If you had to choose one: Venice or Florence?

Jessica, Florence is a wonderful place and has a lot going for it. We thoroughly enjoyed it. That said, Venice is unlike any city we have ever visited (and that number is rather high). It is, imho, a place everyone needs to visit!! We have been there a number of times, plan to return many more times, and will probably never tire of it. You will get other opinions about this, so try to look at some videos to help with your decision. Let us know if you need specifics about either location. Hope this helps. TC I

Tough task Jessica, but I'll give it a stab. I was in all three of these cities just last month. While of course each of the three cities is an excellent and unique place to visit, I will say that Rome and Florence are more similar, while Venice is quite different. In many ways, Florence is a smaller version of Rome -- both have incredible art, including paintings, sculpture and architecture; both have many important and awesome churches and related religious sites; the central areas of both can be very crowded with a lot of traffic; both have a great variety of cuisine and restaurants. With different sites, you could say the same things about many great cities, including London, Paris, New York, Vienna, and many others. Venice also has great art and religious sites, however, it is truly a unique place, with no vehicle traffic and moving around the city limited to walking and boats on the canals. No other place in the world is really like it. Virtually all it's buildings are ancient and interesting. Its cuisine focuses on fish and seafood. You don't say how long you will spend in each city you visit, but in all three cases if you have the time, there are wonderful places nearby to visit on day trips too.

So, if you are definitely including Rome as one of two stops, I would choose Venice for the other one. But then be sure to include Florence and other towns in Tuscany in your itinerary next time!

Buon viaggio!

How many nights do you have at you disposal?

If you have 7 nights, you can do all 3 comfortably:
3 nights in Rome
2 nights in Florence
2 nights in Venice
Then go to Switzerland.

If you have 6 nights, take one night out of either Florence or Venice (depending on your personal preference.
If you have 5 nights only stay 3 in Rome, 1 in Florence and 1 in Venice.

Jessica, this question has been asked a few times before on this website. You'll find that this website community is quite divided in their love for these two cities. Half will pick Venice and half will pick Florence.

Jessica, your other thread mentioned 6-8 days in Italy, so based on that I would say:

with 8 days do all three cities - Rome 3, Florence 2, Venice 3. I say 3 for Venice and 2 for Florence only because getting to Venice and from there to Switzerland will use up more time (probably 1 day will be spent in travel to and from so you would still just have 2 days there).

with 7 days you can still do all three - Rome 3, Florence 2, Venice 2.

with 6 days I would just do Rome and one of the other two - my personal preference would be Venice because as said by others it is so unique, but I loved both so you can't go wrong either way.

It's a tough decision but one that a lot of people will envy you having to make.

If you take an early train from Rome, you can see the highlights of Florence in a day, then continue on to Venice on an evening train. There is a left luggage facility in Florence and the main attractions are a 10-20 minute walk from the station.

Jessica,

If you have eight days available, is there a reason you can't visit all three cities? Although you wouldn't have time for a lot of touring, it would at least provide a brief look and you could schedule a longer visit on your next trip.

If you had to choose only two, my suggestion would be Rome and Florence. In addition to the attractions in the city, Florence has some good day trip possibilities.

Happy travels!

For its unique character, Venice. I would prefer to spend a little more time in two cities than rush through three.

choose only one, then Venice

It's a nobrainer - Venice. NOT Mestre which is close by on the mainland. Choose Venice ISLAND!

This one is easy Venice.

Venice for me.

After having been to both, I would also choose Venice. It is so unique and beautiful. I wasn't nearly as impressed with Florence.

Easy, Venice! Go to Florence next time. Quality not quantity is the best practice.

I would choose Venice...it's such a unique place in the world. It's also being overcome by the water that surrounds it and it's not going to be the same place within our lifetime. See it while you can!

Thanks everyone! It's good to know that most people would vote Venice. That's what I was leaning toward, although I've always wanted to go to Tuscany. So many decisions.

