Venice – Lover’s Paradise or Tourist’s Nightmare?
Source: tambako at flickr
I am an avid watcher of the PBS series, Rick Steves’ Europe. That guy has quite the job, spending 6 months a year touring Europe with a film crew, seeing all there is to see, while getting paid (well I hope) to do so.
He recently did a show on Venice. Well, not recently. The show itself is probably 8 years old by now, but I recently saw it again on TV and it’s got me thinking.
Rick loves Venice. “The most romantic city in Europe” he claims. He raves about the food, the ambiance, loves the museums, the smallness, and talks about how you can just walk about in any direction and easily make your way back.
My own experience in Venice was quite the opposite. We found it way too crowded – there were 2 large cruise ships parked close by and the place was packed elbow to elbow with day tourists. Vendors trying to trick you into going on “glass factory” tours, when in fact it was a non-stop sales push with the risk of getting stranded far from Venice if you refused to buy anything. Multiple hours wait to get into the famous cathedral. A city with no street signs, and you can get hopelessly lost only blocks from your hotel. Some of the most expensive food and drinks in Europe – $10-$15 per drink anyone? $300 a night hotel room for one of the smallest hotel rooms I’ve ever stayed in my life. And let’s not forget the famous gondola rides, which we took for a staggering $150 for a 40 minute ride. We went to a museum of modern art (it had some Andy Warhol on display) and it was filled with some of the most disgusting and disturbing art displays I have seen in a museum. There was very little about Venice we liked, and I am glad I was only there 3 days.
But the way that an experienced traveller like Rick “loved” Venice has got me thinking. Did we approach the city all wrong? Should we have found a hotel farther from the city center? Should we have avoided the city during the core day hours and done most of our exploring later when all the tourists were back on their cruises? Should I have haggled with a gondolier or found another couple or two to split the cost with? Would all of that have changed my opinion on it?
Up til now I might have said I would never return to Venice. But I am starting to think it deserves a second chance. Just do things a bit differently, and maybe the most crowded and annoying city in Europe can become one of the best?
Not likely. But I’m willing to give it another chance.
I am very curious to what other people have experienced there. Was it a wonderful vacation in a small European city? Or did you feel it’s overhyped? Give me and other travellers your opinion on Venice in the comments.
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