Facts & figures about Italy’s Lagoon City plus how it is here right now:

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Venice is undeniably one of the most popular places to visit in Europe. The uniqueness of its lagoon setting made it a worldwide attraction for centuries. Unfortunately, this fact made it to one of the most overtouristed spots as well! And this was also the reason that my husband and I had never been to this city before. With the appearance of Corona, we saw the chance to visit it without the crowds. We squeezed it in between two other destinations and organized a two-night trip to this magnificent place on short notice. And that was enough reason for me to do some research about Venice and its overtourism.

After some facts and figures to Venice as one of the world’s most overtouristed places, I do not want to withhold from you how it is to experience this City of Canals in Corona times. And of course, it was totally different than it was before this virus messed up the travel word.

As always, my husband and I made sure that we could travel Venice in style. We booked two nights at a luxury boutique hotel complete with a foodie dinner at its in-house Michelin starred restaurant. Details on how to stay and dine in Venice if you like the finer things in life will follow soon on my blog.

About Venice and its overtourism

Please note that all the facts and figures mentioned here stem from the very interesting New York Times article “Venice Tourism May Never Be the Same. It Could Be Better.” (by Anna Momigliano; July 2, 2020).

Venice has been a magnet for travelers for centuries. At the end of the 18th century, wealthy Europeans started visiting it as part of “the Grand Tour”. Lord Byron was among the city’s earliest holiday makers. A funny detail, our hotel room in Venice was named after him!

By the late 20th century, Venice became a “tourism monoculture”, i.e. tourism has been its only economy. Tourists became more and more and before the residents realized it, there were too many of them.

It is estimated that the number of tourists amounts to 20 million annually, and this predominantly concentrated in an area of two square miles and 50,000 residents! This was of course before Covid-19. In the high season, Venice was impossibly crowded, especially in its narrow alleyways, some just two meters, or six-and-a-half feet, wide.

Tourism did change Venice, and not in a positive way. While the city’s historical center had at its peak in the 1950s 175,000 residents, this number fell below 60,000 in 2009 and it is now down to 50,000. Many residents consider some parts of their city as off-limits at certain times. They say for example that is impossible to cross the famous Rialto Bridge between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. without throwing elbows.

Day trippers (about half of the visitors) are especially harmful as they are on constant move. They disembark from cruise ships, train stations and bus tours. And they always crowd the same spots around St. Mark’s and the Rialto. An interesting fact is that for instance the cruise day trippers bring as little as 21 SFR/US$ per day and capita to the city (if they do not spend the night)!

Venice in Corona times

End of February, Venice’s overtourism came to a sudden halt. When Italy lifted its restriction on movement in early June, the lagoon began to see a few visitors. At the beginning, most of them were day trippers from the surrounding Veneto region. With time, others came, too. First, mainly Italians, afterwards also travelers from neighboring countries. I guess most of them took the car to get here, some also the train. From what I read, most of the hotels in Venice opened as from July or so, in contrast to those in Rome or Florence.

When my husband and I were in Venice at the end of August/beginning of September, there were tourists. Not many of them, as we were told, but quite a few, at least in the St. Mark’s

and the Rialto area. Except from those popular spots, there were no crowds. We were almost never forced to slow our pace – we had only two days here – , when we explored the city’s historical center, consisting of two islands. The foreign tourists we met were mostly German, often families. Yet there were no people from oversea, neither Americans nor Asians. It felt like traveling twenty or thirty years ago!

Of course, you have to see the major sights in Venice. Yet it is much better to aimlessly stroll through the city’s calli (walkways). By doing so, you can enjoy the city’s slow pace and its faded beauty.

At certain times, the streets were eerily empty. When we walked back to the hotel one night while it was raining heavily, we were the only people around. My husband and I were so happy that we had made it to Venice before it might become unvisitable. Either due to too many tourists or also because of high tides, the other big problem of this city.

After all this information on Venice’s overtourism and how it is here in Corona times now to a more pleasant topic. My next blogpost will be about where to go for a luxury stay