I'm planning a long Euro road trip for next summer and need some opinions on Venice. I'll be driving there from Ljubljana, Slovenia, but after reading some articles and forums, I feel like I might be better off pressing on to Verona and Lake Garda.

I'm seeing a bunch of opinions that it's dirty and overrun with tourists. There's also the added challenge of having to stay outside of the city in a place like Mestre because of the car we will have. Thoughts?

Side note: Either location will really only be a 24 hour stop as we're more focused on getting to Milan, Monte Carlo, and Nice.

Yes. Super unique city.

I thought it was cool. Touristy but cool, like Florence.

Matsui said:

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Yes. Super unique city.

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This. Very peaceful at night.

We spent one night in Venice, and, for us, that was enough. We saw a lot of Venetian influence in Croatia and Montenegro, so, other than St Marks, it wasn't a draw.
Where else are you going? I hope you planning to stop at Lake Bled and spending some time in Croatia. I have some suggestions for gelato in Ljubljana, if interested .

As others have said, the uniqueness warrants one or two days there.

You can bring a car. Park at Plaza Roma (we used garage San Marco, you can book ahead) and stay somewhere nearby.

We visited in December and loved it but I probably wouldn't go in the summer due to the swell of tourists and cruise ships, and heat.

Istria (Croatia) is nearby and is really nice as well.

Not to belabor the point, but it is awesome for a couple of days.

Venice definitely merits 1-2 days. No need to stay longer than that.

Verona was also one of my favorite places I've ever visited.

Milan was forgettable.

We're planning on hitting the following:

Munich
Salzburg
Ljubljana (definitely seeing Lake Bled)
Venice or Verona (the current dilemma)
Milan
Monte Carlo
Nice
Interlaken
Lucerne
Back to Munich to drop off the car
Fly to Madrid for a couple of days

I would love to work in Croatia, but we just won't have the time. Trust me, I wish we could extend this out even more, but we will just have to commit to going back another time.

We played around with a few different itineraries, but landed on this one that satisfies all we want to see. The south of France was a big one for me.

We could choose Genoa over Milan if that's a better option. Did you visit there? If Milan isn't great, then we can skip it.

Venice is decaying, crowded and touristy and, if you've never been, a must see.

I try to avoid crowds when traveling if is all possible, and I like to experience a taste of life as the locals do as much as possible. I hate the tour bus crowd scene.

Having said all that, it's still an amazing city, unique in the world.

Don't miss it. But do stay in Venice and find a place to leave your car. Maybe the airport or train station. Venice is better, and much less crowded, at night. If you just make it a day stop you'll miss out.

I assume Monte Carlo as a day trip from Nice? It's a 30 minute train from Nice.
We enjoyed Nice, but be prepared for the beaches. The water is incredible, but the beaches are basically big rocks.

Yes, we will base in Nice and take the day trip over to Monte Carlo. I'm ok with the rocky beaches. We pack extremely minimally, so we probably won't even pack swimsuits. It's more just to enjoy the beauty than to swim or wade in the water.

You will get that. The water is beautiful-close I'm color to the Greek islands.

I personally love Venice. That said I won't go there in the summertime. There are too many tourists, it's hot, mosquitos and parts of the city smell of sewage from decaying infrastructure.

However, I highly recommend going there for Christmas when it's nice and cool and there aren't a bunch of tourist. You can then take the train to Sud Tyrol and go skiing. It's the perfect combo trip.

I go rock climbing in Croatia. It's an amazing place. Much of the countryside looks like the Texas Hill country expects with castles. Check out Rovinj and the island of Split.

I'm more of a fan of Bulgaria and Slovenia given a compressed time schedule.

I love Rovinj and Zadar the most in Croatia. And Bulgaria is grossly underrated. Varna on the Black Sea was great

Unfortunately we're stuck with summer, so we may just have to go to Venice some other time. Our issue is that I'm trying not to make any one days drive more than about 3-3.5 hours.

Ljubljana is awesome, great people, beautiful area, try a horse burger

Also Vigo has incredible ice cream. And there are several great gelato places near the dragon bridge

BlueAg2003 said:

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Unfortunately we're stuck with summer, so we may just have to go to Venice some other time. Our issue is that I'm trying not to make any one days drive more than about 3-3.5 hours.

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I go to Europe once or twice a year for work/play. My suggestion is I feel like people rush their trips too much and don't get to know a place beyond the highlights. Take your time.

Also, I didn't see it on your itinerary but spend some time in Florence and Sienna. Florence is just such an important city historically, and there just aren't many cities as cool as old Sienna.

Venice sucked. Way too many tourists from cruise ships and pushy street vendors

terradactylexpress said:

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Venice sucked. Way too many tourists from cruise ships and pushy street vendors

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I totally understand this view point. To enjoy Venice you have to work to get off the beaten path

We went to Venice in February years ago and it was great

I probably wouldn't go in the summer

I would add some days in Provence if you're in the South of France...assuming you like wine, great food, and Roman ruins.

I think Venice is worth it, even in the summer. I'm going back next month for a couple of nights. Yes, there are huge crowds. They can be avoided though and they thin out significantly in the late afternoon. The big tour groups stay in hotels on the mainland and the cruisers go back to their ships. Night time in Venice is unmatched.

I was just in Venice this past March and absolutely loved it. I had been there before in the summer, and while it was enjoyable, the heat and the crowds can be tough to handle. I would echo the above statements and say give it a day, and when the crowds and cruises leave around 5 you'll have the city to yourself to really enjoy it. Venice is just one of those cities you have to see imho.

Also, Verona is very cool, and you can easily stop and see it in 2-3 hours before heading to Milan. We did the opposite this past March--flew into Milan, and then on the way to Venice stopped in Verona.

Definitely 1-2 nights in Venice. Wander through the alleyways, explore, eat, drink, repeat & move on.

I think Venice is a nice place to spend an afternoon, but I wouldn't want to stay there.

Ag_N_Houston said:

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I think Venice is a nice place to spend an afternoon, but I wouldn't want to stay there.

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That's the exact opposite of how I'd do it.

Venice is a wonderful city. Sure, it has tourists, like everyone on this thread who has been there claims, as they themselves helped fill the city as tourists they deride. But if you get out and experience Venice, and I mean really experience it, it's quite a magical place. I remember stepping out of the train station for the first time and seeing the vaparettos on the canal against the backdrop of the city, knowing that was my ride along a canal with more history than I can imagine. It was such a cool sight/feeling. I can't wait to go back.

I don't want to say that if a person doesn't like Venice, then they've done it wrong, but I will say that there are probably better choices to be made to enjoy it better.

The tour groups also tend to congregate in a few areas. You can easily avoid the huge crowds during the day by avoiding these areas and saving things like St. Mark's for the evening.

I think the Venice crowds are blown out of proportion. It's no worse than Florence, Rome, or the Cinque Terre in the summer.

TXCityAggie said:

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The tour groups also tend to congregate in a few areas. You can easily avoid the huge crowds during the day by avoiding these areas and saving things like St. Mark's for the evening.

I think the Venice crowds are blown out of proportion. It's no worse than Florence, Rome, or the Cinque Terre in the summer.

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Is Cinque Terre that bad now? I haven't been in close to 20 years, and it hadn't gotten to that point yet back then. We had long stretches of the trails all to ourselves when we went, and could sit right down at restaurants in the towns.

Try Sardinia. Amazing beaches great rolling country inland and super easy to avoid the crowds.