Car transport
Car transport to Venice
1,300 kilometres to Venice. With one thing to know beforehand: the centre has no cars, so the question is not whether but where it will stand.
Why this route
One driving day, and then the road stops
Venice lies about 1,300 kilometres away. One long driving day of some thirteen hours, including the required breaks. The hotel night falls on the Italian side, before I fly home; that night and the secured parking are in the price.
At every other destination the question is: can the car get into the centre? At Venice that question does not arise. The historic centre has no streets for cars, the road across the lagoon ends at Piazzale Roma and the multi-storey on Tronchetto. Everything beyond that is on foot, by vaporetto or by boat.
That makes delivery here more concrete than elsewhere. We agree a precise spot in advance: the Tronchetto garage, Piazzale Roma, a hotel in Mestre or Marghera on the mainland, or the address of a villa in the Veneto. Each option carries a different practical story, and we settle it before I leave rather than when I am standing there.
Your route
Netherlands → Venice
One direct drive from the Netherlands, your own car, one dedicated driver, from your door to the destination. Every other destination in Europe I drive just as readily.
direct route · 1 dedicated driver
Price indication — Venice
One-way
~ 1300 km · ~ 1 driving days
- Driver fee
- € 650
- Travel expenses (calculated up front, no mark-up)
- € 780
- Total (indicative)
- ± € 1.740
incl. 21% VAT · ± € 1.430 excl. VAT
Return (combi)
~ 1300 km · ~ 2 driving days
- Driver fee
- € 1.200
- Travel expenses (calculated up front, no mark-up)
- € 1.380
- Total (indicative)
- ± € 3.130
incl. 21% VAT · ± € 2.580 excl. VAT
Prices may vary slightly due to variable costs such as hotel, fuel and tolls.
Who sends a car here
Four situations where this works
Venice is rarely the end point. Usually it is the arrival, and the car is for what comes after.
A longer stay in the Veneto
Verona, Padua, Treviso, the Prosecco hills, Lake Garda ninety minutes away: that is the region you want the car for. Venice is then the arrival, and the car waits on the mainland for the rest.
The Biennale
From 9 May to 22 November 2026 the Venice Biennale runs, more than half a year in which the city is structurally fuller. For anyone going back and forth several times, or bringing material, your own car on the mainland is more practical than arranging it afresh each time.
The Film Festival and the Carnevale
The Film Festival on the Lido, in late August and early September, and the Carnevale in February are the two other moments when the city is full and the mainland hotels fill up as fast as those on the island. In those weeks I plan more generously and pin the delivery address down precisely.
Collecting or returning a car
A car that was in northern Italy and has to come home, or a purchase from a dealer in the Veneto. I fly out, check it over and drive it back, two days of my time instead of four of yours.
The route
Thirteen hundred kilometres, in one day
One long day, the overnight stop on the Italian side, and an agreed spot for where the car ends up.
- 01
Fixing the delivery spot and the vignette
Before departure
For Venice this is the crucial agreement: Tronchetto, Piazzale Roma, a mainland hotel or an address in the Veneto. Each option has its own access and its own rates, and we settle that beforehand. The Swiss vignette of CHF 40 also goes on the windscreen; without it the fine is CHF 200.
- 02
The Netherlands to Basel
Day 1, ± 600 km
Through Germany on the A3 and A5 past Cologne, Frankfurt and Karlsruhe. No toll for cars in Germany, so fuel only.
- 03
Over the Gotthard
Day 1, end
From Basel via Lucerne to the Gotthard tunnel and into Ticino. The middle of the day, and the point where Italy begins.
- 04
Across the Po valley
Day 2, ± 400 km
East from Milan on the A4 past Bergamo, Brescia, Verona and Padua. Flat, straight and busy. The A4 is Italy's heaviest freight corridor, so I plan around the times.
- 05
Delivery and the way back
Day 2, end
I deliver to the agreed spot and tell you exactly where it stands, with photographs. Then I fly home from Marco Polo, which has direct flights to the Netherlands all year. That ticket is in the price.
Practical points
No car drives in Venice itself
The historic centre has no roads for cars. The causeway across the lagoon ends at Piazzale Roma and the multi-storey on Tronchetto; beyond that everything is on foot, by vaporetto or by boat. This is not a restriction a permit can solve. There is simply no street. Delivery here therefore always means an agreed spot on the edge, or an address on the mainland.
