Venice March 2020

The flooding is temporary - it comes and goes. Clean-up may take longer this time, or there may be more lasting damage, but I'd still plan to go. See it while you can!

Flooding in Venice is nothing new, and can happen any time. If you really want to go when the chances of flooding is lowest, check the tide tables - I believe most of the water that's causing the flooding is a result of extra high tides, and tides are generally 100% predictable. Yes, there can be other contributing factors (ie big storms that dump lots of rain), but those are harder to predict.
Bring good waterproof shoes.

I am fully aware of the regular minor flooding that occurs every year. This event is major, not minor, with significant damage reported. I can understand summer time being a reasonable time to go and not have the visit affected by any damages caused by the flood. I am wondering if March may be too soon. Out trip has us there for only a day and a half and would hate to spend the money and not get to see any of the major sights.

I was in Venice in late March 2019 just after the full moon, when tides are highest. Fortunately there were no storms; there were no issues with high water during our week in Venice and the surrounding area. (For 2020, the full moon closest to your trip is either March 9 or April 8). You are right--the current flooding is certainly more significant than the "norm" for Venice. Venetians are well-prepared for cleaning up after minor floods, so I would guess that the current clean-up will go more quickly that we might expect. (Hopefully Venice will be spared any more damage this winter!) I'm not sure of what area you are looking at for your hotel; the area around St. Mark's Square is lowest and most likely to flood, so you could book a place away from there (maybe Cannaregio?). I hope this helps you. Venice is a beautiful city; I really admire the residents who care for this historic city and share it with so many visitors each year.

It would be nice to hear from the Rick Steves team in Italy. I, too, have plans to be in Venice -- this Christmas. Nothing is solidified, so I can still go somewhere else. But I love visiting Venice. It's one of my favorite cities to visit, especially if one goes off the beaten path.

You can still fly into Milan Malpensa and have many other options to visit in Italy via the trains (Trenitalia is the site for train tickets): Milan, travel east to Trieste (multi-culture there), Verona, Como (beautiful!), Florence, etc.

There have been further high tides and more flooding today, so until the water recedes, they won’t be able to assess the damage. There is talk of structural damage to some buildings including St Mark’s Basilica, so these may or may not be open in March. Even without the flood issues, a day and a half isn’t very long to cover Venice, so I would be tempted to give it a miss this trip and visit when you can give it some more time.