If you’re coming to Venice by car or renting one, you’ll need to explore cheap parking solutions in Venice.
Driving in Venice is forbidden. However, a car can be useful for combining a stay in Venice with a visit to Veneto, or even (why not!) with a road trip to Croatia… The problem: where can you find a parking lot in Venice to leave your car for a few days? How to park cheaply in Venice?
There are several options. Park in Venice, on the island itself (in Piazzale Roma or Tronchetto), or park on the mainland, in Mestre, then take the train or bus to Venice. How do you find the best parking solution in Venice? Here’s our comparison…
Parking in Venice: Park as close to the center as possible
Click on the map to see parking prices in Venice
If you’re visiting Venice for a day or two, and you’re coming by car, we recommend that you book a parking lot as close to the center as possible. The best places to park in Venice are around the Piazzale Roma bus station or the Tronchetto island, at the entrance to the city.
In Piazzale Roma, you’ll find parking lots costing between €28 and €35 per day. The two largest parking lots areAutorimessa Comunale and Garage San Marco.
A little further west of Piazzale Roma, on the island of Tronchetto, you’ll find the huge Venezia Tronchetto Parking: no reservation possible, but 4,000 spaces – so there’s a good chance you’ll find one free when you arrive!
You’ll then need to take a vaporetto to reach the island where your Venice hotel is located. To save on vaporetto fares, remember to buy your Pass ACTV Venice transport card before you arrive!
Parking in Venice: Parking in Mestre
Click on the map to see parking prices in Mestre
This is one of the cheapest ways to park in Venice: leave your car in Mestre, on the other side of the bridge to Venice, and take public transport to the city center. There are several paying parking lots, with rates of around €15 per day.
Pay parking lots in Mestre
The easiest way is to try and find a parking lot near Mestre station. You can then take the train to Venice’s Santa Lucia station (10 minutes, €1.30 per passenger). There is, for example, the SABA parking lot, almost opposite the station, which costs €16 per day. If you’re a long way from the station, you can always take a bus to the island of Venice (it just takes a little longer).
Several Mestre parking lots are listed on Parclick. The advantage of using this type of platform is that you can book online, at a lower cost. So no surprises when you arrive in Mestre, you’ve already got your space. But you can also try your luck wandering the streets of Mestre: there are plenty of smaller, cheaper parking lots, like the Ca’Marcello parking lot, where you can park for €4 a day…
Find a parking lot near Mestre station
Free parking in Mestre
Photo credit: Flickr – Storm Crypt
Another way to save money is to try free parking in Mestre. There are a number of off-center park-and-ride facilities designed to relieve congestion on Mestre’s roads. They are well served by public transport networks and are designed for long-term parking. See the list of free parking lots near Venice.
However, this solution has two drawbacks. Firstly, you can’t book online – so there’s no guarantee of finding a space when you arrive! Secondly, these parking lots are not guarded. There’s no real problem of vandalism or massive car theft in Venice… But be careful: don’t leave anything in your car, let alone in plain sight!
Parking at Marco Polo airport
Another solution, still on the mainland, is to park at Marco Polo airport. You can park in the airport’s official parking lots, which cost from €18 to €33 per day, or €100 to €140 per week, depending on the parking lot you choose.
There’s also the Alipark MarcoPolo parking lot, which costs €8 a day. It offers a free shuttle service to the airport, from where you’ll find a transfer to the center.
So you’ll need to book your transfer to Venice. This is a popular parking option in Venice, so be sure to reserve your parking space in advance!
Getting around Venice
Once you’ve parked in Venice, you’ll only need to take your car again to leave. The city of Venice is car-free. To get around, you’ll need an .
This transport pass gives you unlimited use of the vaporetti. Instead of spending €7.50 for each one-way ticket, the pass costs €7.50 for 75 minutes, €20 for one day (paid off in 3 trips), €30 for 3 days, €40 for 4 days, €60 for 7 days. With this pass, all you have to do is validate your ticket as you board the vaporetto.