Easier to Drop off Car in Bologna or Venice?

Return the car in Bologna
That will save you any drop fees ( if charged)

ETA
Now that I’ve looked to see where Corpolo is
You might as well take car all the way to Venice
Drop it in Mestre if you like and then short train in to Venice

Or drop it in Rimini then train to Venice ( change in Bologna)

Thanks, Christine! These are exactly the kinds of suggestions I'm looking for. More than a concern for drop fees, is a massive concern for EASE of driving (both on the highway and in cities near the rental agency). We are super relieved to have the steering wheel on the "correct" side of the car, hahaha, but terrified of traffic and ZTLs.

We drove all over Tuscany about 7 years ago (Orvieto to Cortona to Sienna and more). We would park just outside each city and explore on foot, and we found all of this delightful. I just get nervous about driving into larger cities (e.g. Bologna and Venice), and want to do it the easiest way possible. Thanks so much!

Or drop the car at the Venice airport. It's located in the parking garage near the terminal.

From the airport you’ll have 3 options to get into Venice proper
Bus $ then vaporetto
Alilaguna $$
Water taxi $$$
Will take about an hour

Or
From Mestre
Train-a few euros
Takes 10 min

I’m not far from Corpoló today.

Take the freeway to Venice. Return the car at PIAZZALE ROMA.

Take the A14 freeway at the Rimini Nord entrance to direction BOLOGNA
then near Bologna you will switch to the A13 toward PADOVA and from there you will merge into the A57 to VENEZIA MESTRE. then, after exiting the freeway (toll freeway), you will go through the parkway across the Liberty Bridge toward Venice. Follow directions to Piazzale Roma.

Directions below.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/y7pFRHCqzrMbXYHn6?g_st=ic

Do not return at Bologna. It’s confusing to get to the station.
I also see no reason to return at Mestre and take the train. That is on the exact same way to Piazzale Roma. If you return to Piazzale Roma you go straight for another few km. For Mestre you would need to turn let on the overpass over the railway then backtrack to the station then find the rental office (if there is one for your rental company). Why complicate your life? The rental returns at Venice are at the Autorimessa Comunale (City Parking structure) and from there you can walk to the Piazzale Roma vaporetto.

PS: Watch your speed on the Liberty Bridge parkway between Mestre and Venice. Lots of speed cameras at work.

What Roberto said. Piazzale Roma is the simplest place to return the car if you are staying in Venice. Even if it is slightly more expensive than Mestre or airport drops, it will save you the time and money involved in getting into Venice itself. Just be careful with your speed driving over the bridge from Mestre to Venice; there are 3 speed cameras along there and people have reported getting speeding tickets from all 3 of them.

There should be no “drop fee” for returning a car rented at Bologna to Venice instead. We have done this several times in Italy, using Hertz rentals through AutoEurope.

Thank you all so much! Piazzale Roma indeed sounds like the easiest drop-off for us. Only one problem -- there is not an Avis (our preferred agency) at Piazzale Roma. There is a Budget though. They are a partner, and I'll be calling Avis tomorrow to see if we can drop off there. Fingers crossed. Thanks again! We can't wait to be walking the streets of Venice.

If you switch your car rental to Hertz, the drop off is at Piazzale Roma, easily walkable to the beautiful bridge onto the island. That is what we did. (However, we mixed communications and waited on one side of the bridge, while the apartment host waited on the other side - unknown to each other. Eventually we went into a nearby travel office, where a kind English/Italian speaker phoned the host and cleared things up. It was then just a few minutes walk to our accommodation.) Have fun!

Is your car rental thru Auto Europe? fingers crossed, they are the best.

• there are very few streets in Venice ;)

haha correction We can't wait to be walking the "calli, campielli, campi, fondamenta, Rio tera, sotoporteghi, and sestieri" of Venice. :P