Venice in December (with kids)

Hi Laura, I visited Venice in December (just before Christmas) and absolutely loved it! The crowds are long gone, so it’s mostly just you and the locals. You can easily walk into any attraction without queuing and there’s plenty of room on the water bus. I visited the Doge's Palace and found myself almost alone in those majestic rooms.

As for Acqua Alta, I wouldn’t worry too much. The official comune di Venezia website provides information on how they handle those exceptional situations. In short, you can continue exploring the city as usual. If you’d like, it would be helpful to understand what specifically concerns you, and maybe the forum can offer some tailored advice.

Indeed St. Mark's is particularly prone to flooding since it’s only about 90 cm above sea level, while most of Venice is at 110-120 cm. Cannaregio would be a safer option, as it is further from the sea. Dorsoduro is my favorite neighborhood: it's very family-friendly, somewhat central and picturesque.

My son is about the same age as your kids.
He loved interacting with the contraptions at the Da Vinci Interactive Museum, visiting the Naval History Museum and boarding the submarine in the Arsenale. Meeting the cats at Libreria Acqua Alta was fun too - by the way, it’s best to go early since it can get quite crowded even in December. The toys at Creature di Gomma were also captivating, although most of them are from older shows that the kids don’t know. Here you can find more ideas for kid-friendly activities in Venice. By the way, we had a mixed experience at the Natural History Museum. While it’s very captivating, some of the displays are a bit unsettling (like the "mermaid-monkey" or the hunting trophies). They ended up giving him nightmares that night - just a heads-up!

Enjoy your time in Venice and let me know if you need more suggestions or advice.

Although it is only one factor in Alta Acqua, I look at the lunar cycle to get a hint as to the likely hood of high water. There is a new moon on December 30, which increases the tides. So that might be a factor around then. But Acqua Alta in Venice is really fascinating to witness if it is not too great.

We went to Venice with our kids in 2018, the few days after Christmas. We are also from DC. We had a great time but it was very damp and cold. It’s colder when you are outside all the time. We still talk about Mr. Pasta (fast food pasta place that got their attention). I have included a few notes below that I shared with a friend planning a trip. I hope you have a great time!
Row Venice – women-owned business where you get to row (rather than just sit). Wouldn’t necessarily recommend it in the summer, it was a better way to stay warm in the winter! But it’s worth checking out.
https://rowvenice.org/. Kids enjoyed!

Something we looked into but didn’t have time to do – looked like fun
Mask making: https://www.camacana.com/

I just got back from an 18 day trip to Italy and France which included two days in Venice. It was our least favorite place and one big hurdle was the Acqua Alta and flooding; not charming and romantic as some pictures would have you believe. The city was super crowded (shoulder to shoulder crowds), flooded more times than not, very damp, the stores were selling the same cheap touristy junk, and the food was extremely underwhelming. I had seen and read so many glowing reviews about the city of Venice and I had high expectations which unfortunately didn’t happen for us. The concierge at our hotel told us that there’s mostly tourists in the city now with only 10% of the population being locals. Almost 6 million tourists visited Venice last year and the numbers keep climbing. He told us that many migrants have come in and opened restaurants trying to recreate authentic Italian food but they don’t know how and it ends up being not so good. As we were waiting in line for a water bus one day (waited shoulder to shoulder for about 30 minutes with people coughing and sneezing right in my face) I felt like I was in line for a ride at Disneyland. While on the water, it smelled and many of the buildings on the grand canal looked abandoned and creepy. Graffiti is also evident everywhere. For me, all these issues ruined the experience and I didn’t like it. I wouldn’t want to be there in December when it’s even colder and wetter.

Hi Laura,

We were just in Venice in December 2023 for 10 days right before Christmas and found none of the problems that Heather writes about. Previous to that trip, we had spent two weeks in Venice, one of them also in December. I should say, though, that we moved to Bologna for the next part of our trip because we were told that Venice is much busier between Christmas and New Years.

There was no high water and it was not cold, but of course your weather will differ.

Our apartment was in Cannaregio, a great neighborhood, and one of our previous apartments was in eastern Castello on the via Giuseppe Garibaldi (near the "Alice in the Wonderland" art gallery and the water), an area we also loved. Maybe even more than Cannaregio! The kids would have enjoyed being so close to a large park and playground.

Our two grandchildren and their wranglers were with us on this trip --- they were 6.5 and 9.5 then! They adored Venice --- we wisely kept them out of most museums and churches, but the 9-year-old did actually like San Marco and not only because there were "mosaics of naked people on the ceiling." I can tell you more about exactly what they did, but, briefly, going up in towers, finding the narrowest alley and the two bridges without any railings, the street musicians, the Christmas stuff, Burano, a glass-blowing demo, and of course riding on the vaporetti and eating pizza with French fries on them.

I almost forgot the scratch-off booklets I made for each of them! There were about 40 photos of things in Venice and the rule was that if either child saw something, they both could scratch off the sticker and get points (this reduced competition almost to zero, and there was no final prize, just the "treasure-hunting" and point-collecting itself). Scratch-off stickers are available from Amazon.

Here's a useful site about Venice and flooding: https://www.comune.venezia.it/en/content/venice-and-high-water

We went to Venice with our children that are slightly older, and it was a tad disappointing for us too. It felt like a ghost town with only tourists walking around and no local life at all! It actually felt a bit sad despite the beauty of such a unique city. Not that you are asking, but London is a fantastic city for Dec with so much to do.

Venice is maddening and overcrowded and surly and grimy… but it’s pretty special.

So you should absolutely go. When you go is the question. I wouldn’t worry the slightest about aqua alta impacting your visiting a significant way. I would worry about crowds. If your research shows that the time after Christmas is slammed, then I might choose an alternative. But if it’s just a colder Venice, then I’d absolutely take advantage of slack crowds. I wouldn’t even worry about closures…The city itself is the museum and that never closes.

We had some acqua alta on a couple of days when I was in Venice in September this year. The elevated platforms came out and there were vendors selling galoshes. The latter looked sturdier than I had expected, and I think they cost less than 10 euros per pair. Because of where I was walking and my timing--and because i was wearing waterproof shoes--the water didn't affect me. My travel mate did buy a pair of the galoshes, and I got a good enough look at them to feel they'd probably be effective.

It's possible to visit Venice and not be constantly surrounded by crowds. You just need to avoid the walking route between the train station and Piazza San Marco as well as some of the streets immediately surrounding San Marco. For most visitors that means spending a decent amount of time in the city. If you go to Venice for just a day or two and want to see the most popular sights (San Marco, the Doge's Palace, the Rialto Market, etc.), you won't have much time to wander off the beaten path where all the other visitors are.

The train station-to-San Marco route was always crowded during my September 2022 trip, and it was noticeably worse the same month this year. It seems unlikely to get better, because Venice is unique.

I completely agree with avoiding the signposted route to Piazza San Marco north of the Grand Canal. This path is often crowded and has lost much of its original charm, now lined with touristy restaurants and cheap shops.

Instead, consider taking the southern route: from the railway station, cross the Ponte degli Scalzi and follow the signs to Rialto Bridge. Alternatively, head towards Campo Santa Margherita if you prefer to reach St. Mark's Square via Dorsoduro and the Ponte dell'Accademia.

These alternative routes might add an extra 0.5 km (out of a total of ~2.5 km), but you'll likely reach your destination faster, and the journey is far more scenic and authentic.