Venice first time, questions about parking

You want to stay in Venice where there are no cars or roads. Instead of roads you will have canals. You need to park in or near to Piazalle Roma.How you get to your hotel will be in the directions given to you by that hotel.
Re: staying on a canal. Canals are Venice’s roads so don’t stay on a major one. We couldn’t get any sleep on our first trip to Venice, a pricey five star hotel on the Grand Canal!

Thank you. Does anyone have suggestions for hotel in Cannaregio area? Prefer back canal.

What is your budget? How many is "we"?

Forget having a car while in Venice. Simply rent one after you depart.

Thank you. I realize a car is a hindrance in Venice but we are doing a loop from Zurich back to Zurich so we will already have the car. It’s very expensive to drop off in different country then where you rented. We like the independence of our own car but in certain places it will be a nuisance which we’ve agreed is worth our freedom in other places. But that said I’d love ideas about lodging, best area to stay for 2 nights in Venice. We’re leaning towards Cannaregio

I suggest you check with booking.com. Everything I see says that parking a car in Venice is difficult. Good luck.

Reservation for parking is necessary. Consider €35 per day for parking.
See https://actv.avmspa.it/en/content/autorimessa-comunale-city-parking-garage

Parking fills up quickly. As alternaive you can park your car in Mestre and take the train or tram to Venice.
My last visit to Venice in 2021 was rather spontaneous. Parking at Piazzale Roma was sold out already. We luckily found a parking space directly at the Mestre train station.
https://www.sabait.it/en/parking-venice-mestre/parking-saba-stazione

Check out https://europeforvisitors.com/venice/articles/arriving_in_venice_by_car.htm

We have always parked on Tronchetto, we have never reserved, we have never had trouble finding room for our car; even a camper van was no trouble to park.

Thanks for the tips! It is just husband and I. Like to stay under $400 night.

We are also still looking for lodging in zermatt and lake Lucerne if anyone has suggestions!

I think a car is also a hindrance in Switzerland, which has built a world- class public transportation system. In addition, many Swiss village are car-free.
You may need to pay additional fees to cross borders in a rental car, and the ZTL zones coming into Venice are nasty. If you don't know what these are, you really aren't ready to drive a car in Italy.
Hotels - Venice- Cannaregio area, we love Hotel Ai Mori d'Oriente, on the quiet back canals.

Lucerne- we love Hotel Des Alpes, ask for a room facing the Chapel Bridge, hopefully with a balcony.

Have a great trip!

We have parked at both the Piazzale Roma and Tronchetto garages. Last time was in June 2023. We reserved a spot at Piazzale Roma. Those are the only big parking garages after you cross the bridge to Venice.

As for hotel location, proximity to the Vaporetto stop is important. You will be hauling your luggage. If you select a hotel some distance from a Vaporetto stop, you could need to cross several bridges to get there. This means several steps going up, cross the bridge, then several steps going down. I would use google maps to look at the route you would need up take, if that might be an issue.

We have stayed on side canals, but not on the grand canal. As mentioned, canals can be busy and very noisy in the early mornings. Businesses receive all their deliveries by boat, trash collection happens by boat, etc. depending on the weather, the canals can also be stinky, as we experienced in June.

When we parked at the Tronchetto garage, it was during a trip in July. We stayed on Giudecca, an island just across from the main island. It was a wonderful escape from the crazy crowds. Quiet and peaceful. An easy ride from both Tronchetto and St. Mark’s.

Make sure that the car rental company knows you're going into Italy and that your insurance is valid there. When I rented in Zurich I was ordered not to enter Poland with the car.

To get out to Venice and Piazalle Roma, you'll have to crossover on a causeway. Let me warn you that they have radar-cameras on the causeway set at about 35 mph. Go 1 mph over and you'll receive a ticket almost a year later asking for $85 to be wire transferred directly to the City of Venice's checking account number--in Euros. Just beware, be careful and you'll be okay.

The parking garages are about 200 yards down from Piazalle Roma--and the train station is across an arch bridge from the plaza. You can catch a vaparetto that takes you close to your hotel there. There's also a vaparetto stop at the other end of the huge parking garages.

When you find a place to stay, you'll want to get directions on how to get there--what vaparetto stop to get off at. And whatever you do, don't arrive at night. I've been there 10+ times in the last 50 years and even I feel like a rat in a maze sometimes. In June, my 12 year old granddaughter asked me "Where are we?" I said that I didn't have any idea where were or exactly where we were going. But we did get there eventually. We hike our way around Venice.

When looking for rooms, I go to Google Maps and put in the city's name. Then I click on Hotels at the top and a bunch of icons pop up all over the place. I click on the icons to read all about the property and there's going to be a link to their reservation systems. I've never been disappointed after reading all about customer recommendations. We last stayed 50' from the train station in an apartment as my wife rides a personal scooter (mobility problems).

On our road trip we spent 1 night in Mestre, parked at our hotel, and took the train over. For a multiple night visit stay on the island. BTW we visited Venice previously via train for several nights and did stay on the island.

Thanks everyone! This info was so helpful. We already booked our parking spot at P Roma and a hotel that is right across from a vaporetto stop. Would not have thought of these things on our own so your info has been very helpful!

Anyone ever skied the glacier in zermattt in July? I’ve heard you can rent everything there and to go early. First cable car is at 6:30 am. Wondering if anyone has other advice on this?

Also going to Montreaux jazz fest if anyone has thoughts on that.

Are you still looking for a Lake Lucerne (Vierwaldstättersee) hotel? If you don’t need to stay in the city of Luzern itself, I highly recommend Seehotel Gotthard, right on the lake in nearby Weggis:

https://www.gotthard-weggis.ch/en/

They have parking at the hotel, 2 restaurants in-house, kayaks for guest use, and offer free access to the lakeside swimming pool at the sister hotel next door.

You can reach Luzern for your sightseeing in 40 minutes by lake boat, a nice enjoyable cruise. And then you don’t have to find parking in the city, which can be tough.

As for skiing in Zermatt, when we were there in early July, staying in an apartment in Winkelmatten near the ski lift, we saw lots of people heading up with ski gear. I think they run ski camps and training camps up there. You can find information on ski rentals here:

https://www.zermatt.ch/en/summer-skiing