We will only have two nights in Venice and have no idea where to stay.
Also we will be coming by car.... Is it easy to drop a rental car in Venice??
Is it easy to get the train out of Venice and will I buy my train tickets at the station or earlier on line?
We will be coming from the Dolomites on our way to Tuscany. Any recommendations on how to handle the logistics.
thanks so much for your suggestions.
Hi,
You can drop your car in Venice. Parking is located i artificial island called Tronchetto.
Do some research how much it would cost you to leave your car there. I used this parking and it is very good closed protected parking. I was there only one day so I dont know how much will it cost you to park for a ew days?
Bruce
You can drop rental cars at Piazzale Roma depending on the rental agency you use. Very important that when you go over the causeway, do not exceed the speed limit by even 1 km/hr. They have speed trap cameras and have found it to be a great source of income sending tickets to tourists.
You can buy your train tickets at the station. There are hourly trains to Florence. But if you want to save money, buy on line as much as 120 before and you could get them for 19 euro per person. These will be nonrefundable so you must be on the train you choose or forfeit the ticket.
There are lots of hotels walking distance of the train station and Piazzale Roma. Traveling light is a must as the bridges have steps and ones crossing the Grand Canal are high, so there are a lot of steps. Or you could ride the vaporetto to hotels further away. Again, the amount of luggage you can take is limited.
I recently stayed at Hotel Campiello near the San Zaccaria vaporetto stop. The hotel was fine but the best thing about it was it was very easy to find and there was no bridge between it and the docks for both the vaporetto and Alilaguna ferry from the airport.
I would not characterize any journey into or out of Venice as easy just because it always takes a long time to get anywhere. Once you get to the train station and on the train you're good.
Have some smaller bills and use the ticket machines at the train station instead of taking a number and waiting.
I like hotel Tivoli. It's walking distance from the train station if you have a map. Otherwise, take the Vaporetto to the San Toma stop and walk a few minutes. Hotels will send detailed instructions for reaching them. A Vaporetto pass makes getting around easier and less expensive
Most rental companies will allow you to choose between dropping the car at the airport or at Piazzale Roma. Hertz charged us an extra 24€ to drop the car at Piazzale Roma, but that was cheaper than getting three of us from the airport into Venice, and much more convenient. By boarding the vaporetto at Piazzale Roma, you get onto a nearly-empty boat and avoid the crowds and confusion at the train station vaporetto stop. Buy your ticket there and be sure to validate it at the little machine before boarding.
Do heed Sam's warning about speed cameras on the bridge. There are three of them, and I have read of people getting tickets from all three in one drive across the bridge.
Venice is like walking through a maze with lots of up/down steps over bridges - fascinating & exciting OR frustrating. To help you have a great experience, I recommend having a detailed map (we used the DK Eyewitness Venice Book map) to easily find your hotel. We watched numerous people lugging large or multiple suitcases across bridges & then back-tracking their steps; all of us don't want that to be you! : )
By the way, there's two train stations for Venice. You want to depart from Venezia Santa Lucia station, not the Venezia Mestre station.
We absolutely love Venice!
Two hotel suggestions: Hotel Ala and Hotel Bel Sito and Berlino. The latter is very close to St. Mark's Square,
and is on a cute little piazza across from a church. It's old world, the rooms are small, but the breakfast is lovely
and it's also on a small canal, which I used for a private water taxi when I had a very early flight out. It used to be
in the RS book. There are detailed directions on how to get there from the Vaporetto in both the RS book and on
the hotel website.
I found the front desk at the Hotel Bel Sito to be very good with advice on restaurants. The Hotel Ala is a little
fancier, and my niece loved it.
I'm a little confused.
Will you have a car for the part of the trip in the Dolomites?
When you say that you are on the way to Tuscany, do you mean rural or village Tuscany, or do you mean Florence, the biggest city in Tuscany?
If you meant rural or village Tuscany, won't you want a car for that?
Wouldn't it be cheaper and easier to keep the car for both, and just park it for the very short time you have allocated to the beautiful city of Venice?
I second Hotel Ala- we loved our stay there and loved Venice.
Bel Sito is just around the corner- so both are in a great, easy to access location. I think with just 2 nights I'd want to be closer to St. Mark's than staying near the train station- although Venice is small- and walkable- if you only have 1 actual morning for touring then being close to St. Mark's is key. Get up and get to the square early !
See my review here:
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy-reviews/venice-hotel-ala-best-western
Took train to Florence from Venice- bought tickets ahead of time online- took vaporetto to train station. Very simple.
