To avoid crowds in Venice, consider staying overnight in Castello, the largest neighborhood, and taking a Gondola ride. Although the canals can be busy, it’s a great way to see the city and avoid crowds. Allocate a couple hours to get lost and follow your nose down narrow streets.
Choose lodging away from the Grand Canal and main tourist sites, staying in the historic center instead of the mainland for convenience. Avoid the summer months of June, July, and August, as the weather tends to get very hot and muggy. The farther you go from the Grand Canal, the more crowds thin out, allowing you to glimpse a quieter side of the city.
Alternatively, leave the main island behind and venture out to smaller islands in the lagoon. Hit the most popular sights early before the bulk of tourists arrive, then head out to see the rest of the city. If you don’t mind staying up a little later, sightseeing at night is a great way to avoid crowds.
Venice, a popular cruise port, now prohibits vessels larger than 25,000 tons. Dubrovnik, Croatia’s ancient walled harbor, is especially useful for avoiding crowds. If you must be out during the busy part of the day, stay away.
To decrease the number of tourists in Venice, avoid the peak summer season. Stay for a fairly short period of time and then leave. Compare Venice at 8 or 9am with the moment cruise ship passengers start.
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Venice has always been a very economical holiday for me. I go for around 4 days, rent an apartment, buy groceries from shops and the early morning boats that bright fresh fruit and vegetables to their piazza market stands and eat one or two meals in casa each day, walk, and catch traghetti (the functional, mostly standing, “ferry” boat gondole that locals use along the Grand Canal) for about 2 or 3 Euro, and only go out to eat or drink in local or establishments off of the well trodden tourist trails. I usually spend, with the rental shared with one or two others, about €30 to €50 per day in total. When I’ve been by myself, I’ve stayed in a nunnery to make the trip even cheaper, and keep my money for the galleries and museums.
My first visit to Venice was part of one of my first international trips. I had not yet learned to pack light, and somewhere i got the idea I should pack all that stuff in more small bags rather than fewer large ones. As a result, my partner and I ended up with FIVE bags total. My partner was disabled and unable to carry any, so it was left to me to lug them all from the vaparetto stop, over countless cobblestones, and over several bridges, to our hotel (and back at the end of the stay). Needless to say, I learned my lesson, and Venice was a very good teacher. Guys, thanks for another good and helpful article. I’m returning to Venice in October (with one suitcase). Lucky me!
Grazie, all excellent tips. As a Canadian who stayed in Venice for the month of April 2022, I can confirm that these are things all tourists need to know. One DO I might add is to learn a few phrases in Italian, the basic please, thank you, good morning, where is the bathroom, how much does that cost? It is so appreciated when you at least try. I had a wonderful time living in Castelo like a local and going to places not many tourists take the time to see. Venice is enchanting, the history amazing and the people are wonderful. Yep, the food is pretty darn good too. Esplorare Venezia, trova i suoi tesori nascosti. Innamorarsi del suo fascino 💖
I have always found Italians lovely, helpful, and VERY courteous. I work at being respectful, and over the years have learned to get along in Italian, but even when I only knew Grazie and Buongiorno, they never failed to reciprocate. I usually rent an apartment, and I often receive little welcome gifts from the owners, and in turn I leave then a thank you gift. As for the Venetians or Veneziani, I LOVE chatting with them and getting to know them, and find the SO FRIENDLY, even in the most tourist trodden paths, they respond very well to anyone who makes an effort to treat them with respect and not as service (I saw an American in this feed refer to them as Venusians, but they are not from Venus, and call the locales “rude.” I’d be rude too with tourist who did not know where they were or could not be bothered to learn). Fare una bella figura and sempre cortesia.
If you want to avoid the prices of the gondola, don’t forget to take the traghetti along or across the grand canal with a boat full of locals! The more time I spend with locals, the more time I can avoid tourists, the more enjoyable my visits have been. P.s. Rick, you are a lovely ambassador for Canada. Humble, sweet and respectful. How is your Italian going?
Thank you 🙏 I’ve booked to visit Venice in September on my own. Hopefully will see you both as somepoint 🥰🥰 Hopefully my trip will be wonderful ❤❤ I went to Italy so many times from past with my Ex as he used to work in Sorrento but now he working in Thailand (this time will be my first time on my own in Italy) So let go!💃
Thanks for your article – we were there in February for a Sixth visit but the first in twelve years We went for four nights and stayed in a small hotel Walked everywhere and so didn’t need to use the vaporetti but did enjoy the view from every available bridge! We’ve done St Marks and the Doges Palace on our first visit and have never felt the need to revisit them Went up the Campanile in St Marks at around 10 am one morning At that time on a February morning we didn’t have to queue but were fortunate with the weather so had a great view We found glass to be cheaper in Venice than Murano We certainly used the quieter local restaurants and have never had a bad meal in Venice For breakfast we would recommend the canal front bars for croissants and coffee Want to go back again now!
