Mestre or Venice ???.. Here is my verdict.

Hello everyone,

Mestre or Venice ? Have you stayed at either, or both, what is your preference… ?

For my own holiday in September of last year, I took a cruise from Venice with NCL and as Venice has been on my wish list to visit for a while, I wanted to take the opportunity to extend my holiday with a pre-cruise mini city-break.

After spending quite a while looking at different hotel options (and costs) I eventually reached the decision to stay in Mestre, and I must say how pleasantly surprised I was.

There are many advantages to staying in Mestre as opposed to on Venice Island – the first of these being Transfer arrangements… Upon arriving at the airport we had a private car transfer to our Hotel which cost us less than £50.00 for the 30 minute journey.  The transfer from the Hotel to the Cruise terminal is also very easy with Mestre connected to Venice Island by a road/rail causeway it is less than 20 minutes transfer time with easy door to door pick ups..

Whilst staying for 3 nights in Mestre we spent 2 whole days exploring Venice Island – which we easily reached by bus in just 20 minutes and with services operating every 15 minutes this was an easy (and cheap – approximately £3 return) way for us to enjoy the city.  Venice has just the 1 main Bus station and 1 train station – from there the best way to see the city is on foot, or by taking a Vaporetto water taxi.  We spent most of our time on foot and it was lovely to just put away the map and to wander the many narrow streets – the worst thing that can happen is you reach a dead end or out on to a canal and have to re-trace a little way.  The Island is in 2 halves connected by several bridges and separated by the grand canal, with the one side being very traditional and the other side more tourist driven including the huge attraction of St Mark’s Square.  We spent a full day on each side and it was lovely to see the differences.  We walked miles…. but stopped at several pavement cafes for refreshment breaks including my new favourite drink of Aperol Spritz.

Whilst exploring we did see many people walking the streets with cases trying to find their hotels, and also while on the cruise we spoke to many people that had paid out hundreds of euros for a water taxi pick up from their hotel to the port and this is when we realised how beneficial Mestre was.   We also benefited from a luxury 4* star hotel with extensive buffet breakfast for the same cost as a 2* without in the City… and with transport links running late in to the night we still got to experience the atmosphere of the city at night too.  We also discovered some beautiful restaurants and bars in Mestre itself and these had much more of a traditional Italian feel to them than the City tourist traps.

So overall – my verdict was a definite YES to Mestre.

Please do let me know your opinion, and if you are interested in any cruise departing from Venice – Here is a selection of some summer Venice departures – let me know if you would like to include a pre or post cruise stay to see the delights.