Venice is magic, Florence has a lot of magnificent sights. Which do you want?

With limited time, Venice may be the better choice. Just being there is the best part - there are only a few must-see sights.

Florence has a lot of renaissance must-sees. If you don't have time to see them, you will miss the biggest reason to be there.

If you like (1) narrow streets crammed with tons of people all headed in the same direction; (2) second-tier (by comparison to Florence) museums; and (3) marginal cuisine, then 'Disneyland on the Grand Canal' is for you. I am probably one of the few posters on this website who is in the minority regarding Venice vs. Florence, but in terms of art, architecture, and cuisine, I prefer Florence. I realize that many say Venice becomes 'magical' after dark, when the cruise ships leave, but we stayed there several days and the highlight of each evening was returning to our hotel on an island in the Venice lagoon after fighting the crowds during the day. So, if you can fit it in, I would only devote one day to Venice - see St. Mark's Square and Basilica, Doge's Palace, and the Grand Canal, and then head for the train station. If you can't fit it in, then just go to Florence and Rome, as the latter is a must-see.

Robert's comments against Venice are a good argument for staying in Venice proper, rather than the mainland or one of the other islands in the lagoon. A lot of people see the lower lodging costs at those sites and decide unwittingly to shoot themselves in the foot by staying there. We've stayed in Venice proper three times and once on the Lido. The experience of Venice is qualitatively different when you lodge somewhere else.

Staying in Venice proper allows you to time your sight-seeing so that you're avoiding the crowds at the peak times.

That said, one-fifth of the western world's art treasures are in Florence, and you really can't go wrong either way.

My history: 5 trips to Venice - 3 trips overnight and up to a week - have stayed in three neighbourhoods in Venice proper and also have done 2 day trips to Venice.

Florence 9 trips - most for at least two weeks, others for one month

I'm a Florence person and would pick it over Venice any day.

But, my interests are in Renaissance art and history and I would say that for some people Florence is a city best appreciated once you get to know it. For a person who is not really into museums or art, the attractions of Florence might not be immediately apparent. But it is a beautiful city and in my mind well worth the time. Whre else can you walk the streets where, during a short period of history, you might have passed Michelangelo, Leonarda Da Vinci and Machiavelli? Not to mention the other periods of time where Florence was home to many other seminal figures like Dante and Gailleo. And the sight of Michelangelo's David in the Accademia was a life changing experience for me with regard to art. It is NOT like Rome. Nor is it the Tuscan countryside if that's what you want to see.

Frankly, if I never had to go to Venice again, I would be very happy. But I believe everyone should see it once, so I'm going once again in March of 2014 because the person I'm travelling with has never been. For me, Venice is more of an "eye candy" type of place and novel because of the setting. But I don't feel one experiences it as a living city, more like a tourist attraction. I personally have enough of Venice by doing a solid one day visit there.

If you have some very specific sights you want to see, I would recommend that you add them up and pick the place that has the most of importance for you.

And, consider that at some point you may go back and then you can plan to see more of the places on your list.

With due respect to Michael, I would like to clarify that the hotel we stayed at in the lagoon was a 5-star and was offered through a conference organizer. It is a former women's asylum originally established by the Austrians. I can assure you that it definitely did not fit the category of 'lower lodging costs'. I am not stating that to be snobbish, just pointing out that it did not align with Michael's non-Venice-proper hotel stereotype. In fact, staying at the San Clemente Palace Hotel was one of the highlights of our Venice experience and was, hands down, the finest hotel that we have ever stayed at in over 20 years of European travel. Venice-proper or an island dwelling, Venice or Florence, etc. - to each his own!

I am sure the San Clemente Palace hotel is a wonderful hotel---a five-star resort hotel on a very private island near Venice. But not many people visiting Venice have the chance to stay there, nor would they want to. it is not the same as being in Venice itself--- you were really a day visitor, so experienced all the annoyances that go with that---crowded streets, crowded vaporetto. At least you didn't face the noisy traffic of Florence!

