Mestre or Verona or Venice

Venice is not that dark to justify staying in Mestre. A black hole wouldn't be dark enough to dine in... Mestre! It's Verona or Venice.

I agree - I wouldn't be dining in Mestre. I intend to have dinner before leaving Verona if I do stay in Mestre. I will arrive at Mestre around 11 pm and go direct to the hotel, wake up early the next day to go to Venice.

The reluctance to stay in Venice is also partially due to the wheeled luggage.

Changing hotels is a waste of time. By the time you leave your Mestre hotel and reach your Venice hotel, it will be 11 AM easy, unless you are a very early riser.
It is either Verona or Venice, therefore.

Where are you staying in Venice? Navigation is harder than in many other places, but it is still doable even at night! And if you are staying in, say, Santa Croce, San Polo or Canareggio, you are actually quite close to the train station.

Oh, IMHO, get thee to Venice. Mestre is such a short train ride from the beauty of Venice! I do understand the luggage issue, but I have, several times, lugged, and now I know better, luggage over the cobblestones, BUT, waking up in Venice will be wonderful, and your luggage issue will be fine. VENICE! PS...I have arrived after dark, and left very early in the morning, but always felt safe!
Have a wonderful trip!

I tend to wake up around or before 7am on vacations so am confident of reaching Venice either way before 10am. But it sounds like Venice is the popular choice! I have booked the Liassidi Palace Hotel which requires taking a vaporetta. I will wake up in Venice for at least 3 magical nights!!

Since you’ll be in Verona until late in the evening, I’d make a reservation at a hotel there for the night. Drop your bag off at the hotel on arrival (even if you can’t check in, they’ll hold your bag) then tour the city. After an exhausting, long day, I would not want to take a train trip and then check into a hotel for 1 night. There are frequent trains from Verona to Venice. Regionale trains depart at 22 minutes after the hour, take an hour and a half to arrive in Venice and cost €9.45.

Just a short walk from Piazza Bra is the wonderful Ristorante Orologio. Great food, extensive wine list by the glass, excellent service, reasonably priced.

Thanks Phillip! I will look into the Verona hotel options! Originally Verona was supposed to be a day trip from Venice or Milan but I thought about doing it as a stopover to save time back-tracking.

Either stay the night in Verona or go directly to Venice. What are you planning to do with your luggage during your day of siteseeing in Verona? I read online that the Verona train station has a luggage storage area open till 11 PM but certainly confirm that if you use it. Verona is a lovely city. If it were me I would just stay the night there and head to Venice the next morning. Lots to see in Verona and you would still have your 3 nights left for Venice.

Nobody dislikes backtracking more than I do, but if you add up all the time and trouble it will take to stay one night in Verona, and consider that the trip from Venice back to Verona (without luggage!) is only an hour and a half, you might want to stick with your original idea to stay the whole time in Venice and do Verona as a day trip.

I agree that staying the night in Verona makes a lot of sense. Who wants to travel again after a long day of sightseeing and a nice dinner with wine? Plus, you'll arrive awake and refreshed in Venice the next morning.

Honestly, there are people here who make it sound as if the D-Day landings were easier than having wheeled luggage in Venice. I've been to Venice a few times with wheeled luggage and it's not a big deal.

If you are going to arrive late, make sure the vaparetro you need is still operating.

I guess I am wondering why you can't leave Verona earlier so you arrive ive in Venice during daylight. Is this coming up soon?

Yes it's coming next month. I will need to leave Verona by 3pm if I want to reach Venice before it gets dark.

I think it's a toss up between Verona or Venice. Very good point about having a nice dinner in Verona and heading back to hotel then waking up early to head to Venice so will probably book a night in Verona rather than trying to navigate Venice.

Verona is a lovely city and worth spending the night so you can enjoy it without stress.
There's really no need to sleep near the station - it is a very quick and easy bus ride from the old city center. Just stay somewhere near Piazza Bra, where you catch the bus. You can enjoy your morning coffee on one of the patios overlooking the ancient arena before departing for Venice :)

For an aperitivo, I recommend Terrazza Bar Al Ponte - the have a little terrace in the back that overlooks the river and the Roman bridge.

I think you are making a problem out of a nuisance, thanks to Google Maps and Street View you'll be able to find your hotel. People did it before Internet.

I will need to leave Verona by 3pm

What site are you using to look up the schedules? Direct Freccia trains departing in the afternoon according to trenitalia.com/en.html :

Departure: 16:00 from Verona Porta Nuova - Arrival 17:12 at Venezia S. Lucia Duration 1h 12' Train: Frecciarossa 9735

Departure: 17:00 from Verona Porta Nuova - Arrival 18:12 at Venezia S. Lucia Duration 1h 12' Train Frecciargento 9741

Departure: 17:30 from Verona Porta Nuova - Arrival 18:42 at Venezia S. Lucia Duration 1h 12' Train Frecciarossa 9743

Departure: 19:30 from Verona Porta Nuova - Arrival 20:42 at Venezia S. Lucia Duration 1h 12' Train Frecciarossa 9753

There other Freccias that stop only at Mestre Station, where you could take a local to S. Lucia.

There are also 10 Regionale Trains departing from Verona PN after 16:20 and taking between 1h 30' and 2h and 15'.

from the vaporetto number 1 stop at San Marco Zaccaria the Liassidi Palace Hotel will be 3 small bridges and just over 5 minutes walk. It is actually a fairly simple walk as long as you study it a bit because you need to be crossing the Ponte dei Greci as the hotel is a bit off the Grand Canal.

Two nights Milan, 1 night Verona, and 3 nights Venice would be my plan. Stayed in Mestre once (1 night) because we had a car and wanted an early start on an 8 hour drive the next day. PS - haven't been to Verona, hotels in Mestre cheaper than Venice, see The Last Supper.

In Verona, take a taxi or bus from the station to downtown / Piazle Bra. Otherwise it is about a 25 minute walk, and a boring walk at that.
Castel Vecchio in Verona is amongst my favourite galleries in Italy. Great architecture by Carlo Scarpa.