We almost made a huge mistake with Venice. We almost skipped it entirely. Venice is crowded, and smelly, and expensive they said. I’m not sure exactly who “they” are, but these were the complaints we’d heard. Thoughts of how to avoid the crowds in Venice swirled around our starting to become travel-weary heads.

If you know us, you know that we’re not much for crowds. We’ve even written about how to get away from crowds in national parks. A quiet corner of the forest is more our style. Venice receives from 20-30 million visitors every year. That’s an influx of 50-80 thousand people a day. And yes, I most surely did have to use a calculator for that stat. I mathlete, I am not.

That’s a whole lot of people but whenever we think of saying “no” to something we ask ourselves, “In a year will we regret doing this or not doing this?” We immediately knew the answer—we’d be kicking ourselves if we didn’t go to Venice during our time in Italy. Fortunately, we won’t have to test our flexibility skills—I imagine it’s rather difficult to actually kick oneself.

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Venice is an experience like no other. For starters, it’s even more lovely than I envisioned. Narrow cobblestone streets are framed by crumbling earth-toned brick and plaster buildings. Foot bridges with iron railings arch over murky turquoise canals. There aren’t any cars so it’s pedestrian traffic only, well, and boat traffic. The waters really are the roadways here. We even saw a beer distributor boat (and you can bet we considered trying to hitch a ride on it). We also managed to avoid the crowds in Venice and find numerous peaceful areas to spend our time in.

How to Avoid the Crowds in Venice

1. Choose lodging away from the Grand Canal and the main tourist sites

We recommend staying in the historic center instead of the mainland for convenience sake, but book lodging in the less trafficked areas. We stayed in the Santa Croce district and it was perfect—lots of restaurants and beauty, but not overwhelmed with visitors. Look for lodging away from the Grand Canal and read reviews to see what other guests have said about the area.

2. Explore the side streets

The main streets are busy but it’s easy to turn down a side street and find solitude. Spend some time just getting lost (after you pick-up a map of course). You’ll find some of the best restaurants and picture spots down these little corridors.

3. Visit the “popular attractions” either early or late

Rialto Bridge, Doge’s Palace, Piazza San Marco (Saint Mark’s Square), the Bridge of Sighs—these will all have peak crowds by mid-morning through afternoon. Visit either early in the morning or around sunset to avoid the crowds in Venice.

4. Find your own attractions

Instead of going to the sites that everyone else visits, stroll around until you see something interesting. One of our favorite experiences was wandering into a random church with a really incredible (and creepy) crypt. We were able to explore it by candle light completely by ourselves. Sometimes you’ll even come upon a deserted square where you can sit and have a little private picnic. There are all kinds of nooks and crannies throughout the city that people pass right by without noticing.

5. Go out after dark (or really any time after 8pm)

For some reason Venice doesn’t have a booming nightlight. We found that a lot of the bars close by 10pm. Maybe they don’t want drunk people falling in the water in the dark? Regardless, people seem to disappear from the streets by about 8pm. It’s a great time to take in the sights and enjoy a leisurely walk along the sparkling canals.

If you’re headed to the Floating City, you can avoid the crowds in Venice with these tips. Unless, of course you like crowds, then maybe you can tell me how to maintain sanity in a mob?😉 Either way, I hope you enjoyed this post and thank you for reading friends.

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