It is true that Venice has no art museum to compare with the Uffizzi. Instead, there a number of smaller museums that are much easier to take in small doses. And much of the best art is "in situ" in churches.

As for food, you do have to pay a bit more to get a nice dinner. And you should dine late, as the Venetians do, and find out where they go. There are some mediocre touristy places, but they can be avoided. We love seafood and have had some very nice "mixed grill" seafood dinners.

Point taken, Robert. I didn't mean to imply that you chose that hotel to save money, but you would have to agree (I think) that the overwhelming majority of people who choose to stay outside of Venice do so to save money. I'm esp. thinking of the Lido and Mestre.

Been to both Florence and Venice two times. My vote: Venice. Venice. Venice.

Rome and Florence offer a lot of "sights," but Venice IS the sight...and it's super romantic. Have fun!

Another vote for Venice.

Florence is for art lovers, Venice is for lovers.

Decide which you are and then pick.

One factor to throw into this is that the problems of Venice just seem to keep getting worse, so I suggest seeing it sooner rather than later. Here are some of the problems I'm thinking about:
1. Increased cruise ship traffic (Yes, I know about the possible restrictions on cruise ships, but that will just divert how the ships approach, not the number of visitors.)
2. The dwindling population of Venetians who can afford to live on the island.
3. Slowly rising water levels combined with slowly sinking parts of the city.

For me, it would be Venice. It's so unique and, if you get away from the main tourist area around San Marco, you will have a totally different experience of the place. Also, trips to Burano and Torcello were very interesting. I would also recommend spending some time of Guidecca, it was peaceful, had good food, and great views of Venice itself. Although Florence was wonderful for its unmatched art, I found the city itself less than desirable. I would like to go back, but probably wouldn't stay in the city itself next time. No matter which place you choose, you will see some incredible things. Have a great trip.

I am a Venice lover - in 3 trips to Europe, I manage to squeeze it in every time. (To the detriment of Florence last trip, which only had 2 nights = 1 full day).

My tip if you do go - try to stay right in Venice (we've used Al Campaniel B&B all 3 times) get up EARLY...like 7am (I made poor hubby get up at 6:30 on trip #3, he is NOT a morning person, but he still appreciates me making him get up and out...and we went back to the B&B around 8:30 for breakfast - the wonderful thing is Venice is so compact, if you stay central in the city itself, most things are a short vaporetto ride away). Go see St Marks Sq and Rialto with next to nobody (diehard photographers usually), then go back in the evening after the day-trippers have left - for me, there is nothing more romantic then the lights on the water, listening to the orchestras in St Marks, watching the older couples dancing and falling in love all over again. And you only need go a few alleys away to be out of the crowds - but you really do need to experience the crowds around Rialto - if only to know what sheep or cows feel like when they are being herded...lol.

I have to go with Robert on this one. Having visited many times, we (my wife and I) greatly prefer Florence. Venice can be a circus of wall-to-wall people and cruise ship crowds. The restroom facilities are difficult to find and there are few "must see sights". Florence is the heart of the renaissance and the home of great art. Venice is a "box to check" on a trip to Italy. Florence is a truly marvelous experience. Wonderful food, wonderful art, amazing architecture, great shopping (not touristy shops) - not to mention it doesn't smell.

The Venice experience can easily be done in a day. You can spend a month and not see all of Florence. Florence also offers a great opportunity to get out and explore the Tuscan countryside either by car or bus.

Correction needed to the posting immediately above: "The Venice experience can easily be done in a day." should read "A Venice experience can easily be done in a day." It took us four visits to Venice for a total of about 15 days before we felt we had "done" Venice. On the other hand, after four nights in Florence we felt no desire to return.

Remember, there's no one-size-fits-all approach to travel.

Never had an issue with Venice being stinky, but then we've always been there late Sept...