Great article guys! I´ll be visiting Venice in October, arriving from the Dolomites mid-morning and cannot stay but one day before heading to Croatia the next morning. I´m planning on parking the bike in Mestre (looking for a nice Hotel by Mestre Train Station with secure parking?) and spending the entire rest of the day in Venice & Murano. Any tips or Hotel suggestions appreciated. Again… great article!!
Thank you. Here’s more information….. Following a May 2019 revision to Venice’s existing rules, visitors now risk a fine of $27 to $550 for being caught doing any of the following in public: Leaning against storefronts Picnicking Lying down on public benches Feeding pigeons Buying from street traders Standing still on bridges Drinking on the street after 8 p.m. Swimming in the canals Affixing padlocks to bridges Wearing a bikini Being bare-chested Riding a bicycle in the city center Walking a bicycle through the city center.
I just came back from Venice. We did not fed the pigeons per se, but everytime we were having dinner outside, they were on the floor ( sometimes on top of the table next to our) waiting for some food. We even saw a pigeon picking through a basket with bread left on top pf the waiter’s service station. They are everywhere and fly very low sometimes. We enjoyed it just observing them.
Excellent tips. Subscribed. Going to Venice for the 1st time in 3 days time and perusal your tips are very useful. Definitely explore Venice during night time. Just had a question, skip the line tickets- can we get one for all three major places to visit as couldn’t see one on your link. Thank you 🙏
We are catching up on all your great articles, thank you so much. We will be in Rome, Florence and Venice, 3 nights in each next April. Hope there will not be any train strikes when we are there. And hope that Liberation Day, San Marco festival on 25 April will not spoil my wife’s birthday in Venice. But at least she will get a rose on that day! From Thailand!
Spent 4 nights in Venice, in April 2023, a magical city! Found many restaurants and cafe now owned and run by Chinese! Speaking Italian and making great espresso. Was a little surprising to see this as a first time visitor. We found many of the local Italians to be very rude and even borderline abusive to us as Americans. This also surprised me. The local Venusian people seem very unhappy! 😢 I suppose the tourism is difficult on them sometimes. The water does smell and it even looks dirty at times. All in all I think your articles helped us in Italy to navigate. We especially loved Rome and tried many of your suggestions. Thanks again for all the insight.
Great article again, We are staying in Mestre next to the rail line at the best western, are there late trains to and from the city of Venice as I will do what you recommend and stay till maybe 10 pm at night as we have 3 days there, regarding the water bus( sorry forgot the name) can you get 3 day passes. an you also suggest a nice Restaurant in the back streets, My wife in Vegetarian. Thankyou you guys
Hi! My wife, 13 year old twins and I will be traveling to Venice in July. We are arriving to VCE airport but would like to stay in Lido for both nights (visiting Venice one day). Is there a way to go to Lido directly when we arrive? We will be with all of our luggage (probably 4 carry ons and 2 larger suitcases). Thank you!
I am going next month and I am wondering how to get to the port? Unfortunately, I will be gone for a month and I need a lot of clothes I have 4 bags already. But I have hired a water taxi to get to Venice but now I am thinking since I arrive the day before the cruise should I stay near the port? I can still cancel the hotel and water taxi.
Vaporetto is a pubblic bus. A 🚌, not a gondola. We take it for go to the work. don’t stay in the middle of the exites, the people stay in it only for go out at their bus stop. don’t take a selfie ( is forbiden to take a article into the pubblic bus) and put down your backpack. Don’t put your big baggage on the chairs and leave free the passange for the other passengers. And please please please don’t eat on the street, beacause there are the gull. The gull are very killer for bring your bread, pizza and cannoli… There are lot of people attacked for it.
I hope at least some of the very dumb, ignorant and super annoying tourists from all over the world see this article. Katherine Hepburn had a scene in the movie called “Summertime” where she was to fall into a canal in Venice. She never recovered fully from an eye infection resulting from the dirty water. I can honestly say I have never detected an odor coming from the water in the canals, then again, I wouldn’t dream of going to Venice, or anywhere in Italy for that matter, in summertime, at the height of the tourist influx.
