This is not a travel guide but a personal user’s guide designed to making your trip to Venice more enjoyable.
There are many travel guides on the market, but few which will warn you about the realities of this magnificent city.
What you need to know
Some statistics:
According to statistics
Venice is host to some 80,000 visitors each year! Most of these will not even stay overnight. Most will congregate around San Marco’s Square or squeeze into the narrow streets like herds of cattle. The large cruise liners dump these poor people into the city in the morning, let them loose for a few hours then pick them up again. Therefore there are some things to be aware of unless you are very fond of crowds.
Venice is NOT san Marco’s Square. It is expensive, crowded, often flooded and very hot in summer. At certain times of the day, it can be an enjoyable experience…very early in the morning or early evening. Should you want to sit at one of the restaurant outdoor tables, be prepare to part with a lot of money….9€ for a cup of tea, for example. There are of course times when you will have no choice but to visit this famous square and no visit to Venice would be complete without it. The beautiful Florian’s tearoom is in San Marco’s Square as is the Palazzo Ducale and San Marco’s Basilica.
- Travel by boat. There is a reason Trip Advisor puts “cruising the Grand Canal at no. 1 of things to do in Venice. https://www.tripadvisor.com.au/Attractions-g187870-Activities-Venice_Veneto.html Really the only way to see Venice is on foot or by water bus. The most popular is the Vaporetto. https://www.venicewelcome.com/actv/vaporetto.htm Get yourself a ticket – there are various options available – and explore Venice easily and quickly. The Vaporetto dell’ Arte is a delightful and less crowded way to explore the city. For the cost of 10 € on top of your normal Vaporetto ticket you can enjoy cruising up down the Grand Canal as much as you like. The Vaporetta stops off at a number of cultural places of interest including the Peggy Guggenheim Collezione.
- Learn to hang out with the locals. Go off the beaten track…. Don’t just run with the pack.
- Decide what you want to do and see ahead of time and pre-book as much as possible.
- Flooding- is a fact of life in Venice. Unlike flooding in many countries, the flooding here is not due to record rainfall but is “astronomic, meteorological and geographic” or in other words due to the sun and the moon, the wind and the regular movement of the ocean. Be prepared. Check tidal reports such as: https://www.comune.venezia.it/flex/cm/pages/ServeBLOB.php/L/IT/IDPagina/2104
- San Marco’s Square and the surrounding areas can often receive more than 30mm of water, which can make crossing it a tad difficult in your stilettos! Pack your gumboots and or bathers. People have been known to swim across it! No kidding!
- Unless you like standing in queues, avoid the Venice tourist information centre like the plague… if you must book, book before you come or book through your hotel. Ditto the Post Office. Ask the hotel to send your postcards for you.
Enjoy!
Notes:
I flew into Venice so can only give you my experience, but for more information go to:
https://www.lonelyplanet.com/italy/venice/transport/getting-there-away
I flew to Venice with EasyJet and can highly recommend them. The flight from Lyon took one hour.
Flights from most places in Europe are fast, affordable and convenient. Once you arrive at Venice airport take the ALILAGUNA (airport water shuttle) https://www.alilaguna.it/en to San Marco’s Square. For the cost of 13€ it is an easy way to get into Venice. There are other, cheaper options but they are more complicated.
References:
Venice Guide