Driving to Venice - parking?

Driving to Venice - parking?

Author
Discussion

minimoog

Original Poster:

6,998 posts

226 months

Tuesday 19th June 2007
quotequote all
I fancy taking in Venice on my upcoming driving tour to nortern Italy. Unfortunately I haven't got one of these...



...so will have to leave the car on dry land for a few days. Is there somewhere secure in easy reach of the centre where I can park up without it costing a fortune?

Orangecurry

7,534 posts

213 months

Tuesday 19th June 2007
quotequote all
don't know how cheap it is, but there is a huge multistorey car park where the dual-carriageway (over the lagoon) ends, next to the bus station.

SteveRod

300 posts

223 months

Tuesday 19th June 2007
quotequote all
Park at the Railway/Bus station? at the end of the causeway which is as near as you can get and also the end of tarmac.. secure parking available there in the multi-story then get the nearby water taxi or cheaper waterbus to Venice proper!

Edited by SteveRod on Tuesday 19th June 16:53

bad_roo

5,188 posts

244 months

Tuesday 19th June 2007
quotequote all
Yes - you can park at Mestre station and catch the train across the causeway.

If you drive, do bear in mind that the actual area of Venice you can drive on is about the size of a couple of football pitches. Basically it's a one-way loop off the causeway around the front of about five expensive multi-storey car parks and then feeding you straight back onto the causeway, so if you miss your tuen you've got about 15km of driving back to Mestre and then back across the Venice causeway to have another go. Which can be infuriating to say the least.

tinman0

18,231 posts

247 months

Tuesday 19th June 2007
quotequote all
the car parks on Venice island tend to be full and expensive iirc. try them by all means, but don't hold out too much hope.

the alternative, but not secure although there is a shed with a chap taking money, is by the station at Venice Mestre. drop the car off there, and take the train onto the island. it was a 1E each way about 4 years ago for the train, so not exactly expensive.

Dogwatch

6,273 posts

229 months

Tuesday 19th June 2007
quotequote all
Be prepared to spend though. Venice isn't cheap. You can cut eating costs by moving away from St. Marks towards the Rialto Bridge - the streets between the two are well signposted but a street map is still useful.
Doing some homework to prioritise what you must see is a good idea as the inevitable queueing will eat up valuable time. Ferrari shop wasn't crowded though hehe

Orangecurry

7,534 posts

213 months

Tuesday 19th June 2007
quotequote all
actually, does Marco-Polo have a long-term car-park? It might be cheaper/more secure than Mestre. You could leave the car at the airport, and catch the waterbus to St Marks.

minimoog

Original Poster:

6,998 posts

226 months

Tuesday 19th June 2007
quotequote all
Thanks for the tips so far. The car will be full of our camping gear (though packed out of sight) so it really needs to be securely parked or the rest of the holiday could be stuffed!

Haven't started my homework proper yet, so out of interest how many nights does Venice 'take to do', given that we'd like a look at Verona too before heading up to the Dolomites. Two or three maybe?

ETA: Aha - just found about a zillion threads on Venice parking on the Tripadvisor forums. Off for a read!

Edited by minimoog on Tuesday 19th June 17:35

DailyHack

3,490 posts

118 months

Monday 13th May 2019
quotequote all
(Thread revival)

Driving to Tuscany in September (Florence), and I am planning one big driving trip while i am there on one of the days to Venice this time round for a day - early start and getting there around 9am (its about 3 hours I see), we are staying in a agroturismo farm the outskirts of Florence.

Anyone parked at the 'Tronchetto parking'? on the island itself?

Want to park as close as possible, not bothered about paying 21 Euros, as wont be going to Venice again i suspect so not much to pay for a day....any suggestions or advice would be great?