Free parking in Venice?

There is no street parking on the Venice islands because there are no streets!
The only parking on the islands is the multi-storey car park at Piazzale Roma (cost approx €20 per day), Piazzale Roma is the only place on the Venetian Islands you can drive to. When you get there you can only go into the car park, or turn round and go back.

The only other option is to park on the mainland (Mestre) and get a train or bus to the Venetian islands.

Nope. I'm afraid that you will pay. A lot.

Maybe if you have a place to stay in, say, Vicenza, that will let you leave your car there after you check out....

Free parking in Venice?
Not even for boats, unless they are full of water and on the bottom of the canal or laguna.

To take up from Chris F's answer, parking in Mestre is pretty much prohibited without a permit, except for the car silos and car parks next to the station. They are a little cheaper than on Venice but not cheap.

I guess you don't need to be told that the train fare, in advance, is less than you would pay to park - and that's before all the costs of running the car....

Thank you all.

I am well aware that Mestre is where I'll need to leave my car. But was just hoping if anyone knew of any free spots around the area?

I would not even consider leaving a car unattended in Mestre or anywhere else except my garage for two days, the worry over it being ticketed repeatedly, towed, vandalized - it would not be the adventure I would want.

I guess the short answer is, no, I don't know of any free parking in or near Venezia - except in the canal or lagoon, but it would be a chore to retrieve the car.

Actually there are several free parking lots both in Mestre and in Porto Marghera, obviously not in the historical center of Venice.

All over Italy there are so called "Parcheggi Scambiatori" or "parcheggi di scambio" where people park then change (scambiare=change) their mode of transportation from the car to bus or train to commute into the city. They are similar to the "park and ride" lots that for example we have in California (not sure if they exist everywhere in America). Many of those are free, but they are at the edges of the city, not in the city center. Mestre has several also. If you park there, then you would take a bus into the city center of Mestre, and from there the train to Venice. There might be also lots that have city buses that take you all the way to Venice (piazzale Roma).

I have all that information and will send it to you upon receipt of €35 "consulting fee" which I can waive if you promise to pledge a contribution to Public Television.

Let me know.

Don't be cheap. Park at Tronchetto. It's 21 Euros a day.