I always grimace when the Florence/Venice debate gets going. It totally depends on what you want.

Advantages, IMO, to Florence:

The best Renaissance art and architecture
Great food and food markets
Wonderful shopping
A "city feel" if you are looking for that
Easy access
A heart of Italy feeling
More bang for your buck on a budget

Advantages of Venice:

Truly unique
Very romantic
A wider swath of art history
And if we are talking about art museums, I enjoy the Accademia more than I enjoy the Uffizi

Although I really like Venice and am going again for 4 days in March, I like Florence better. I like the food better, and I know that I get better food choices within my budget. I like the surroundings better, and a quick dash by bus or train to a nearby Tuscan town is pretty simple. Even though the city gets crowded, there always seems to be something really Italian going on: a protest, a festa, a holiday of some sort. In Venice, I see mostly tourist life; that isn't a bad thing, but it doesn't give me the same flavor.

All that said, for romance and the most unique surroundings and scenery in Europe, you can't beat Venice.

I thought it might be helpful to list my pros and cons rather than say go to one or the other. And ask yourself, which one are you dying to see? Which has the things that you really want to experience during your trip?

Have a blast and Happy New Year!

I'd like to add my vote for Florence, since I am such a fan of Bernini - and the Renaissance, that I can't imagine Italy without them! It's true that Florence is very arty, but what's not to love about the art! In addition, you're in Tuscany! Worth a trip to Sienna or Montepulciano, or Rhadda or Greve!

Venice IS charming, but crowded or not, it is empty of Italians, and the food at some of the restaurants along the canal and the Rialto can be, well, awful! Venice is worth a trip, but if this is your first visit to Italy, save Venice for your second trip (you WILL be back!)

I have to say that Rome is my absolute favorite!If you're not going in the summer,I would definitely recommend Venice as your second city.It's a very personal thing,though.We all fall in love with different places for different reasons.

In the last three years my wife and I have taken two 14-16 day trips to Italy. In both cases we spend roughly three days each in Florence and Venice with the balance in Rome. I think it worked out perfect actually. Florence and Venice are so different it is tough for anyone to pick for you, as you can see above. Both our trips were in the summer and the canals in Venice smelled like any other body of water btw.

Ciao.

It's very interesting and amusing that there is a debate about which city is the "best" one to visit in Italy. As others have said, they are each unique, with wonderful things to see and do. For myself, I love Rome- it was the first stop on our first trip to Italy, and it gave me what I felt to be a "pulse" of the country. (much like Paris or London give a pulse to their countries)

I am an artist and thought I'd love Florence, and everything people have said is true. The art is great, the food spectacular, etc., but, in the end, I did not like the personality of the city. That's a personal taste, I think, but I found Florence noisy and cold with perhaps a feeling of arrogance. ( It was not a language problem- my husband speaks Italian) Perhaps it was because we traveled in October, towards the end of the season, and the perhaps the people of Florence were just tired of tourists.

I love Venice. It is truly unique- if you enter the city through the train station as we did, you walk down the stairs of a pretty ordinally train station to a spectualar scene. As we entered the city, we both were transfixed- it was a little like " you're not on Kansas anymore." It a wonderful city to explore, and we're going back for 4 days in May at the end of our trip to the lakes and the Dolomites.

Incidentally, althouh we find the cities to be to be that pulse I talked about, we probably enjoy the small towns even more. For later trips, keep in mind visits to other parts of the country- Tuscany, Umbria, the Amalfi coast, the CT, etc.

Whatever you decide, it will be a glorious holiday- enjoy!

-Margret

Re: comment that Venice is "empty of Italians." It depends on when you go and where you go. My trips there have been in the fall, and then if you venture off the Rialto--San Marco jaunt into the back areas, you will find few tourists and lots of locals. I found that in Florence it's harder to escape the madd(en)ing crowds. I was in Florence last in May 2004 and felt positively claustrophobic with all the tour groups and such.

As a city, I prefer Venice. But Florence has all the Renaissance goodies that make it hard to beat artwise.

Thanks everyone,

We decided on Venice as our second city for our 8 night stay in Italy the last week of February. To complement the hustle and bustle of Rome, we decided to go with the more magical and romantic of the two. Although I do love art and enjoy historical novels set in Florence, we decided to go another time so that we can also explore the Tuscan countryside.

Thanks again everybody...happy traveling..may

Venice is not empty of Italians. 60-7000 live there, and it is one of the most popular spots for Italians to visit on long weekends and vacations.

Yes, along the infamous "Daytrippers' Alley" there is a high proportion of bad/mediocre restaurants and cheesy souvenir shops. But you don't have to spend all your time in Venice in these areas. A 5-minute walk gets you out of that high season madness.

Do a little research on a place before you go, and you might be surprised at how your experience is improved.