Introducing Mestre-Marghera

Mestre and its neighbor, Marghera, are districts of the Comune di Venezia, a.k.a. the city of Venice. They're located on the Italian mainland at the foot of the Ponte della Libertà, the causeway that runs approximately 4 km or 2.6 miles to the historic center of Venice, which is a cluster of 100 small islands in the Venetian Lagoon.

Many tourists choose to stay in Mestre (or, sometimes, in Marghera) to save money on hotels, to avoid parking and luggage-hauling hassles, or to be close to the Venezia Mestre Railroad Station, which is the Venice stop for many long-distance and international through trains. If you're among these visitors, you needn't feel guilty or worried about your choice: Mestre and Marghera are far more pleasant than most guidebooks and travel sites will tell you.

In the following pages, we'll take you on an informal--and somewhat random--virtual walking tour through Mestre and Marghera. We hope you'll find our photos and detailed captions helpful in visualizing the Venetian mainland before your trip.

• Suggestion: If you haven't already done so, look at the list of articles on our Mestre home page, which cover such topics as where to stay in Mestre and Marghera, how to commute from Venice to Mestre by train, buses to Mestre from Venice Marco Polo Airport, and the convenient, reasonably-priced parking lot at San Giuliano.