sure you have a good map.)

No cars in Venice proper. You'll need to get to your hotel by vaporetto, water taxi, or train/on foot.

Didn't know about the Mestre option... sounds like something that would appeal to my husband! However, one thing. If you drop the car at Tronchetto you can eliminate one change of transportation. It's a fairly long walk from the garages to the dock. But there you can pick up a water taxi to your hotel if you like, or get the vaporetto.

I would reccomend #1 personally if you can, though I just prefer to pay the little bit extra while abroad places I don't know for ease.

http://www.travel--guide.org/Venice

Park at Piazzale Roma. Not the cheapest solution but with 2 kids after a long car ride parking here is the most convenient. It is the closest lot to the vaporetti. Tronchetto is not too bad but it is a bit of a walk from the parking garage with 2 children plus luggage.

Parking in mestre is cheapest, however you would then have to take the train to S. Lucia and then hop on a vaporetto to your hotel. I would not recommend saying on Lido.

Hi, I am very interested in the topic but we are now locked in the situation that we will stay in Mestre (we will have a car).

I would prefer to take public transportation from hotel to Venice but I am not sure whether there is any at night for us to return to hotel in Mestre. (We plan to take water-bus along Grand Canal at night.)

What would you recommend? Drive and park in Tronchetto or something else?

Thanks for your help.

Some poster implied Tronchetta was a long walk to the vaporetta. We did not find it far at all. Just park your car near the dock, go down the stairs and you are there. Not bad at all. You can get the lay of the land before you pull into the garage. If you park too far away (it is a large garage) you will have a walk just to exit the garage. Get the lay of the land and go to the corner closest to the dock. You may luck out and find a spot. LEAVE NOTHING SHOWING IN THE CAR. IF YOU MUST LEAVE SOMETHING IT MUST BE OUT OF SIGHT IN THE TRUNK.

Check with your hotel in Venice. Ours had discount coupons to use at the Tronchetta if you ask for them. It all helps.

Use the internet to find your hotel location in Venice or email the hotel. Know before you go where you want to stop on the vaporetta to be closest to your hotel. It gets hot in Venice and you do not want to be dragging bags any farther than you have to. Been there, done that.

You are correct in staying in Venice. The city is the nicest in the evening when the day trippers leave. You want to be there to enjoy that.

traveldawg: small correction-Tronchetto-to the vaporetto

It was our experience at Tronchetto that we were directed to specific garages. (Otherwise we certainly would have chosen the closest.... one time I told my husband to wait with the car and luggage... in the last garage.. while I searched out a bathroom. Oy vey..... many miles later -:)..... I had to go all the way to the dock and return.