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Venice Mestre & Marghera Hotels

If you need to save money, or when you're traveling with a car, a hotel on the Venetian mainland can be a practical option.

ABOVE: Most of the people on the streets of downtown Mestre are locals, not tourists.

By Durant Imboden

When you're visiting Venice, the best place to stay is in the city's historic center: You won't waste time on commuting, you'll have a place to rest when you're tired of sightseeing, and you'll be able to enjoy Venice in the early morning or late in the evening when the daytrippers have gone home.

Still, you may have good reasons for preferring the city of Venice's mainland districts of Mestre and Marghera:

• If you're traveling by car, you'll find it easier (and cheaper) to park on the mainland and commute to the city center.

• If you're on a tight budget, you'll appreciate the lower rates (and, often, larger rooms) of hotels in Mestre and Marghera.

  Where to stay in Mestre and Marghera:

For most visitors, we suggest:

• Mestre hotels near the Venezia Mestre railroad station, on the north side of the railroad tracks. (Trains reach Venice in 10 to 12 minutes, and tickets are cheap.)

• Marghera hotels near the same train station. (Mestre is an urban area on the north side of the station and railroad tracks; Marghera is a largely residential district to the south.)

• Hotels on the new T1 tram line to Venice's Piazzale Roma, which will get you to the centro storico in 10 to 20 minutes for the same price as a local bus ticket.

If you don't plan a daily commute to Venice's historic center, you may prefer:

• Hotels in central Mestre, where you can enjoy the feeling of being in a large Italian provincial town.

Depending on your travel plans, you may want to consider:

• Hotels near Venice Marco Polo Airport (handy if you need to drop off a rental car at the airport).

• Mestre hotels for cruise passengers.

Please note:

• The hotel links in this article will take you to pages at our hotel partner's site, Booking.com. (Booking.com is Europe's No. 1 reservations service, and it offers guaranteed lowest available rates plus free cancellation on most bookings.)

• If you prefer an all-inclusive map instead of our handpicked listings, click here and drag or zoom Booking.com's interactive map as needed.

Next page: Mestre hotels near the train station

About the author:

Durant Imboden has written about Venice, Italy since 1996. He covered Venice and European travel at About.com for 4-1/2 years before launching Europe for Visitors (including Venice for Visitors) with Cheryl Imboden in 2001.

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