Venice

When are you going and what do you plan to do? We've spent 10 nights there in two trips and will be back again in December. Absolutely love it there! Piazza San Marco is crowded much of the time, as is the "march" to the Rialto, but once you get away to Dorsoduro, Cannareggio, and San Polo, for example, it's much less crowded. In 4+ days you can take advantage of a day on the Laguna and go to Murano, Burano and Torcello. (Don't miss Torcello! It's peaceful and beautiful. the birthplace of Venice.) Get out to S. Elena, too. If you like walking tours, pick up the book "24 Great Walks in Venice."

Venice is crowded during the day only. I was there this past weekend, got a cheap hotel (55 euros) so I could stay overnight because night and early morning is the best time to see Venice. It is a completely different city during those times, especially early morning. I woke up at 6 am and had the whole city to myself, including Piazza San Marco which had probably less than 5 people on it. If you REALLY want to enjoy Venice, early morning is the best time. Even the Lista di Spagna (main drag from the train station towards Rialto/San Marco) was virtually empty around 9 am.

What dirty? Been there many times, never ever seen dirty. Are these people who told you it is dirty people who have actually been there? Did they ever get off the tourist crush route? To me, 5 nights is perfect there. That's what I did in April. As always, I was in mourning when I left and would have loved twice the time.

Nancy, even closer than Florence, if you want a daytrip, is Padova (you'll need reservations for the Scrovegni Chapel). Venice has been crowded for centuries, but other posters are right, it's during daytime hours. I've been to Venice many times. Last time I stayed at a monastery on the north side of the main islands which made getting to the other islands (so right about Torcello) easier to get to. Invest in the vaporetto pass. In 4 days you'll have time to explore the various areas of Venice without trying to rush from one area to the next.

You won't know how you feel about Venice until you go. For most, it's amazing. But for some, it's "Venice the Menace" - overcrowded, expensive, too much like a Disney creation or a movie set, and generally overrated. (I'm not sure where the "dirty" part you've heard comes from. I didn't find Venice to be dirtier than any other part of Italy, and cleaner than some. If you need spic-and-span clean, stay out of Italy altogether.) However, it is very important that you understand how crowds in Venice work. The crowds are limited to certain places - St. Marks Square, the Rialto, the train station area, and the direct paths between these. Rick Steves is quite right when he says "Eighty percent of Venice is, in fact, not touristy, but eighty percent of tourists never notice." If you go to places like the ones mentioned in posts above (Dorsoduro, Cannareggio, and San Polo, and anywhere early in the morning), you'll see a different city. And yes, if it turns out you don't like Venice, you can take "day trips" to the islands (in addition to Murano, Burano, and Torcello, there's San Michele, the island with Venice's cemetery), as well as more conventional day trips to Padova (wonderful, and quite different from Venice), Vicenza, Verona, Treviso... I also agree with the above posts saying that the more you know about Venice, the more you'll appreciate it. If you just go to ooh and aah, you could get bored quickly. But if you understand some of its unique history, you'll see the city in a different way.

Some parts of Venice are indeed filthy.

dove è? I'd like to know areas to avoid...

Well, I can tell you that I've seen my share of filth in different areas of Venice on most visits over the years. In fact, some back alleys have started putting "this is not a toilette" signs up because of people urinating or defecating there late at night. I saw one such sign in the small street on the left right before the Bovolo this past weekend. I'm not saying the entire island is dirty but any island that gets as many daily tourists as Venice is bound to have dirty areas.

If you want to experience a quiet and beautiful Venice, get up really early and experience the city waking up and watch the sunrise over the water.... there will be hardly anyone there, and when the hordes of tourists come in you can take a nap.

There are a few parts of Venice that are extremely crowded during the peak times of the day, esp. Piazza San Marco and the Rialto and the route between the two. A visitor can choose to stay in the crowds and complain about how crowded Venice is (while contributing to the problem, if we're honest), or the visitor can wander away from those places during the peak 10-4 time and see the rest of this amazingly beautiful city. Here are some photos of uncrowded Venice that I took on two of our previous trips - 2008 and 2011, both times in May: Uncrowded Venice. Does it look either dirty or crowded? Happy travels.

