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Ah, romantic Venice!
Every day is Valentine’s Day when it comes to our love affair with Venice.
No matter that in high summer, when cruise ships disgorge their passengers, the tiny pedestrian streets are clogged with tourists jostling elbow to elbow.
We’ll always be in love with Venice – nicknamed La Serenissima (the most serene).
We can never get enough of the city, birthplace of Casanova. Its canals and singing gondoliers. Its bridges. (Did you know Venice has over 400 bridges?) Its palaces and museums…
And the light!
Venice is just one of the most beautiful places to see in Italy!
Romantic Venice
So how many ways have visitors said, “We love romantic Venice”?
Let’s quote some masters of the pen and other luminaries as we share some of Venice photos with you:
1) City of mirrors
“It is the city of mirrors, the city of mirages, at once solid and liquid, at once air and stone.”
~ Erica Jong, author of Shylock’s Daughter (1987), formerly titled Serenissima
2) Better than chocolates
“Venice is like eating an entire box of chocolate liqueurs in one go.”
~ Truman Capote, quoted in the Observer, 1961
3) Aglow in orange
“An orange gem resting on a blue glass plate: it’s Venice seen from above.”
~ Henry James, author of Aspern Papers, 1888
4) Flamboyant!
“Flamboyant, radiantly beautiful, Venice, Italy, owes her grandeur to the sea, a bond celebrated yearly through regattas such as the Vogalonga. Today it is a human tide that washes over her—millions come to capture a glimmer of her charms.”
~ from “Venice: More Than a Dream,” February 1995, National Geographic magazine
5) Like a movie set
“Venice never quite seems real, but rather an ornate film set suspended on the water.”
~ Frida Giannini, Italian fashion designer, 2011
6) Impossible?
“To build a city where it is impossible to build a city is madness in itself, but to build there one of the most elegant and grandest of cities is the madness of genius.”
~ Alexander Herzen, 19th century Russian writer
Is Venice romantic still in August?
When we once stayed in August, we discovered hotels priced at “low season” rates. Because people think September is slower, more now visit Venice in September, so rates jump at the beginning of that month. July also sees high rates.
But, if you don’t mind the heat, you can find some good hotel deals in August.
Photo credits: 2, 6 and 8 to 10 © Janice and George Mucalov, SandInMySuitcase
Do you love Venice? Which quote do you like the most?
Oh, Venice is so on my Italy bucket list. Thanks for the tip about visiting in August. Love your pics.
Oh, you’ll love Venice! One day it will happen, right?
I may be visiting Venice later this year, and I expect to fall in love with it too! Lovely post, glad you had an amazing time! Very cool Truman Capote quote too..
Yes, that Truman Capote quote is right on :-).
We love Venice. I can’t understand those people that bash on the place. It’s like a living museum and what is special is that the whole place is like that, there is no ‘old town’…you step in the place and you step back in time.
Frank (bbqboy)
Your images are just beautiful. It has been years since I have been to Venice. I believe it is time for a trip back!
Thanks so much for the kind comment on our images! You can pack us in your suitcase when you go back to Venice :-).
I agree that Venice is a great destination at any time of year, except perhaps for a few days in summer when it can become very hot and humid. But even then, you can still find refuge from the heat in the beautiful churches and palaces around. I would rather go there in winter though, when the crowds are sparse. I could stroll along the narrow streets of Venice for hours and hours without getting mentally tired. Unfortunately, my feet have a new way of saying ‘enough!’ lately: they develop convincingly painful blisters to remind me they have a finite endurance limit. Gorgeous images of Venice, Janice! Your post made me want to go back for a visit.
We sympathize with the blisters :-). With no public transport (except for the vaporetti, which are great!), and pedestrian-only streets, Venice means you have to walk a lot (if you want to really experience the city).
Venice during this time is perfect – less crowded, smells better, and the romance of the place is more apparent with the cold. I don’t know… I think cold weather is just more romantic than warm weather. Not sure if you feel the same :)
Well, normally we prefer warm weather, but we now have images of Venice dusted with snow dancing in our heads – so we’re intrigued :-).
Beautiful images! I love Venice. I stayed there three times in the winter but then went back once in June, and it was too crowded for me. I’d love to go back again–maybe August will be an option?
So you’re a winter fan too :-). August is crowded – but the prices are right…
What a beautiful Valentine’s (and everyday) post! There are few cities in the world as romantic as this one!
We can’t think offhand of any cities that are more romantic than Venice :-). Anyone care to differ? Any other really romantic cities that rival Venice?
‘Arrived Venice. Street filled with water. Please advise.’
-Robert Benchley, Telegram
La Serenissima still stirs the soul when we visit each year for our Write Away Europe Creative Writing Retreats. A place that is always magic – and particularly love it in the Winter when it’s more absent of tourists.
Oooh – like this one by Benchley :-). What an inspiring place for a creative writers’ retreat! We haven’t visited Venice in winter, but we imagine it must be particularly soulful without the crowds…
Indeed it is – we spent November-May there some years back. Not only less crowded but city more real and more alive, more itself. Got to see Accademia & Campo Santa Margherita dusted in snow, the city is about the Venetians (except during Carnival) and you can get to know the locals in an approachable, true way that you just don’t seem able to do in tourist time. Made the fairy tale of Venice all more real, yet still so seductive. I’m devoted to Venice winters, now.
You’ve persuaded us :-). How pretty Venice must be dusted in snow…