Why Mestre and Marghera are often more sensible
Parking at Tronchetto or Piazzale Roma is the shortest walk to the centre, and also the most expensive spot in the region. Anyone staying longer usually leaves the car in Mestre or Marghera on the mainland and takes the train or bus onto the island, a ride of a few minutes. Which of the two makes sense for you depends on how long it stands; I will think it through with you.
The ZTL applies on the mainland
Mestre, like most Italian cities, has a ZTL in its old centre: cameras at the entrances, fines from € 80 to € 335 per violation, and several cameras on one trip can mean several fines. If your delivery address sits inside it, I work out beforehand what is needed.
The Swiss vignette
The fastest route runs over the Gotthard, so through Switzerland: vignette CHF 40, and without one a fine of CHF 200. I arrange it in advance. Via Austria and the Brenner is possible too, but then an Austrian vignette plus the separate sector toll on the Brenner motorway is added, usually dearer.
Recurring events
The Biennale runs in 2026 from 9 May to 22 November and keeps the city full for half a year. On 21 November 2026 the Festa della Madonna della Salute takes place, for which a pontoon bridge is laid across the Grand Canal. There is also the Film Festival on the Lido in late August and early September, and the Carnevale in February. In all those periods the mainland hotels are dearer and fuller too.
Compare your options
The same car from the Netherlands to Southern Europe, three ways, three price tags. With a trailer, watch which one you are comparing: riding along on a scheduled line from depot to depot is the cheapest there is, but a transporter making the run for your car alone charges per kilometre and bills the truck’s journey home as well. Between those two extremes sits a factor of five.
Trailer transport
€675 – 4,500 excl.
± 10 working days, or 2–3
- €675 – 850 if your car rides along on a scheduled line
- But then you take it to the depot yourself and collect it yourself on arrival, ten working days later
- If the transporter runs for your car alone, door to door, it goes per kilometre — open ± €0.95, enclosed ± €1.35 — and the truck’s journey home counts too. Utrecht–Marbella comes to ± €4,500
- Luggage in the car usually not allowed
Driving it yourself
± €0.25 per km + your time
± 2 – 3 days of your own
- You drive the whole route yourself
- Fuel and tolls come to roughly €0.25 per kilometre
- Plus a hotel night on the way and a flight back
- And two to three days of your own time
Monarch DriveDrive-it-Back
± €2,040 excl. for Utrecht–Marbella
± 3 days
- One dedicated driver drives your own car, door to door
- Half what a transporter charges to make that same run for your car alone
- On the day you choose, not the day the line departs
- Load the car with your own luggage
- 360° condition report + daily updates
Trailer prices, September 2026: the line prices from one large Dutch car transporter's own route pages, the door-to-door price from a Dutch specialist in exclusive car transport's own rate calculator. My figure is the indication from the calculator above for Utrecht–Marbella, one way. All amounts exclude VAT so they can be read side by side. Travel expenses are calculated up front and included in the fixed price, with no mark-up.
Frequently asked
What people ask about this route
As far as Piazzale Roma or the Tronchetto garage, no further: the historic centre has no roads for cars. Beyond that it is on foot, by vaporetto or by boat. We agree in advance which of those spots it will be.
Yes, considerably. Tronchetto and Piazzale Roma are the most expensive spots in the region. If the car stands longer, Mestre or Marghera is usually wiser, with the train or bus onto the island. I will think through which suits your stay.
One long driving day of some thirteen hours. The hotel night falls on the Italian side, before I fly home; that night and the secured parking are in the price.
Yes. Verona, Padua, Treviso, Lake Garda: anything within about ninety minutes is on the same run and normally costs nothing extra. Give me the address at booking.
Yes. On delivery I send photographs of the car and of the spot, with the floor or bay number if it is a garage.
By air from Marco Polo, which has direct flights to the Netherlands all year. That ticket is in the price.
How I safeguard your car
Clear about cover
Your own policy stays leading. Damage caused by me: I cover the excess up to €500. What I do not have is stated just as plainly.
Signed transport agreement
Every arrangement — excess, route, planning — recorded in writing beforehand.
360° condition report
Your car's condition fully documented with photos, before and on delivery.
Reply within 24 hours
A personal answer from one point of contact, not a call centre.
Elsewhere on the site
Other Italian destinations, or the rates first?
The other direction
And if your car needs to come back from Venice?
Bringing your car back from Venice costs ± € 1.520. Going out is ± € 1.740, so the return works out cheaper: the last driving day ends at my own door, with no hotel night at the far end and no flight home. I fly out and drive it back to you.
Ready to have your car transported safely?
Request your indication with no obligation. Within 24 hours you will have a personal reply.