Why Venice may NOT be Worth Visiting: Trip it or Skip it?

Are you planning a trip to Italy wondering if Venice is worth visiting? Italy may be a small country but it’s filled with many famous cities, varied landscapes, and a rich, vibrant history. Knowing you probably have a limited amount of time to take in all the sights Italy has to offer, is it worth carving out time in your Italian itinerary for a visit to Venice?

For some, visiting Venice may seem like a no-brainer. After all, it’s a unique floating city where the streets are waterways and beautiful bridges span the many canals. Famous for its gondolas, Venice seems like a dream to many. But what’s it like in reality? Is Venice a must-see?

Some people say Venice is overrated. But will you be disappointed if you don’t include this popular destination into your Italian itinerary?

Having explored Venice and other parts of Italy multiple times, we at Scenic and Savvy are here to weigh in on the topic and help you decide whether Venice is worth visiting or if you should skip it altogether.

We break it down into 5 C’s: Convenience, Car-free, Cost, Crowds, and Charm.

Read on for important insight into what you can expect during a visit to Venice and whether Scenic and Savvy recommends you… Trip It or Skip It.

What’s it like visiting Venice

Convenience

Venice is located in northeastern Italy along the Adriatic Sea. From Rome, it’s a 4-hour train ride on a high-speed train or 6 hours from a regular train. From Milan or Florence, it’s 2-2.5 hours, and from Naples near the Amalfi Coast, or the Cinque Terre, it’s roughly a 5.5-hour train ride with multiple connections.

Being in the far northeast part of the country, Venice is more of an out-and-back destination and not very convenient for including in a loop around Italy. Also, it takes a bit of travel time coming from the coast of the Cinque Terre or the Amalfi Coast.

Car-free

Venice is technically made up of lots of little islands – nearly 120 of them! – separated by more than 150 canals and connected by 400 bridges. This floating city is not accessible to cars, making it a pedestrian-only city. Fortunately, the city is small and walkable, but unfortunately, the many staired bridges and crowded, narrow streets make lugging suitcases to your hotel a challenging feat. 

Cost

Another aspect of being built on water is all goods must be shipped in. This causes extremely high prices in Venice. In fact, Venice is the most expensive city in Italy. Factor this in when deciding which cities to visit on your travels through Italy.

Crowds

Venice’s beautiful and unique maze of canals makes this destination one of the most visited cities in the world, but this popularity is actually becoming a problem for the city. Overtourism is a real challenge. Estimates say approximately 20 million tourists visit Venice each year!

Large cruise ships have made their way in and out of Venice for years, slowly eroding the lagoon and the old foundations of the city. The local government now restricts massive cruise ships from docking in Venice because of the impact on the local environment.

Once a robust coastal city, the number of residents has dwindled to about 50,000, down from more than 175,000 in the early 1950’s. Locals are leaving in large part to the city’s focus on mass tourism with insane numbers of tourists crowding the streets, bridges, and squares. More and more people have left the city and instead rent their places out to tourists.

The crowds are a big downside of visiting Venice. The city is considering limiting the number of daily visitors and imposing a tourist tax for day-trippers because of the influx of crowds and people visiting Venice just for the day.

To be fair, popular destinations are crowded and popular for a reason. Everyone wants to see and experience a place they’ve heard such great things about and it’s naturally going to be busy. But the crowds in Venice during peak summer season means shuffling shoulder to shoulder with the masses through narrow streets and up and over bridges. People flocking into restaurants and onto water taxis, with tourists vying for gondola rides all takes away from the enchanting Italian experience one dreams about.

Charm

By catering so much to tourists, some say Venice has lost its charm. Cheesy souvenir shops have squeezed out local businesses, and the low quality, yet expensive, souvenir stands lining the streets give the city a tacky feel.

The small number of locals living in the city compared to tourists makes it hard to grasp and appreciate the true Venetian culture. For example, on our most recent trip, we sat down at a restaurant looking forward to some good authentic Italian food. It surprised us, then, to see the establishment owned and run by people who were clearly not Italian. While the food tasted fine, we had hoped for a more authentic Italian meal.

Venice is also a hotbed of scams. While you need to be wary of pickpockets and scams in many major cities, Venice is the one city where we have had the most run-ins with undesirable people and scammers. The city as a whole is very safe, but you’ll see things like illegal vendors pressuring tourists into buying little gadgets and toys that break or don’t work as promised once they’ve handed over the money. Random strangers approach tourists hoping to distract them to steal from them, especially in the heavily populated squares and outside the train station.

Fortunately, gondola rides in Venice are controlled and have a fixed price throughout the city. However, the experience is expensive and may not be what you’re expecting.

For us it went like this: We boarded one of the hundreds of gondolas for a short 23-minute trip (when we paid for 30 minutes). Our gondola rode bumper-to-bumper in the Grand Canal with other gondolas filled with picture-taking tourists. We watched as overcrowded water taxis chugged by. Even on the smaller, quieter canals, we had to navigate around other gondolas. After our quick cruise, the gondolier took our family’s picture before herding us off the boat in order to board the next group. Not exactly what you envision when dreaming about a romantic or magical gondola ride through the canals of Venice.

So, is Venice worth visiting?

This “Trip It or Skip It” is a little more difficult to answer. Venice is definitely a unique destination full of history and beauty. In different circumstances it would probably be a must-see. But because of the factors we mention in this article, we advise you not to go out of your way to visit Venice. Venice does not provide the same vibe or experience you get in other parts of Italy. You’re not left with the same feeling as say, Rome or the Cinque Terre, where you dream about returning someday. Instead, each time we’ve visited Venice, we’ve been ready to leave after only a short time.

SCENIC AND SAVVY SAYS:

SKIP IT:

• if you’re short on time
• if excessive crowds, a touristy feel, and high costs annoy you
  
• if you’d be going out of your way to fit this into your itinerary

TRIP IT:

• if, after reading this article, you still consider Venice a dream destination and want to check it off your bucket list
• if it’s a convenient stop-over on your itinerary and you have an extra day.

What are your thoughts? Is Venice worth visiting? Leave us a comment below. We’d love to hear from you!

Traveling to Italy with teens? Read our 10 tips for a family trip to Italy with teenagers!