\r \r Il m’est arrivé une chose étrange à Venise. Une nuit, alors que je parlais à une jeune femme au bord du grand canal, une flamme bleue jaillit de l’eau et quelque chose comme une tête d’homme mort me sourit depuis l’eau. Cela m’a assez surpris, mais la dame a dit que c’était normal à Venise. Soudain, un gros chien avec une carapace de tortue sur le dos est arrivé en courant de l’église Saint-Marc et de sa bouche sortait une flamme bleue, de la fumée et une telle puanteur que la prostituée ferait mieux de dire au revoir et de rentrer chez elle. J’étais un peu horrifié, mais j’ai quand même observé le chien pendant un moment lorsque sa corne m’a frappé au cou, car c’était en fait un taureau qui sentait juste la tortue. C’était déjà le matin lorsque la police m’a trouvé avec le cou en sang. Je sentais horriblement la tortue lorsqu’elle était cuite avec des œufs. Ils m’ont emmené au poste des carabiniers, et là ils m’ont donné à manger de la viande de tortue, qui était rapidement cuisinée par une bonne vieille dame qui connaissait bien ce genre de cas. La police ne savait rien du chien, mais le mystérieux crâne au bord de l’eau leur apparaît presque toutes les nuits. Un vieil homme est venu la nourrir, lui donnant des miettes comme des oiseaux.
i recently went to venice my goodness what a ripp off everything was so expencive a cup of tea 12 pounds stirling entry to a toilet 8 pounds peice of cake from the bakers 15 pounds gondoliar ride 125 pounds no super markets only glamour boys charging you anything they like because there are no tesco or sainsburys what a terrable place and if you go on the gondoliars they call you english pigs then take your money oh besides there are hundred of pickpockets in venice once again charming looking men with thousand pound trousers and shi
Always try to get on the back of the vaporetto if you can, if you want to get great canal pictures. Buy a basic map. Easy city to get lost in, have a navigation aid. Always look for the mostly yellow signs that point you in the right direction to landmarks (Piazza San Marco. Rialto, Ferrovia, etc.) Explore, look forward to getting lost. If you don’t have time restraints (trains to catch, boats to board), wandering thru this lovely city is priceless. Get away from the touristy areas. That’s the real Venice….
I went in November 2017 and had a great time. I stayed in a nine room hotel that was half the price of the summer rates, on the canal and around the corner from the Rialto bridge. The Bienniale was wrapping up and I spent all day alternating between seeing old and new art. I only saw one cruise ship while I was there, and experienced the Acqua Alta as well. I didn’t feel like I got ripped off anywhere, it helps to just use the same common sense that should be used anytime one is travelling abroad. I’m not sure if I would go back for various reasons, but I’m glad I went! Absolutely go off season!
Thanks for your tips. We recently returned from our trip to Italy and we LOVED VENICE! Yes, we did pay 10 euros just to sit and have a coke on St. Mark’s Square. We found places to eat off of the tourist locations, and shopped way off the beaten path, in the shops way in the back. The prices were better. The gondola ride was priceless. We took the water taxi to the island of Lido, where we stayed at the Hotel Venezia.
Also italy in general is year long tourist country. So in general its always touristy. That said ive been in winter and rain season and it can be romantic and fun. Lots of things close by 5pm then so you get an almost quiet romantic walk around by yourselves and really experience the venice life. Something to consider. Other that yeah march is great time to come.
Venice should be on everyone’s bucket list, and so it has become a victim of it’s own success. Please do your best to respect the place. Recently some tourists were arrested for cooking on the street with a camp stove. My very best tip for Venice: don’t stay in a hotel in Venice, stay in Padova instead. It’s a beautiful town, much less expensive, and it”s only a half hour frequent train ride away.
The tip on getting lost? Oh… you will get lost. My wife and I were lost and had a paper map. I knew where we had to go (hotel) but I didn’t know where we were… and it was POURING rain!! Our paper map disintegrated. Unbelievable day….. and memorable too. And YES, San Marco Square was flooded out that day too. Thanks Gary for the Great tips! Going back again this late fall.
We spent a week in Venice in May 2014. We rented a flat/apartment just off the Grand Canal about midway between the Rialto Bridge and Piazza San Marco and loved every minute we spent there. Staying in an apartment (as opposed to a hotel) forces you to immerse yourself in the culture. Just buying groceries becomes an adventure. And yes, once evening descends and the cruise ship/hotel patrons have left, then the city really shows its beauty. As you mentioned, the Vaporetto is a great way to get around, but don’t be afraid to take a Traghetto across the canal… We were fortunate to meet up with a group of locals (through a shared interest) and were dragged (not really) into a little bar well off the main drag, treated to cicheti and given a personalised tour of the “back streets” of Venice. The people are amazingly gracious with the thousands of visitors who swarm their city… And like any country or city, if you don’t speak the language then at least learn the words for, “Please”, “Thank-you”, “Pardon/Excuse Me”, “I’m sorry/I apologise” I’d go back tomorrow if I could…
Mid-June and just back from a weekend trip. Gary’s advice about wandering around later in the day is spot-on. We mooched along from the bus stops/boat docks, past the Bridge of Sighs and the Doge’s Palace and into St Mark’s Square around 8:40pm. The numbers of other people around was measured in the tens rather than hundreds. We were the last people to go into the Campanile which closed at 8:45 and had great views without any of the crush or jostling that would have been the case earlier in the day. I’d also say pre-book your Gondola ride with a local travel agency. By doing so, we picked up our ride from the middle of the city with the agent’s representative basically putting us straight in at the front of the queue allowing us to explore some of the quiet, off-the-beaten-track canals.
