Venice ..how I did it.

The train beats driving the causeway out to Venice and parking in the big parking garages. The radar-camera caught me at 1.2 mph over the approx. 35 mph speed limit--and sent me a ticket almost a year later. It cost about $185 wire transferred to the City of Venice's checking account and $45 credit card charge by Hertz for telling the city who had that car.

Sorry you had that experience, David, but you have verified what we've heard about ticketing on that stretch of road. I guess one's excitement about arriving in Venice better not extend to their feet.

I do the same if I have a car in Venice. Parking (and the hotel itself) in Mestre is cheaper too and trains run until past midnight. A couple years ago I missed the last one, but the taxi ride from Piazzale Roma to Mestre is only about €20. It's not a good idea to cross the Liberty bridge and park at Piazzale Roma, too expensive. Parking at Tronchetto is cheaper but then it takes longer than from Mestre to get to the historical center.

Jim, was this your first time to visit Venice?

Do you think there is any downside of not staying in Venice overnight? The upside is probably much less expensive lodging in Mestre, but are there any others? I guess if the car parking for days at a garage and the train fare can offset the lower hotel cost, it may be a wash to drive to Venice as opposed to taking a train from Florence and being able to sleep and wake up in Venice.

(I've never been to Venice, that's why I ask)

Michael, yes first visit.

Hi Jim,

I'm curious about the hotel. Would you recommend the place you stayed? Sounds like a pretty good plan, as if we visit, we'd be coming, with a car, from the Dolomite region.

Paul

Paul, I stayed at the Best Western Bologna Hotel directly across the street from the Mestre train station. They had their own guest parking lot. Very comfortable upscale rooms and a great breakfast buffet. You can buy the train tickets to Venice at the front desk. It was just so easy for my wife and I to tour Venice this way. We would stay until near midnight and just train back to the hotel, repeat the next two days. Loved it.

Based on the responses to this recurring topic ("Should I stay in Mestre to see Venice?"), both on this forum and TripAdvisor, the overwhelming consensus is that for most travelers it's better to stay in the historic center of Venice (the part tourists traditionally think of as Venice). Yes, you can save some money by staying in Mestre, but there are advantages to staying in Venice:

1. You get to wake up in your destination and Venice is wonderful first thing in the morning before the daytrippers arrive.
2. You can wander around in the evening without having to keep the train schedule and vaporetto schedule in mind.
3. You don't have to stay in the much less attractive Mestre. (Seriously, do a Google Maps Streetview of the area around the train station.) And compare that with this place where we stayed in the Dorsoduro neighborhood. Here's the view from our window , and here's an album of a few photos from the immediate area around that little B&B.

But since there is no one-size-fits-all approach to travel, Mestre does work out okay for some for the reasons given in previous responses.

Agnes

your question was

Do you think there is any downside of not staying in Venice overnight?

I really think so.

I, like Roberto, often stay on the mainland when I have a car, and I usually stay at a fabulous small hotel in Quarto d'Altino with a 20 minute train ride into Venezia Santa Lucia and free parking at the station, with a great breakfast, large room and nice modern bathroom - right on the river Sile, and easy tasty cheap dinners nearby.

But I have to say that deep down I really much much prefer to stay on the islands of Venice. Dorsoduro, S Polo, Cannaregio, Castello, San Marco, they all are different and have different feelings, and I like staying in all of them.

There is a particular background sound to different parts of Venice. No cars, buses, or even pedestrians in many places. I wake up and throw open a window and just drink it in. Water lapping, working boats coming and going, the early morning first gondoliers, the vaporetto chorus, and occasional bird, church bells. Then I am set. If my room overlooks a canal or the Grand Canal I get a feast for the eyes, too.

Training in after breakfast just isn't the same.

Nor is strolling after dark, with no pressure to get back to the station. It is amazing how dark it gets, with Venetian chandeliers lighting up the upper rooms, and it is so safe.

Both have their place....

My suggestion was about those who have a car and are driving to Venice. I did not "tour" Mestre, it is a very convenient place to park and stay while visiting Venice. Nothing more than that.

Jim, no need to get defensive. Nigel quotes Agnes's question ("Do you think there is any downside of not staying in Venice overnight?") and answered it. I responded to the question I phrased as ""Should I stay in Mestre to see Venice?"

I'm not being defensive, just stating how I saw Venice. I did the same with Rome. Drove to a hotel about a mile from the Vatican, parked the car, and took the hotel shuttle bus to Rome Centro and the Vatican. If one has a car this is how to use it. The rest of my two month trip was driving all over Tuscany and Umbria. I put about 4000 miles on the car.