My husband and I are renting an apartment in May 2005 in Venice. It will be our first visit there.

We were set that we wanted a place with air, but have been told that air conditioning is "not necessary" for this time of year. We will be there the 20-28th.

I am worried about the humidity, as my husband is very sensitive to heat, and we're wondering if we would be sorry if we did not have air conditioning just in case.

We have found a nice place with air, but were just looking at others. The rental agency that told me we wouldn't need air has only one unit with air, which leads me to believe that might be why that comment was made.

The answer is: no one knows. My guess is, it's likely you'll want it. With the humidity in Italy (it's a regional thing, not seasonal), it could become very uncomfortable if it gets warm, as late May tends to do.

The problem we ran into this May/June was that it was cool enough in the evening to want the windows open, but the mosquitos were bad, so we had to keep them closed at night. Glad it wasn't warmer.

I've been to Venice in both May and June and didn't have rooms with AC and didn't need it. I have difficulty sleeping when it's hot and humid but found the humidity at that time of year acceptable.

I would consider where you live and what humidity levels you're used to. You may think Venice is humid where others do not. And, as someone else said no one can predict heat and humidity. If you're at all concerned I would rent the apartment with AC.

We were in Venice at the end of May of 2003. We had air/c in our hotel, but it did not work in one of the rooms. It was miserable. There is often little if any circulation in many rooms. It was hot both when we were in Venice and when we were in Verona. Finding a place with air is well worth the effort, in my opinion. The hope it works. We had trouble several places in that regard. I wondered if that was because the air probably had not been used before that spring. Besides bugs, another factor to consider is noise. Being able to shut the window cuts down the noise level considerably. It's an incredible place. I loved every minute a/c or no a/c, but having a/c for sleeping is better. PJK

I would say that if you are worried about it you should get a/c. We were there in late may and it was very humid. We come from AZ and we are not used to the humidity at all. I tried to do some lightweight laundry in the room and it took four days to dry!

We were in Venice at the end of May this year and didn't find the weather hot or humid. We live in a very dry area at home so any bit of humidity would have been felt by my husband. But if you say that your husband is very sensitive to heat, I would say to rent the apt. with the AC just in case there's a heatwave next May. Better to be safe than sorry.

Have been to Venice in May (several times) June and September. All five times we have definitely needed the AC - would have been very uncomfortable without it.

Caveat: my tolerance for heat is very low - my ideal summer vacation is Stockholm - a high of mid 70's and dry.

As others have said, it's hard to know. We too are from Arizona and were in Venice, Verona and Florence early last month. The temps were low 70s during the day and mid 50s at night. Since they turn off the heat in early/mid-April my wife was very cold at night.

I was in florence in may and it was hot(to me, I dont like hot weather) - we did not have air but and at night it was fine. But mosquitos always bit us.
Why is it that most European hotels(or b&b's) don't have screened windows. I m from the chicago area and EVERYONE has screens on their windows. I notice this in california and even the last place I stayed in NYC, no screens?? is it just a midwest US thing to have screens on your windows to keep bugs out?

Window screens are actually very common in California--where did you not find them? Provence...now, that's a different story: we've had screens exactly once in the years we've been going there.

I'm a little fuzzy on this, so maybe someone in the know will confirm or deny it, but it's my understanding that there are firm dates on which the AC is turned on/off in the spring/fall in Italy. Your AC may not be accessible in May even if it's hot.

We stayed in Florence in October a couple of years ago when the weather was HOT. AC didn't work despite techno-husband's best efforts to practically rewire the unit in our room.

Underhill,

Specifcally in CA the westin Horton Plaza, san diego
My friends apratment in Santa Monica
And the villa florence in San Francisco

none of these places had screens?? It souds like if you have screens then some people in CA do. But it does not explain why europeans have never heard of them, especially in hotels and b&bs w/o a/c

Betsy,

you may be right about this but when we visited Italy(last two weeks of May a few years ago)we had working air in all of the hotels that we visited - except one. We chose a room in Milan without air (saving money, I guess) and we literally "slept" with wet towels on our bodies all night. It was miserable but thankfully we were only there one night. On the plus side, I had the best pizza that night and some fabulous dessert that I have never been able to locate a recipe for. The waiter called it Egyptian dessert - some wonderful coconut cakelike thing soaked in liquer. Ahhh.

The bottom line is that no one can tell you in advance whether you will need air conditioning on the particular days you will be in Venice--it might be real hot and humid, and it might not be.

It sounds as though you do need to reserve a place with A/C just in case. I'm also very sensitive to heat, so if there's any question, we shell out a few extra bucks for a room with A/C as insurance.

Two years ago when we visited Germany in June, we checked the 10-day weather forecasts right up to the day we left--all said highs in the upper 60s and low 70s. So we packed accordingly. Within a week temperatures had gone into the 90s, and eventually hit 100.

We were there in May 2001 and it was simply wonderful -- no airconditioning was needed. That said -- it is hard to guarantee weather!

We were in Venice this may and the nights were coolish; the hotel , Europa Regina, controlled the air conditioning and said that may was not a month where it was on automatically all the time.

So even though the ac is there, it might not be on.

We were in Venice the first week of May in 2003 and although it may be cool outside at night it is not that way inside.

We were dying of heat because our hotel had not turned their a/c on. I would never risk it again....next time I will be sure to stay in a hotel that has their a/c turned on.

HI--we stayed at the Hotel Marconi in late May of 2000--a great hotel and location which I highly recommend--and the AC was both needed and provided. It would never have occurred to me that a hotel could or would have it and refuse to use it. Every hotel we were at in Italy during that trip--except for a B&B in Tuscany--had great AC that was sorely needed in the Italian heat.