Venice Car Hire - yes or no?

Surely, when it comes to considering whether or not to get a hire car, it doesn’t get more obvious than Venice?

Well, actually, we happen to think that getting a hire car in Venice is an extremely good idea.

Why get a hire car in Venice?

• Dolomites — quite simply there is so much more beyond Venice than canals and gondolas, and the Dolomites in particular are absolutely stunning. Whether you want to go hiking, skiing or climbing, a hire car is going to make everything much easier.
  If you head up the A27 autopista to Ponte nelle Alpi, you will then find the Dolomiti Bellunesi national park on your left and the Dolomiti Friulane national park on your right. Further to the northwest, you can also visit the Pale di San Martino natural park.
• Slovenia – with a hire car, you can easily pop across into neighbouring Slovenia and explore the Triglav National Park.
• City tour — architecture pundits will also want to visit cities like Padua and Mantua. Mantua in particular has notable works by Alberti, and is rated as one of the most “liveable” cities in Italy.
  Although these can be done by train, a car gives the flexibility to enjoy the cities and landscapes and villages between them.
• Beaches — there are plenty of great beaches around Venice, and a hire car is good for getting around here to.
• Easy hire car access — Venice Marco Polo airport is a short ferry journey from the city, so it is easy to combine a trip into Venice itself with getting a hire car for the rest of your stay. Alternatively, hire cars are also available near to Santa Lucia station, or at Mestre station, the first mainland stop.
  Check about picking up in one place and dropping off somewhere else, it may well just be cheaper to pickup and drop-off your hire car at the airport.
• Plan B – Venice is one of those cities that everyone should visit at least once, but at the wrong time of year it can be quite literally overloaded with people, or sometimes Venice quite literally stinks! Whilst Venice is too good to miss, even if you are then heading on somewhere else, it is worth having other options available in case you get fed up after being there for a couple of days. In this respect, it is at least worth having a hire car as an option.

Why not?

• Obvious isn’t it? Venice is a city of canals and narrow back streets. It goes without saying that as there is no room in Venice for cars, then if you are only planning on staying within the city itself, there is of course no need to even contemplate getting one.
• Getting around – Although a gondola ride will set you back a good few euros (haggle hard), getting around Venice is actually surprisingly easy, whether by water bus (vaporetto) or simply on foot. If it is gimmicks that you are after, you can evn take a ride on the Venice People Mover, which connects Tronchetto Island with Piazzale Roma.
• Lido – Venice isn’t just about the Grand Canal and St Mark’s Square, you may also want to get out and explore around the Lido. Many of these islands are also car free, so you are still best off without one.
• Central Train – any visitors arriving in Venice by train will appreciate that they are already in the heart of the city when they disembark at Santa Lucia station. Simply walk through the station concourse and you exit straight onto the Grand Canal. It doesn’t get better than that! For anyone with an interest in modern aswell as classical architecture, take a brief detour to the right and there you will see the highly controversial Constitution Bridge. This was designed by the Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, altough its simple arch structure is a lot less flamboyant than many of this other works.
• Tour by train — you can easily visit nearby towns and cities by train, and you can also combine a visit to Venice with other major northern Italian city such as Milan and Florence. Those three cities make a nice triangle.

Conclusion — to enjoy the numerous attractions which are within the hinterland of Venice itself, a hire car is an extremely good idea. Verdict — yes

Note — although Venice is not a major intercontinental hub airport, a good network of flights to Venice is available from across Europe. Some budget flights will use Venice Treviso airport, which is around 30 km to the north. If you are getting a hire car anyway, it won’t make that much difference which airport you are using, but for a short break in Venice itself without getting a hire car, it is much easier to use Marco Polo airport

Venice car hire price check: I looked at the cheapest prices for hiring a car in Venice for a week in October 2012. The cheapest option was to pick up a car at Venice Airport and return it there, for around £90. Hiring a car near St Lucia station added another £35 to the cost, and surprisingly, it cost even more (£135) to hire a car in Mestre. Dropping the car at a different location also cost this amount. To get a hire car at Treviso airport, you can expect to pay a little bit more than at Marco Polo (around £100), but this is not a huge difference.

File under: Venice car hire advice - yes or no?, Venice airport car rental, car hire in Venice, Venice without a car, trains, buses and coaches in Venice | V1.1