By road and rail

People arriving by car must leave their vehicle either on the mainland or try for the car parks of Venice itself - either at Piazzale Roma or at the ever-expanding Tronchetto , Europe’s largest car park. Piazzale Roma is well connected with the main water-bus services, Tronchetto rather less so, though you won’t have to move more than thirty minutes for transport to the San Marco area. Prices at these two vary according to the time of year, the length of stay and the size of car, but it’s never a cheap option (from about L40,000/¬21 per day), and in summer the tailbacks can be horrendous. Best to use the open-air San Giuliano car park at Mestre or the one at Fusina ; both operate only in summer, at Easter and during the Carnevale, and ACTV buses connect both with central Venice.

Arriving by train, coach or bus , you simply get off at the end of the line. The Piazzale Roma bus station and Santa Lucia train station (not to be confused with Venezia Mestre, the last stop on the mainland) are just five minutes’ achievement from apiece other, at the top of the Canal Grande, and both are well served by vaporetto services to the core of the city. The left-luggage office at the train station charges L5000 per item per twelve hours; when things get frenetic, they open a separate office for larger pieces of luggage, also at the station. There are also lockers alongside platform 1, which cost L6000/¬3 for six hours.