Oh Venice, you are so wonderful, and so overcrowded with tourists!
It is hard to fully appreciate you, amongst the hordes.
Avoiding the main tourist draws is the only way to be alone in Venice, and it is still quite a challenge to find quiet spots.
We were here in the first week in April and the crowds were significantly problematic. I can only imagine summertime.
I would recommend visiting Venice, if you want to, in the off-off season.
Several years ago we visited in winter and there were no crowds, even in Piazza San Marco. It is also much less expensive.
It is cold in winter, but so lovely to see Venice as she should be seen, in all her solitary glory, with locals who are actually happy to see you.
Cheers to you from amazing, but crowded Venice~
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Gorgeous photos!
Awww, thank you so much!
Gorgeous pictures!! We went few years ago in the late fall. Tourists weren’t too bad, but was surprised how easy it was to get turned around and lost there !
Oh yes, it wouldn’t be Venice if you didn’t get lost!
I’ve been to and stayed in Venice before – what an amazing place! So many fond memories – having a coffee (very expensive one) in St. Mark’s square or Piazza San Marco listening to music, waking up one morning in the pension we stayed in and hearing a man singing in his best Opera voice and drinking freshly squeezed blood orange juice for breakfast! Thanks for posting this Cindy!
Yes, these are the memories Venice leaves you with. So happy you experienced the magic!
Great photos, Cindy 🙂
South Europe is cold in the winter, unless you are rich and can afford an insulated house or apartment. Mostly houses are not insulated and have only 1 skinny glass in the windows. This is good to protect against the sun in the hot summers, but very cold in the winters.
I loved Venice and Florence in winter. It was very cold. I bundled up, but our hotels were warm, and all the trattoria’s served hot drinks and mulled wine. In Florence we were the only ones in the Ufizzi. I am allergic to crowds though, so I am probably more reactive! 😉
You were lucky with the warm hotels 🙂
I’m not a fan of crowds either.
Beautiful photos, as always. I had a trip planned to Italy last fall, but had to postpone it. Hoping to go this fall. Was debating whether to tack on Venice.
It is something you may well want to see in your lifetime and fall might work in terms of crowds. I would recommend it. Just beware you may encounter significant crowds.
Good to know, thanks!
https://youtu.be/OSJPbocHx68
How lovely!
I visited Venice in winter years ago – just me and the pigeons!
Isn’t is incredible! Being alone in Venice is a truly special experience and winter is so gorgeous.
Wow. I love the idea of streets being canals. I’ve never been to Vince I would like to one day! Beautiful photo Cindy 🌼💛
Ahhh, thanks much and Happy Sunday Michelle~
Mary Jane and I visited Venice in 2014, and loved it! It was our favorite city in Italy! 😉
She is utterly unique and very special.
So very well said! 🌞
It looks a beautiful place Cindy, and you still managed to get some gorgeous sgots 🙂
Sorry it should say ‘shots’!
Awww, you are very kind and most appreciated Judy! <3
We were there a few years ago in October and it was still pretty crowded on the main streets and the Grand Canal, but beyond that it was fairly quiet. Why don’t people go exploring? Anyway good for us that they don’t so we could have the mostly empty back canals and streets to ourselves. Wonderful photos as usual.
Alison
Even the back canals were sometimes inundated. I was surprised because the first week in April didn’t strike me as peak travel time. Rome and Paris are getting like this too. You are so correct, you have to stay out of the main touristed areas, and visit off season.
You have some lovely photos, Cindy. It can be a real problem with the crowds.
Leslie
Thank you and yes it surely can. Rome and Paris get like this too.
I don’t think I can take the crowds anymore.
Nope. Neither can I.
😉
Loved the reflection pictures… 🙂
Grazie mille!
Beautiful photographs, as always. I loved it there and would like to go back. I was told, while there, that they are going to make it a tourist attraction and people will no longer live there. I think that would be sad, but it’s very expensive, they said, and the tourists…can be a problem. But it’s a glorious place indeed.
Paris, Rome, even Florence get mobbed. Off season has such a different vibe. I can see why the Venetians are feeling resentful if there are plans to move them out of their city! Sad indeed.
Just gorgeous photos! I was lucky enough in my youth to get to live and work in Venice a few weeks each year. Wrote about it a ways back.
https://toritto.wordpress.com/2015/08/09/toritto-in-venice-1975/
Thanks for bringing back the memory! Regards from Florida
Oh how fascinating for you! I will love to read about your experiences. Thank you for letting me know. I have really noticed a change in the main European tourist destinations in the last 15 years so I will love reading your post!
What a unique city. I can see why traveling there during the off-season makes sense. Love the photos, Cindy. <3
Yes, off season travel is a great choice, less crowds and much less expensive! You get more of a local, non-tourist experience.
