Venice 2008 - a complete desaster?
 

I recently found this:
*This year five concerts will be held in St. Mark’s: the series will be opened on 8th July with Momix’s performance, Elton John’s one is planned for 9th July; we are looking forward to the performance of the great pianist Giovanni Allevi on 14th July and of Gilberto Gil on 15th. The show will end on 22nd with a concert for Emergency: the singers will be Joan Baez and Vinicio Capossela.*
Santa Maria della Salute completely under scaffolding, large area of St. Marks fenced in due to restoration of the Bell Tower, restorations on the Ducale Palace...and now they are going to build a huge stage on the opposite side of the square. And there will be thousands of seats in the middle. Not to speak of all the thousands of people coming for the concerts!
Even during the day most of the square will be blocked off and at night one will have no chance to listen to the orchestras and enjoy the square. Access to the square will be restricted at night.
We are thinking of postponing our trip.

This, and the tens of thousands of tourists converging in a very small, cramped area, is why you should never travel to Venice in the summer months.

Go in February.

Thingorjus

To add to your fears check this article in today's Wall Street Journal, on the condition of the grand old Hotel Cipriani.
http://online.wsj.com/public/page/2_1367.html

Venice is at its worst in July and August, IMO and summer is the least desirable time to visit Italy.

I like December through March.

I don't know why you posted twice, just 10 minutes apart, but I answered on the other thread.

Click on your name in blue.

Hi karen,

well it's bad luck that your trip co-incides with all this disruption, but whether I'd cancel in your place would depend on a lot of things - how long you are staying for, where you are staying, what you want to do...

it is quite possible to spend days in Venice and never go anywhere near st. Marks.

but only you know whether this wil realy effect your enjoyment.

where woudl you go instead?

regards, ann

There are far many more thousands of people coming off the cruise ships every day than the few thousand who might attend the concerts.

If you wait until none of Venice is under scaffolding, you might never go at all.

That said, July is possibly the worst month to visit Venice.

There is so much more to Venice than St. Mark's Square.

Buy a "Chorus" ticket for 9 Euros. It will give you access to 16 wonderful churches located in various neighborhoods and you can use it as an incentive to explore the rest of Venice. (Individual admissions to each church is 3 Euros.)

Also buy a good map to Venice and a 2- or 3-day pass for unlimited rides on the ferries than ply the canals.

I agree with everything said above. By its very nature, its age, the way it's built, Venice is inevitably under scaffolding most of the time (or parts of it are) otherwise it would keel over or just sink into the lagoon.
St. Mark's area including the Salute just across the Grand Canal: half a day, then on to see more interesting and less crowded parts of the City.

Well I have only been to Venice in July (two different years) so I can't speak to if another month would be better. But my hotel was less than half the posted rate and when I asked the desk staff about that they said they charge their highest rates in May, June and September which is when Venice sees the MOST visitors, not in July. One year it was very hot in July, the other it was quite pleasant. So I would definitely not put off a visit just because it's July. And as the others have said, there is much more to Venice than Piazza San Marco. On the other hand, San Marco is absolutely breathtaking - the square as well as the basilica, and to see it full of staging and scaffolding would not be my choice. And Santa Maria and the view of it across the canal is also something I would not want to miss. If you could go somewhere else this summer and put off Venice for a couple of years I'd probably do that.

does anyone know how soon this will start? we will be there july 1 to july 4?

It will start July 8th. You are lucky!