WADUH

We are thinking of spending Christmas week (Dec.20-28) in Venice, renting an apartment. Parents and 3 young adult (20-25 yo) children. Have been to Venice before but only in the summer and only for 2 days, enough to get just a flavor, not nearly enough to do it justice. Would welcome input on the idea of being there during Christmas and neighborhoods that might be most interesting for week in the winter.

sandralist

One of the visits I made to Venice was from Dec 22 to 27. It was busy with shoppers up until the 24th and all the museums were open then everything got very very quiet for the next 3 days. I thought it was wonderful to be there when most tourists are nowhere to be seen but it is a challenge to find restaurants open (or at least it was). But we didn't starve. There were many musical concerts and all the churches are open and had decorations. People sometimes don't believe me when I tell them that I have seen the Grand Canal when it only had 2 gondolas in it but it was otherwise absolutely empty. On Christmas morning we went to the piazza San Marco for breakfast and found Florian's open but nearly empty and afterwards we went up to the top of the bell tower simply because there was no line. There were about 4 people there. So it was just amazing to spend 2 days or so in Venice and barely see anybody on the streets. I feel so lucky to have had that experience.

This was about 10 years ago and in that time there has been increasing tourism to Venice so maybe the kind of experience I had isn't possible any more. I don't know. Also it might be worth noting that the sun did not shine in Venice proper for one minute the entire 5 days we were there. We took a boat ride out to Torcello (cold trip) and the sun was dimly shining out there but Venice remained in its own grey cloud of fog. Everything most every day looked like a black and white photo.

Some other people in December experience significant acqua alta (tidal flooding) but we didn't. However it is best to book a hotel outside the areas that get flooding in late December because a bad storm can happen at that time of year.

BigShoulders

My wife and I have been at Christmas a couple times over the past 4 or 5 years. We absolutely love it. The crowds are gone, and it is so much more peaceful. We did not have any problems with restaurants. In fact we were able to get reservations in some very nice restaurants that I believe are more difficult to book in the summer.

The only negative for us was that we had the aqua alta on several occasions making it difficult to get out for a few hours on several days.

nytraveler

Make sure you bring the appropriate clothing. A friend of mine went some years ago at Christmas and they have 6 days of cold rain and one of snow (only a couple of inches). So prepare for we weather and have lots of indoor activities identified. And be prepared to take advantage of whatever sunny days you get.

jujubean

Hi,

We were there just 4 years ago for Christmas and absolutely loved it. We did have the aqua alta that at times was severe - we bought boots for all of us there. Our selected restaurant for Christmas dinner was closed due to flooding as well --- if I had an apartment at that time I would have loved it - went to the market on Christmas eve and saw amazing seafood available.

If you go, and are interested in church services, we loved Christmas Eve midnight Mass at St. Mark's - remarkable. But midnight Mass was actually at 9:30 due to aqua alta!

As for weather, I wore a light sweater covered by my "fall" coat. It was very mild compared to our midwestern US winter. We had misting and some drizzle - no snow. I will second the lack of crowds and my children thought it was magical wandering after dark.