Venice in January
 

We are thinking about a trip to Venice the first week in January and are wondering what to expect with the weather? What about rain/wind in January? Will it be too cold to really enjoy Venice? We were in Venice last May but did not stay long enough. We have been wanting to go back for a second visit. We will be visiting our daughter in Belgium over Christmas and hoped to slip in another visit to Venice. Thanks for your help on this.

I would imagine that Venice in January would be such a treat. You will probably see a side of the city that many others don't get a chance to experience, and enjoy it without the crush of humanity during high season. Sure, the weather will be cold, I am not sure about rainfall, but Venetians manage to deal with it! If you have the opportunity, I say take it.

This page on a website kindly revealed to me on this board shows you average temperatures for Venice in January.

http://www.weatherbase.com/weather/w...161&refer=

We were in Venice after Christmas a few years ago and had a great experience. Yes, it was cold, but not frigid. We just dressed correctly and stopped off for lots of hearty meals to warm us up.

We did luck out with no rain, but fairly sunny weather the whole time.

We loved seeing the wisps of fog floating over the canals and the Venetian dogs all dressed to go out in little rain coats.

From October to April, there is the ACQUA ALTA in Venice. Have a look at the thread called Useful Info Italy, started by Ira a loooong time ago to have more info about that. In particular, there was a guy called Federico (his nickname was Venexiano) a Venetian guy who would give excellent info on the acqua alta phenomenon. If you can't find that thread just type Venexiano in the search box and read his posts which, again, were a great source of info about Venice, where he was living.

Here's the link of the thread http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34443340

I was in Venice during acqua alta. What I learned was that you need boots at times, which all Venetians own. They are sold everywhere, and some of them were really cute! Plus, my hotel provided complimentary boots.

The other thing I learned at that time was not to stay in a hotel that will have a flooded lobby during the acqua alta, which is not all that uncommon. I met up with friends who chose to stay very close to
San Marco, and their hotel was flooded in the mornings. The staff went about their normal business, even though my friends were personally freaked out by it.

I stayed in Canareggio, and according to my friendly front desk staff, that happens in that area, but not in other specific areas, which are not as low-lying. I agree it is helpful to know about acqua alta, and perhaps when you book your hotel, ask them how they are affected by it.

I didn't find the acqua alta to be a problem for me, more of an interesting quirk of life in Venice I had to adapt to, and did. It did not detract from my glorious visit one bit.

The thread posted contains more interesting and useful faq about acqua alta, and some excellent info about Venice. Thanks for posting that!

I haven't been to Venice before, but we were debating this very question a few weeks ago. We've decided that the weather is no worse than we would experience at home (DC) and aqua alta wasn't that big a deal for us. The opportunity to just see Venice, and even better not in the throngs of tourist season really made the decision for us! I had heard from others that had rain during their visit, and also from some who avoided it altogether. Best advice I have is to go and be prepared to be chilly and damp but to enjoy the beauty of the city!

I spent this past Christmas in Venice. It was so much fun to stand in San Marco's one day with pigeons landing on our heads and to walk in water halfway up to our knees the next!

We stayed in a wonderful little hotel near the Square. Yep, it flooded but the staff was great. Gave us boots, even non-disposable ones one day. And they brought our breakfast up to the room...enough to feed an army, not 3 women!

Yes, it was cold, but none of us remember how that felt now. We just remember how much fun we had.

BTW, "the first week in January." WHen exactly? Hotels really fill up for New Year's and some folks may be staying over a while.

"and the fog creeps in
on little cat feet"
lots of fog then i guess making Venice more surrealistically captivating than usual!

I stayed in Venice during the last week of December. My hotel in Cannaregio did not have a flooded lobby, but one day it was impossible to get out of the hotel without going through ankle-deep water. But fortunately, I had brought waterproof Rockport boots, and had no problem. I would have had a tough time without them.

Various posters had advised there was no need to bring waterproof footgear to Venice, because you could always buy something there or use what the hotel had. Perhaps the hotel had boots that would have fit me, but I doubt it. And I wouldn't have been able to get out easily to buy anything elsewhere, if I hadn't been pre-equipped.

The raised sidewalk tables worked pretty well, but even so there were always some areas which they didn't quite cover.

faredolce - thanks for the website on Venice average temps. I live in north Texas and the weather here is really crummy during January. Venice doesn't sound any colder. I stayed in the Cannaregio neighborhood on my last trip and really liked it.

batuffolina - thanks for the link for acqua alta.

WillTravel - I'm with you. I'd rather take my own boots.

Blueswimmer and PalQ - fog creeping in on cat's feet and dogs in raingear...Wow! I've got to go now!

Thanks for all the info. I'm convinced that Venice in winter is better than no Venice at all. I also like the low hotel and apartment rates for that time of year. I guess we'll go.

Hi Granbury,

I am glad you decided to go. A couple months ago my husband and I booked our Jan/Feb trip to Florence & Venice, we had thoughts similar to your own but are quite happy with our decision and we aren't even there yet!

Click on this thread, you might enjoy it, we did so much:
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34604835

Post when you get home, ok?!?

Happy journey, Tiff