Parking in Venice can be divided into four categories:
- Venice, the historic center.
- Mestre/Marghera on the mainland.
- Kind of in between – Before the bridge on the way to Venice.
- In various locations around the city such as Lido, Cavallino, Fusina, etc.
Parking in Venice around Piazzale Roma is comfortable if your destination is exclusively Venice, but it’s expensive. Parking on the mainland can come with any price tag, from completely free to almost as costly as in Venice. My suggestion, if you want to save money is to park at one of the many parking lots on the landside just before driving out on the bridge.
The different possibilities once more.
Parking in Venice.
- Pros… It’s easy to get to your hotel or apartment. It’s safe.
- Cons… It’s expensive. 20 – 35 euros a day.
Park on the street in Mestre or Marghera (White parking lines. The blue ones are paid parking lots)
- Pros… It’s absolutely free of charge.
- Cons… It could be complicated to get to Venice. Safety depends highly on the area. (Stay away from the train station area) If you have a foreign car you should choose carefully.
Park in one of the many parking lots around the train station at Mestre.
- Pros… It’s close to the trains.
- Cons… Well, it’s actually not very convenient for getting to Venice, at least not for the price you have to pay.
Park right before the bridge to Venice in a paid and fenced parking lot. (recommended)
- Pros… It’s safe and it doesn’t have to be very expensive.
- Cons… It’s a bit more complicated to get to Venice, compared to parking at Piazzale Roma. But then again not really, as you’ll see.
Park at the brand-new free parking lot, right at the beginning of the Bridge
- Pros… It’s free, and it’s right at the beginning of the Bridge to Venice
- Cons… It’s not safe and it’s a bit isolated. There is a shuttle bus to Venice. But if you get there late in the evening, and the shuttle is suspended, it’s 500 meters walk to the nearest bus stop. As it’s free of charge, it gets very crowded.
Park at the parking lot behind Venice Expo.
- Pros… It’s free, and it’s not very crowded.
- Cons… It’s not safe. It’s 500 meters walk to the nearest bus stop.
Park on the street at Porto Marghera.
- Pros… It’s free if you find a white-line parking lot.
- Cons… It’s unsafe.
Park at San Giuliano.
- Pros… Nothing really… The boat ride can be pleasant… Oh yes, and the car is relatively safe there.
- Cons… It’s expensive, and it’s complicated.
Lido, Cavallino, Fusina etc.
These locations are for those who stay there. If your hotel is at Lido then you park on Lido island. Otherwise, you do not.
This happened a few years ago. Four slightly woozy guys from Jesolo, who had spent the evening in Venice, partying, decided to do something very unusual… Or was it that they just couldn’t find the parking in Venice? Anyway, the bridge is Ponte di Calatrava, one of four over Canal Grande. This one leads from Piazzale Roma to the train station… And yes, they had to pay a heavy fine.
Parking in Venice.
Around Piazzale Roma, there are a few parking lots, of which the best and biggest is Autorimessa Comunale. It has room for 2182 cars and 300 motorcycles, mostly indoors. And it’s the cheapest one around Piazzale Roma at 26 euros/24 hours. They give you a 10% discount if you manage to book online. Autorimessa Comunale on Google Maps.
Then there is Garage San Marco a little bit further ahead if you turn right at the end of the building and follow it all the way down to the end. Here you pay 32 euros/24h. Garage San Marco on Google Maps. Both these garages have night parking. 15 euros from evening till morning.
In front of Garage San Marco, in the same building as Autorimessa Comunale but at the back, there is
Garage Sant’Andrea. This is just for short stays since they don’t tariff for 24 hours. The price is 7 euro/2 h. So you should stay for a maximum of 8 hours. Garage Sant’Andrea on Google Maps
Facing the square, there is Autopark Doge where the price is 35 euro/24 h.
Garage Sant’Andrea right
Right on the square, you can park for 30 minutes for free. You have to get the ticket from one of the machines though, even if you don’t pay. You can stay another half hour if you pay for a total maximum of 60 minutes.
A little bit further away there is Park 280. The price is 20 euros/24h. Attention! Price is from midnight to midnight. For shorter stays, it’s 2 euro/h. Park 280 on Google Maps.
And just before the bridge over to Tronchetto, on your right, there’s Scalo Fluviale Car Park. 15 euros for 12 hours flat rate.
Last but not least there is Venezia Tronchetto Parking at the Tronchetto Island. The price here is 21 euros/24 h. It’s a bit off the tourist trails but it rooms almost 4000 cars so in summer or around Carnival and other holidays when the other parking lots in Venice are full, it is still almost always possible to find a spot here. Tronchetto Parking on Google Maps
Park in one of the many parking lots around the train station at Mestre.
Close to the Train Station in Mestre, there are many parking lots indoors, outdoors, automatic or with manual service. The price is high. It’s almost as expensive as in Venice, so it’s not very convenient unless you have business in Mestre. On the street, right outside the station Viale Stazione/Via Trento you have a vast choice. My tip would be Garage Touring to your right when coming out of the main gate. It’s the best around, even if I would not advise parking there at all. From the area, you have various buses and trains all going to the historic center of Venice.
Park on the street in Mestre or Marghera.
This is not a very rational alternative. It’s unsafe and you’ll waste a lot of time. You’ll have to park far away from the center because almost all the streets in Mestre center and around the train station have blue lines, which means you will have to pay. And if you should happen to find a spot with white lines, it’s very probably already taken. The best bet is to park outside the city center, but close to some bus or the excellent tram going from Favaro to Venice. Or you could try one of the free parking lots, especially organized for people to be able to park the car and go to Venice by bus.