Your photos are beautiful! Fortunately you were able to get some gorgeous photos without all those tourists in them. I appreciate your advice on the time to visit Venice, and will consider it for future years. I’d like to go some day, but I am especially not ‘into’ crowds. This walkabout through your photos was very peaceful for me, thank you. Aloha 🙂 Ka
Aloha to you and amen about crowds. They are other places in Italy that have incredible charm and very limited tourists. The off the beaten path places are often the best in my experience. Of course, Venice is so special, many people want to see it at least once.
I’ll see it some day 🙂 maybe 😉
Please share your impressions when you do!
It may be over crowded, but I couldn’t tell from those lovely photos!
Thank you! I worked at limiting people in the shots. It wasn’t that easy!
You did fabulous job of it!
Venice – such an unusual city. Great photos!
She is one of a kind!
Cindy, I truly think I’d prefer seeing Venice through your camera lens! I’m not real big on crowds and the thought of getting around via boat makes me most uncomfortable. Thank you for sharing this lovely city with me!
Good. Then you can focus on all the other amazing places in the world that are less trafficked! Crowds are basically a deal breaker for me too.
Hi Cindy,
I did visit Venice in July 1991. It was not my first choice to travel in the summer, but it was better than not visiting. It was incredibly crowded, but still one of the most beautiful, if not the most beautiful place I have ever seen. I was mesmerized upon arrival and even today, pictures of Venice spark a joy in my heart. You did a great job of focusing on quieter scenes here, much appreciated.
ciao, Linda
What a lovely comment. This was the first time we left the city by water taxi to the airport and it was really something special. Usually we arrive and leave by train to our car. I am so happy you have these good memories! <3
I’m amazed you were able to take such serene and beautiful photos Cindy. Thank you! 💛
Thank you for your kind appreciation Val! <3
Fabulous pictures, Cindy. Venice is on my list.
Good. Will love to hear what you think!
It must be problematic for local residents to cope with almost constant tourist invasion. With rising sea levels, I imagine that Venice will face future competition from other “watery” cities. Imagine New York as the Venice of the future.
Yes, I could imagine if I were Venetian feeling very frustrated about now. There are other cities with canals like Venice, Brugge which is also crowded, and Aveiro which is not. I can’t imagine NY as Venice. Venice was planned on the lagoon which is pretty amazing when you think of it. NY would grind to a halt, all the subways would flood, the streets would be impassable. People would have to move. Funny you should say this, my son and I just watched the movie “The Day After Tomorrow,” which had much the scenario you mention.
These are incredible photographs, Cindy. Thank you so much for sharing them. Venice is definitely on my bucket list.
Thank you and glad to hear it is. It is definitely something to see in one’s lifetime if possible.
I have been to Italy.. But Venice, is on my wish list.. Beautiful photo’s so love the reflections.. 🙂 Have a beautiful week. Sue
Visa versa 2UX2 Sue! <3
🙂 xxx
We will be there in a couple of weeks and we know all the back alleys and quiet spots.
Oh good! That is definitely where you want to be. Have a wonderful time!
One of my favorite cities – so beautiful with all the watery reflections, architecture and history. And NO cars! I was lucky to first see it through the eyes of locals in 1980. Visited again in 2002 and what a change – I can imagine it has only worsened. I hear that few people actually live in Venice anymore. They commute in from the surrounding area. It’s a mere shell of its former glory.
It is true and it is sad. The same thing happened with the Vatican Museum. Thank goodness I took my kids when you could still wander in it freely and linger and look up. Now they pack you in like sardines. I think they need a quota system or something. They need to limit numbers somehow like National Parks.
Billions of people… It boggles the mind.
It is too many people!
Esp. when they say that the earth can only sustain about 2 billion…
Yes, we should have half the number we have at least. Scary.
Yes, rather gloomy to think about. 🙁 I’d rather face a stock market correction than an ‘earth correction.’ According to the laws of nature, it will happen eventually. I pray I don’t live to see it.
In the meantime, I focus on the beauty and love around me, and have faith in the Big Picture.
Yes. We lack the power to change the trajectory.
It seems so given the present POV. Maybe an unforeseen miracle to hope for???
“Hope is the thing with feathers!”
🙂
Very nice pictures of the place. Thank you for the tips when visiting the place. I will keep in mind.
Good and I hope if you go, you will post about it!
Beautiful reflections! 😉 Wolfie has a pretty cool reflection too!
I want to take Wolfie’s portrait! <3
Awesome pictures, with all the reflections. 🙂 I guess it isn’t surprising about its popularity and overcrowding/tourism industry as it is shown to be known so much for the gondolas and romantic interludes according to advertising, movies, etc.? I have never been there, but read that it was featured in that way and is a huge draw. How is the terrorism warnings and security issues over there in European countries right now, particularly for Americans?
I am home at The Holler now for the next three months so I don’t know the current situation. While we were there, the incredibly impressive carabinieri, military and civilian police, found and arrested a terrorist cell somehow involved with the London attackers. I have seen the carabinieri in action before, and I am very impressed with them, and feel as confident as one can when they are around. We are at risk at home of course also, so the feeling of being protected if you stay home is most probably illusory.
