Is the Bridge of Sighs still covered up?

I was there in mid-May. The bridge itself is finished and uncovered (it looks gorgeous and clean) but the surrounding walls on that canal were all completely covered.

Was there a couple weeks ago. Still as Lisa described.

Those street vendors are really out of hand in some of those places, aren't they? Those screamy things that they keep in their mouths, and those smoosh balls that you mentioned in particular drove me nuts. I know they're just trying to make a living, but it can really ruin the moment since they tend to set up in the most famous places.

The rest of the billboards are supposed to be taken down at the end of the month. Now, we just wait and see if it happens.

Was there just a couple weeks ago. Still covered, but you can walk over it if you pay to get in to the palace. One of the funniest things we saw on our last trip was the huge crowd of people taking photos of the tiny little sliver of the bridge that you can actually see through the billboards. Seriously, about 5 feet of the bridge is visable, yet all these people just HAD to have a picture of it....... By the way, about 1/4 of St. Marks square is also covered in billboards/scaffalding right now as well. Doesn't really take away from the charm of the place that much, once you get used to the supermodel's GIGANTIC HEAD looking down on you. I found the jerks hawking those stupid blue flyer things far more anoying than the billboards. My wife actually got hit in the head with one. Seriously, every five minutes someone was trying to sell us something - flyers, smoosh balls, flowers.........it never stopped.

Thanks for the heads up about the street vendors. This will be my 2nd visit to Venice & I don't remember the street vendors being so dominant when I was there the first time. Glad to hear that the rest of the scaffolding around the Bridge of Sighs should be gone soon & I'll cross my fingers that the same will be true for St. Mark's Square. Thanks for answering my question.

We walked past it today and it was still covered up :-(

Yes to Bridge and St. Marks as of 10/16.

I was there in July and I found all the scaffolding and billboards (and a concert stage) very distracting from the beauty of the Square. I had seen it looking much better on my first trip in 1996, and found it a very big disappointment. It just wasn't pretty and it was impossible to get a good photo of the square. My daughter, 9, however LOVED the "squishy pigs" and we had fun trying to negotiate better and better prices on them!

As of today, it's almost uncovered.

Thanks for the updates everyone! I'm not going to Venice until next year but I really want to get some nice pictures of the Bridge of Sighs without the scaffolding & advertising. Now I'll keep my fingers crossed that the same is true for St. Mark's Square.

Wow! I wonder if this is an ongoing renovation or NEW renovation? I was there in September of '08 and the large painted "billboards", or whatever they were, were along the sides of the buildings lining the canal, and the bridge had big wooden signs above and below it. One said, "Il cielo dei sospiri". They made an attempt at making it more pleasing, I guess, by painting blue sky with big white puffy clouds on it. But still, it really detracted from the scene. I hope it's all gone by the time I'm there next year in October!

Our strategy for Venice (there for 5 nights, 3 weeks ago): go to all the other places in town, plus other islands in the lagoon. Loved our time there. The charm of St. Mark's Square lost on us, due to all the crowds, scaffolding, hawkers, etc. The bridge from which people take pix of the Bridge of Sighs is so congested, with them all jostling to take pictures. Pretty funny.
we loved the Basilica and the Doge's Palace (worth at least 2 hrs in the Palace) but otherwise explored everywhere else. So much to see, and the crowds diminish when you get away from SM area and Rialto. Walking through other neighborhoods fun. we stayed nr St. Marks and that is quite convenient; just don't expect it to be your magic moment in Venice. Sorry I got off track. Just think that whole area around St. Marks, incl Bridge of S., is kind of a gauntlet to be run during the day.

Julie, thanks for your suggestions. That's basically what my plan is for our trip next year; 5 days in Venice & we'll stay near St. Mark's Square but explore the "off the beaten path" areas during the day & then return in the evenings to enjoy the St. Mark's area when the day trippers are gone. Can't wait!

As of noon today,the bridge is still covered. The real offensive thing, though, are the multi-story billboards on Piazza San Marco. Absolutely destroys the beauty of the area. Somebody must have been paid a LOT of money to approve those things. Imagine a Walmart sign hanging from the Statue of liberty; it's that ugly and inappropriate.
Beside that, and the purse and toy hawkers, Venice is amazing!

You are welcome, Sheron. You can see some pictures here http://louisapodlich.com/archives/category/personal-projects/ from our recent trip. She posted 10 per day in her blog. Most of these in this section are from Venice and Murano. My daughter is a photographer and I persuaded her to leave the very heavy "good" camera at home rather than lug it around. The little one she brought still got great shots that she could edit. We opted to skip the usual touristy poses. These are a few of the many images she took. You can also look in archives by month in her blog (look in Sept and October for the earliest and latest posts from our trip)
WE hope you have a great time in Venice. CT lovers might recognize the views from the Monterosso to Vernazza hike and the seaside in both towns. We were there about 10 days before the devastating storms.

"Somebody must have been paid a LOT of money to approve those things." Yes, the city of Venice. Lots of complaints but the local authorities defend themselves on the grounds that the money is used to help pay for the restoration. Bit of a difficult one!

Beautiful Pics Julie! Makes me excited to board the plane today!

Julie, thank you for sharing the link to your daughter's beautiful pictures! They are really nice. Unfortunately hubby & I both travel with our heavy cameras & gear...it sure gets tiring fast so it's great that your daughter agreed not to take her heavy camera. I'll cross my fingers that the advertisements are taken down in the St. Mark's area prior to our trip next year. What a shame that they're allowed in the first place.

Venice is a photographer's dream, isn't it? Here are some pictures I took with a simple Canon PowerShot pocket camera: Venice in May 2011 and Venice in May 2008. Have a great time. And be sure to wander away from the crowds.

you are welcome. glad you liked the pics. The blue anemone-like one is from a main square in Murano. I'm guessing this piece, designed by a local genius in glass, is about 8 X 8 ft. The multi colored glass chunks are from a barrel full of rejected junk from a fornace we visited. Much to our amazement, we were told by woman in their store to just walk right in. Don't think the artisans were too thrilled to have us standing just a few feet away as they raced around with glowing blobs of molten glass at the end of long steel poles. We left fairly quickly, not wanting to be in the way. The barrel of glass was a nice surprise at our exit. The spooky crypt photo is from a church, San Zaccaria, maybe 3 min from St. Marks. yes, that is water on the floor, but visitors are not walking through it. Michael, loved your pictures! thought 5 days wandering around Venice was enough, but I may have to go back sometime! My daughter used a little Canon, too. She was a little frustrated at times by limitations, but generally happy w what she captured.
We went to San Polo district and the "tail" of the fish (can't remember the name of that area) and had the same type of great discoveries you picture. Great place to just wander.