In Marghera, it’s a little bit easier, although street parking close to the station has blue lines too. Try to get a spot close to lines 6, 6L, or 66. (Everything with a 6 on it goes to Marghera.)… And avoid the streets closest to the train station. Just as in every other city, the station area is unsafe. That is valid for the Mestre side as well… Don’t park close to the station.
Now, if you avoid the station area, you might think that it could be a good idea to just choose a spot with blue lines, pay and that’s that. Well, if you’re in on a Sunday, the blue lines are free. Or if you are going to Venice for a night event, from 8 pm to 8 am, the blue lines are free of charge. Otherwise, the park will cost you 8 or 12 euros for a full day. At that point, it’s cheaper and faster to park closer to Venice, at one of the parking lots right before the bridge.
Park at some of the parking lots right before the Ponte della Libertà (Bridge to Venice).
Going towards Venice on Via della Liberta, just after you pass the big office building with glass windows and then the infamous Expo Venice, there are 5 parking lots on your right. The first one has an entrance from the main road. Just stop at your right where you see the sign: Parking.
100 meters further ahead you can turn right and there are 4 more, Parcheggio Terminal Service/emmeti on your right who runs two more parking in the neighborhood. And Venice City Park a little bit further down the road to your left.
They all cost 6 euros (Venice City Park even 5:50) for 24h and you have all the buses going to Venice 50 meters away. And it will take you no more than 5 minutes to get there. This solution is way better than parking in Marghera or Mestre. Even if you choose a good parking lot next to the station or elsewhere. There is nothing as convenient anywhere on the landside as these parks right here.
Free parking 1. At the new car park in Porto Marghera.
There’s a brand-new parking lot right here.
Turn right on the same street as above, 200 meters after the Venice Expo. At the first roundabout turn left and then immediately right. There are signs.
This is a new parking lot and incredible as it may seem, it’s absolutely free. The fact that it’s free obviously attracts thousands of cars. You should be prepared to have to back out again after circulating the parking for half an hour.
There is a shuttle bus for Venice. The fare is a normal bus ticket, 1:50 euros. In the evening they suspend the shuttle bus and will have a 500-meter walk to get to the nearest bus stop (Same as for the previous parking lots).
Free parking 2. Behind Venice Expo.
The Venice Expo is the big and rather ugly steel building that was built to rob a little attention from Milan Expo 2015. While the Milan Expo was an international fair of reasonable success, the Venice Expo was more or less just one building. And it was nowhere near the Venice historic center but in an industrial area with no other attractions supporting it. So the outcome was a complete failure. And now all we have is another empty building in Porto Marghera where empty industrial structures are more common than rabbits in a cornfield…
Venice Expo is kind of useless again now, it has been a Covid center for Vaccination and testing during the pandemic. For obvious reasons, activity is slowing down significantly and the building is once again deserted, just like it was before. There is no parking inside for now, but if you turn the corner you see a big parking lot right behind it. It’s free, and it is much less crowded than the one above. There is no bus service. The walk to the nearest bus stop is 500 meters.
This is actually a parking dedicated to visitors to the football games in Venice. The fans are then shipped directly to Sant’Elena via a platform at the end of the road. But as Venezia FC was relegated to serie B, and now, playing really lousy is risking relegation to serie C for the next season, not many cars are parked here, not even during matches.
Park on the street around Venice Expo or elsewhere in Porto Marghera.
Most street parking in the area is “blu line”. That means a normal 80 cents per hour. If you don’t even want to pay that much, you would need to park further away from the main road to Venice.
All of Via delle Industrie is Free. From northwest to southeast. On weekdays it’s crowded, but on weekends you can find a spot here. And if you park further northwest, you’ll have less to walk to reach the bus stop. Lately, the streets in Porto Marghera are becoming increasingly blu, with parking controls, which were unheard of a few years ago. As always, feel free to ask if you happen to see someone passing by.
As always, empty the car yourself, so that no one else does it for you.
Parking in Venice – San Giuliano.
Maybe you’ve read somewhere someone who recommends parking at San Giuliano, the biggest park (…No, not park like parking. A park with trees… Not very big trees but still.) in the world. (…No, it’s not the biggest in the world, but we like to imagine it like that.)(… It’s pretty big though.). It used to be a reasonably good alternative but lost some of its charms when ACTV, the local transport company abandoned the route. Now it’s run by private boats.
You can buy a combined ticket for 15 euros, car park + boat to Venice and back. Every added adult costs 10 euros for the boat, 8:50 if you’re under 25, and completely free if you’re under 12. The parking alone costs 10 euros.
The boats leave San Giuliano for Venice approximately once every hour.
Lido, Cavallino, Fusina etc.
On Lido, there are numerous possibilities to leave your car. Apart from the most central part, many streets have white lines, and if you’re not in the peak season, you will be able to park more or less anywhere for free. Lido is also much safer than Mestre or Marghera. Still, that’s a good idea only if you are staying at Lido. Otherwise, it’s not an option.
The same goes for Cavallino (Punta Sabbioni). In summer you might want to combine a week at one of the many locations at the sea with going into Venice for a day or two. In that case, you will probably park your car at your hotel or campsite. If you drive to Punta Sabbioni and want to leave your car there for the day, you have a lot of parking lots right there, close to the ferry. But you do better in passing all of the parking lots before you get to the ferry, drive right through, and stop at Parking da Bepy. It’s cheaper and better. Parking the car along the shoreline, southwest of Punta Sabbioni is not safe.
Fusina has a nice campsite with a direct boat line to Venice. If you’re not staying there Fusina isn’t really an alternative. Possibly if you’re at one of the very few hotels in the neighborhood of Malcontenta it could be worth it.