11 ms·

Seems I waited too long to visit. True of many places.

js2 7y ago
I was there a few year ago with my wife and kids. We stayed in an airbnb on Venice. You can spend the day around the outskirts and avoid most of the cruise ship tourists. At night you have the island to yourself to explore. We also visited Murano which was almost deserted. I actually enjoyed Venice much more than Florence. Italy is a big place and there's tons to see. Make Venice just a couple days of your trip and you'll probably enjoy it. (Aside, to me it's tour groups that are the worst, with bus loads and cruise loads being the most egregious example. I've seen this everywhere I've been a tourist. A destination that can easily handle a stream of individuals or families becomes overwhelmed when 20+ tourists arrive all at once. Venice would definitely be helped by a metering system.)
- dboreham 7y ago
  Milan is nice because it's too far from the sea for cruise ships.
- misiti3780 7y ago
  Skip them both and go to Sicily. Some of the nicest and generous people I have ever met I met there. Outside a few places, there are basically no tourists and rural Sicily is beautiful with no english being spoken. The wines coming from Etna are much more interesting and cheaper than anything from Tuscany or further north also.
thomasfl 7y ago
Is was there last february. Not too crowded during winter. Very silent at night, due to the fact that the old town is totally car free. Yay!
mturmon 7y ago
I was there around 2000, my wife was back there around 2012. I echo the comments nearby that going out for a walk at night, after the day tourists leave, allows you to imagine the city of the late middle ages that's familiar from novels and history. Venice had strong downsides -- there really were too many tourists, and I was there mainly for the Biennele -- but the visit was worth it for those nighttime walks. Just be sure to pair it up with somewhere(s) else.
csomar 7y ago
Yet many places around the world are un-visited which 1. you can visit and 2. are very cheap. We think Venice is a big deal because some ass-hat told us it is a big deal. Carthage is 800 years older than Venice and to some extent it has a more interesting civilization. Tunisia also has significant Roman heritage. It's pretty close to Italy so the climate is quite a match but you can go and check the desert. Here is another one: Egypt. Enjoy both the pharaoh and the islamic heritage. Plenty of places to see that are reasonably safe. Bonus point: Probably the whole package will cost less than your daily life in your average developed country.
- HelloNurse 7y ago
  You are mentioning archeological sites in the desert. Venice is, or tries to be, a city.
  - ido 7y ago
    Both Tunisia & Egypt very much do have bustling, living cities. The pyramids are just outside of Cairo, one of the largest cities in the world (metro population above 20m - I believe no European city surpass it). Carthage is just outside Tunis - the capital & largest city of Tunisia (not to mention 10x the population of Venice).
    - 99052882514569 7y ago
      But what is left of Carthage? A modest number of average-preserved ruins of a later Roman provincial town. There are probably 10 of those in Italy alone, if not more. If I can get that in a non-touristy southern Italian province, why go to Tunisia for it? It ain't gonna be that much cheaper for safe and non-trashy accommodation and transportation.
      - csomar 7y ago
        Sure you can. The question is: what do you want to do/see? Do you want to see old or different. What is interesting to you. My point was that there is interesting sites to see beyond the popular ones. Either in Europe or elsewhere.
Strom 7y ago
I was there just last December and there weren't that many tourists. Didn't see a single cruise ship. Walking around Venice during late evenings was pretty nice as very few others were doing it. I'd see another person every 300m or so.
failrate 7y ago
No, it's still beautiful and fun to visit.

js2 7y ago

I was there a few year ago with my wife and kids. We stayed in an airbnb on Venice. You can spend the day around the outskirts and avoid most of the cruise ship tourists. At night you have the island to yourself to explore. We also visited Murano which was almost deserted. I actually enjoyed Venice much more than Florence. Italy is a big place and there's tons to see. Make Venice just a couple days of your trip and you'll probably enjoy it. (Aside, to me it's tour groups that are the worst, with bus loads and cruise loads being the most egregious example. I've seen this everywhere I've been a tourist. A destination that can easily handle a stream of individuals or families becomes overwhelmed when 20+ tourists arrive all at once. Venice would definitely be helped by a metering system.)

dboreham 7y ago
Milan is nice because it's too far from the sea for cruise ships.
misiti3780 7y ago
Skip them both and go to Sicily. Some of the nicest and generous people I have ever met I met there. Outside a few places, there are basically no tourists and rural Sicily is beautiful with no english being spoken. The wines coming from Etna are much more interesting and cheaper than anything from Tuscany or further north also.

thomasfl 7y ago

Is was there last february. Not too crowded during winter. Very silent at night, due to the fact that the old town is totally car free. Yay!

mturmon 7y ago

I was there around 2000, my wife was back there around 2012. I echo the comments nearby that going out for a walk at night, after the day tourists leave, allows you to imagine the city of the late middle ages that's familiar from novels and history. Venice had strong downsides -- there really were too many tourists, and I was there mainly for the Biennele -- but the visit was worth it for those nighttime walks. Just be sure to pair it up with somewhere(s) else.

csomar 7y ago

Yet many places around the world are un-visited which 1. you can visit and 2. are very cheap. We think Venice is a big deal because some ass-hat told us it is a big deal. Carthage is 800 years older than Venice and to some extent it has a more interesting civilization. Tunisia also has significant Roman heritage. It's pretty close to Italy so the climate is quite a match but you can go and check the desert. Here is another one: Egypt. Enjoy both the pharaoh and the islamic heritage. Plenty of places to see that are reasonably safe. Bonus point: Probably the whole package will cost less than your daily life in your average developed country.

HelloNurse 7y ago
You are mentioning archeological sites in the desert. Venice is, or tries to be, a city.
- ido 7y ago
  Both Tunisia & Egypt very much do have bustling, living cities. The pyramids are just outside of Cairo, one of the largest cities in the world (metro population above 20m - I believe no European city surpass it). Carthage is just outside Tunis - the capital & largest city of Tunisia (not to mention 10x the population of Venice).
  - 99052882514569 7y ago
    But what is left of Carthage? A modest number of average-preserved ruins of a later Roman provincial town. There are probably 10 of those in Italy alone, if not more. If I can get that in a non-touristy southern Italian province, why go to Tunisia for it? It ain't gonna be that much cheaper for safe and non-trashy accommodation and transportation.
    - csomar 7y ago
      Sure you can. The question is: what do you want to do/see? Do you want to see old or different. What is interesting to you. My point was that there is interesting sites to see beyond the popular ones. Either in Europe or elsewhere.

Strom 7y ago

I was there just last December and there weren't that many tourists. Didn't see a single cruise ship. Walking around Venice during late evenings was pretty nice as very few others were doing it. I'd see another person every 300m or so.

failrate 7y ago

No, it's still beautiful and fun to visit.