From a Venetian, these are very good tips..Congrats!! I only disagree with #5, the WaterBus can’t substitute the Gondola ride, they’re meant for public transport not for sightseeing rides. Nowhere else in the world tourist take the public transport for fun, there are other companies that do hop-on hop-off and so there are in Venice, look for them.
How to survive Venice…..have a great time, be patient and don’t be a tourist asswipe. I loved Venice. My most favorite place. Hopefully now that cruise ships are being banned, Venice should be more manageable to get around. Great food. My favorite is walk and sight see stop every 2-3 hours at the small tapas places for small meals and a couple glasses of wine.
There isn’t really an off season in Venice. Obviously in summer it is manic. I’ve been to this magical place six times, five of those in January and once in October. The last time was in Dec/Jan 2017 and it was the first time that I was there for more than just the tourist in and out in a day. Every day I was there, over the two week visit, the central areas (around the Santa Lucia Station, the Rialto, St Mark’s Square etc) and Burano were jam packed. I am glad then that I have never been in summer, as it would be too overwhelming. The magic however, is in the fact that a few minutes walk from the main areas, a diversion into virtually any of the churches other than St Mark’s, or a short vaporetto ride to Guidecca, St Giorgio or Torcello can take you to spots where you can will encounter less than 20 people and that will allow you to experience the true Venice in your own time without all the distractions.
Heading to Venice the September. I am hoping the crowds will be starting to thin out by then. Any know if this might be the case? We will be doing 8 days on land(Venice, Florence, Rome, plus other areas, then an 11 day cruise. Hoping to maybe find some local guides for all the good not so touristy areas and food. Love to see the big attractions but really enjoy the smaller Mom and Pop things. Any pointers…drop me a note. I Thank You, in advance. ..Oh, and thank you for the article. Good tips.
The only place in Europe we got ripped off ….our hotel over charged us the tax per person she should have charged 2 dollars per person she charged us 12 per person cash only (6 people)…..we fought her about it but she would not let us checkout of our hotel until we paid …we contacted the hotel and got our money returned …also our water taxi driver tried to over charge for our already paid water taxi …we ended up walking away from him after he dropped us off at the train station and telling him to get a police officer we were not paying him again …so be very careful in venice they will rip off the tourist if they can !!! And keep all,your receipts and ask for a receipt …
I am going in 13 days, found out Carnival is going on and I am worried about how busy it will be, as we will be only there for a couple nights. I honestly signed up for a Gondola ride with Glass blowing tour included and spent about what the going rate for a Gondola ride is by itself so it really seems to be good to pre-order activities. We still wanna go to the Basilica in the afternoon and then we leave the next day for Florence. I know floods are an issue but is it really bad this time of year? you mentioned Winter being known for it.
The gondola ride in my opinion is way better than the water taxi because you don’t have to deal with a bunch of rude tourists packed in those water taxis. And you have lots of room to relax and take photos from every angle without some idiot standing in your way. I paid about $80 for one when I was there. I would pay $200 if it means getting far away from the obnoxious crowds. Most of the ice cream places were fake. I ate ice cream all day long. None of it was better than what you can get in Dubrovnik. And the food was terrible. I only had a sandwich. Basically ham and cheese. I’m going back in April to see the places I missed last time, and I’ll be staying off the beaten path and away from the crowds for sure.
Hard to believe most of this even needs to be said — if you travel frequently you should know most of this already as it’s true everywhere. As to going offseason (March or Late October) — just beware of the tradeoffs. Venice is very damp (obviously) and therefore can be extremely unpleasant in lower temps. Spring and fall are the peak periods for aqua alta — you almost never get high water in summer. Related anecdote on knockoffs…I was in Venice several years ago and all these obvious immigrants were selling all sorts of knock off Gucci and other accessories. Early one morning we came upon one of them seated on a bench gluing labels onto handbags. He noticed us and immediately tried to hide what he was doing, but we were just laughing hysterically at his panic — as if we hadn’t already realized they were fakes! 😆😆 If the price is 50% or less of what it should be, it’s a fake, folks. Gucci, Ferragamo, you name it — it’s not really any cheaper in Italy than anywhere else and especially not in Venice.