Yes. One has to be diligent wherever they go and traveling abroad for sure. Our security issues at DIA (Denver’s International Airport) is so tight, and I am always on the end of having to go through a complete screening with a ‘pat down’ due to my knee replacements that that sounds off. 🙁
The photos are very pretty, Cindy. 🙂
You are a good friend. <3
I love Venice and have been a number of times. I thought tourist numbers were being limited because of the subsidence issues.
Fantastic photos, though! Hard to do with the crowds. 🙂
Thank you Lynette. Numbers are definitely not being effectively limited. They should be. It is a problem I have observed in other major European tourist destinations.
I’ve always wanted to visit Venice, so I appreciate your advice to do so in winter. I can handle colder weather but I’m not fond of crowds.
This is a perfect solution for you then. I love Italy in the winter. You could go to both Florence and Venice, they are so close. You will have space, no crowds, we were in the Uffizi by ourselves. The prices are much lower and your trip will cost much less. There is light snow on the ground, trattoria’s serve hot spiced wine and hot drinks. The people are much friendlier and interested in you. You have to bundle, but I love Italy in the winter, especially places like Venice and Florence.
Sounds perfect for us. Winter elsewhere is a nice break from most of the year here in Phoenix too.
Beautiful pictures, Cindy. I immediately wondered where the ‘hordes’ were, but you explained it. I would NEVER consider going there in the summer. I would think late October would be a great time!
Yes, I think that might be good. We were there in late January into February and it was magical.
Cindy, your photos are always stunning, but your choice of images and your comments convey a human sensibility that is equally admirable. Thank you for your vision, your skill and your good heart.
Oh my goodness. You touched my heart with such a lovely and thoughtful comment. I am so very fortunate to be part of this community of creative, caring, and talented bloggers. Thank you for your kindness.
As always, beautiful photographs. Your timing has to be perfect, not just because of the crowds, but to catch still waters with the reflections. (I have never seen a picture of someone swimming in that water and think I know why. I will write no more about the matter.)
Amazing you know this, “to catch still waters with the reflections.”
Thank you for knowing.
Wonderful!
Yes, it is one of a kind~
Beautiful pictures! They bring back great memories!
I am so happy they do! <3
To look at your photos one would think Venice is deserted! Superb shots – I especially loved the first one. And once again off to see the DDs 😀
I worked at getting shots with no people. I should have included one with the massive amount of boat congestion in The Grand Canal! Enjoy the DD’s~
Thanks for your photos of a remarkable place, Cindy. Some of the photos make the building seem to be floating, almost.
Some of them probably are! 😉
We saw Venice in October years ago, and even then it was crowded. But at night, when it got cold, the crowds were gone.
That is true. Mornings are good too. Tours seem to come in en-mass in the afternoons through early evening.
So VEry NICE, my friend! *̥̻̥̻̥͙*̻̥̻̥͙*̥̻̥͙*̻̥͙*̥͙ ꒰ ˆ ॢ꒵ ॢˆ꒱♡*̻͙*̥̻͙*̻̥̻͙*̥̻̥̻͙*̻̥̻̥̻͙
You are getting so sophisticated I can’t even copy and paste to return!!
Hmmm…that is strange. 🙀🌷
Actually it just worked! I didn’t think it would because it seemed to only copy half. This is your best one yet!
*̥̻̥̻̥͙*̻̥̻̥͙*̥̻̥͙*̻̥͙*̥͙ ꒰ ˆ ॢ꒵ ॢˆ꒱♡*̻͙*̥̻͙*̻̥̻͙*̥̻̥̻͙*̻̥̻̥̻͙
Awesome! ◟(◔ั₀◔ั )◞ ༘♡
Judging from your description of the more touristy traveling season, it’s a miracle you captured images of Venice that resonate with the way most people dream of experiencing the canals! Not supposed to be a game of “bumper boats” right? Thanks for these relaxing images! 🙂
Laughing. Exactly. And I do have some photos of bumper boat traffic. The Grand Canal often seems like utter boat chaos. Amazing they don’t collide more often!
Just know a bit about Venice from Shakespeare’s play, Merchant of Venice back in my school days.
Made me a wee bit nostalgic.🙄
A nice jog down memory lanes.
So glad it triggered nice memories for you~
Went there long ago with our children. They mostly liked the pigeons. I liked everything. Consequently I didn’t see as well as you and your camera did. Great images!
I remember being fascinated by pigeons as a kid. Still it probably made you wonder if they would have been better off at the local park, however, Piazza San Marcos does have the world’s best collection of very friendly pigeons and I be they have great memories of them!
Such a beauty 🙂 Have been longing to visit Venice from so long 🙂
Well. I hope you go. Everything is much more affordable off season, including air fare.