Some parts of Venice are indeed filthy. That can be said of virtually every city in the world, including every city in the US. Seattle has a reputation of being a very clean city, but I walked past the same pile of garbage every morning for two weeks on my way in to work.

Arriving in any major city for the first time always presents an opportunity for realignment between expectations and reality. That was never more true for me than my arrival for the first time in Venice just two months ago. I had heard stories about smelly canals, impossible crowds and buildings falling apart. Do you know what I found? No smelly canals, no garbage, few encounters with crowds, and buildings that were no more falling apart than in any other old city. If you want to see Venice at its best, here is what you do; take that list of sights you want to see and throw it away. Venice, itself, is the only site in Venice that matters. Once you are settled in your lodging, look on your map of venice and decide what neighborhood you want to shoot for. Then put your map away and set out in that general direction. Within minutes you will be lost. Consider this an opportunity, not a problem. You will notice that there are no crowds when you are lost. You will also notice that eventually you will either hit the Grand Canal or the edge of Venice. If you like, you can follow the frequent arrows pointing to major landmarks - or you can just ignore them and wander. The next day, pick a different area to get lost in. In this way, you will really see Venice, and when you come home and hear of someone else about to visit that great city, you can pass along the truth as a seasoned traveler instead of some trite generalization.

beautifully said, Randy!

Randy loves to throw away lists and guidebooks. :-) I think he makes an excellent rhetorical point (don't think that a city is defined only by its highlights), but you really should see the Basilica and the Doge's Palace, and you would kick yourself if you didn't go onto the Rialto Bridge. The reason you'll need a list is that the first two places have certain hours, and if you miss those, you're out of luck. The key is to time those so you're not doing it at the same time as the thousands of tourists disgorged by the cruise ships and those training in for a day trip. And absolutely give yourself enough time to do exactly what Randy says - wander. You can't get lost. You're on an island. (Actually a couple hundred islands, hence all the bridges, but you get the point.) Happy travels.

Nancy, Yes. My wife and I just returned from our first time in Italy and spent 2 nights in Venice, that was enough for us. We did an evening kayak trip through the canals, over 4 and 1/2 hours. What a blast. My wife and I are in our late 50's early 60's and love to walk around. We're not window shoppers and rarely go into a tourist type store. We did a half day walking tour which gave us head of the line priviledges into St. Marks cathedral. In our opinion Venice was too crowded with college aged kids with mommy and daddy's credit card and families with children who couldn't put down their i-whatevers. We were there in late June. Glad we were there and a lot to see but we probably will not go back. Had a great hotel with a wonderful breakfast included, an old monastary, called Rezidenza Casa San Marcos.

It just goes to show what I often say: There is no one-size-fits-all approach to travel. We've been to Venice three times and are going back again in May.

My favorite hotel is H.Tivoli, near the Frari Church. It's a bit off the beaten path and inexpensive for Venice. It's a walk of 5-10 minutes from the train station. I like to stay a few days at a time and prefer walking rather than riding the vaporetto. The cruise ships dump thousands of tourists near San Marco around 10 am most days. Enjoy early hours and avoid the San Marco area mid-day. There are quiet piazzas scattered throughout the city, away from the main tourist paths.

We have been two times to Venice, both late Sept, and are returning this year (about a month to go - yay)...my absolute fav place - get lost - it is most fun. Wander in the evening - I hope this trip to get up around 6-6:30 am and get out and see the city during sunrise. I found spots crowded (the usual) but upon talking to a merchant on the Rialto, he said 'This is nothing, you should be here in August'...my my, can't imagine. For me, it is a fairytale city, albeit, rough around the edges - but that is part of the charm - the decaying grandeur...the thrill of stepping out of the train station and no cars - water, vaporettos, the crazy Canal...(sighs wistfully).