Walking Venice

I&#x27;ve been to Venice and I do feel kind of bad about the situation. I wish there were more cities like it to visit or live in, that were really aggressively pedestrian friendly. The fact that it&#x27;s mostly little alleys and side streets with nary a car to be seen is just...sublime, in its own way.<p>It&#x27;s amazing the impact it has on your brain to not have to worry about cars at all as you wander about on foot. Of course there are many reasonably pedestrian-friendly cities all over the world, but I can&#x27;t really thing of anything on Venice&#x27;s level where it&#x27;s in a developed&#x2F;rich country, and yet there&#x27;s this decently-sized population&#x2F;geographical area with essentially zero cars around.

Thanks for writing this, I lived briefly in Venice during college, and I visited the city multiple times since in the last two decades. I been in both sides of the fence: a inhabitant and a tourist. And the city can&#x27;t be any more different when you live there (the slow pace, the absolute silence, the absurd elongated perception of time) and when you visit. It was only until 2019 where I ventured myself into the Biennale and I had the same impression as the author: unthinkable that this fair is not more popular and appreciative of finding a place of high culture without being completely overtaken by tourism.

A little advice about ATMs (I think it should be applicable within any country in Europe) - Try to always look out for an ATMs that belong to banks, they are usually “nice” in terms of being easy to choose not to impose their own currency rate.<p>The predatory ones are usually operated by some private nonbank subject most common being Euronet - don’t even touch these.

Was in Venice at the same time, Biennale was the highlight for me, an oasis in the middle of our Venice trip. The city itself was expensive, finding good food was not easy, completely overcrowded and majority of financial interactions involved someone charging us for something we did not buy.<p>Florence on the other hand was phenomenal, we stopped by on our way to Venice for a few nights and though it had many tourists, it was so easy to wander and get lost and find treasures. We couldn’t find a place that had bad food, just wander somewhere off the main path and amazing pizza, amazing wine for incredible price. Incredible sights and history to indulge in, definitely was the highlight of our Rome, Florence, Venice trip.

I live near Venice and I have to agree with the article. But I don’t like Venice, or better, I love the city, I hate the people&#x2F;tourists in Venice.<p>I can only suggest to visit (in addition to Venice), two nearby cities: Chioggia and Trieste

At first I thought this was going to be fantasy or some kind of conceptual piece and the front page photo was faked with Photoshop or something like DALL-E 2 with a prompt like <i>sad minotaur girl lies in street in Italy while tourists watch, photorealistic</i>. Looks like it&#x27;s actually from some kind of (very well-done) street performance art piece.<p>Starting to feel what it&#x27;s like to be living in the era where thinking a photo is real isn&#x27;t a pretty safe default assumption.

My SO used to work seasonally in Venice so I was a frequent visitor.<p>If you haven&#x27;t been there I recommend arriving by train. It&#x27;s like setting foot on an alien planet.<p>As for everything else: much to the locals&#x27; distaste the city, like many others in Italy, is slowly turning into a theme park.<p>Good thing they at least managed to put all the party people on Lido.<p>The general outlook is grim - young Venetians are increasingly moving out due to high cost of living combined with few employment opportunities outside of tourism.<p>My fondest memory of Venice will always be the experience of <i>running</i> through the city - I needed to catch a train. It&#x27;s possible, but frowned upon for the same reason that cycling is forbidden in Venice proper, namely the risk of falling or pushing someone into one of the many canals.

Visited Venice last year late November. During the day, the most enjoyable parts for me were walking a bit further away toward the northern sections (Cannaregio) which are away from the main shopping centers and thus crowds. Then during the late night&#x2F;early morning I would walk with my wife and explore the city a bit more once the crowds died down and the city felt quiet (after 11pm). That was romantic. I’d parrot with others that it’s amazing not having to worry about cars.<p>We did Rome, Florence, Tivoli, Siena and Venice. All beautiful cities coupled with amazing food. Florence felt like I was walking through a painting at times; I loved them all.

I grew up in Italy, lived abroad from 2008 to 2020 (Luxembourg, Singapore, San Francisco), then moved back to Italy, and settled in Venezia since.<p>I live in Venezia now. AMA.

The thing I find most interesting about the Venice Biennale is that it is an event that really embraces the whole city. While the main exhibitions are hosted in the Arsenale and the Giardini venue, there are so many events scattered in gardens and palaces that are otherwise closed to the public. It&#x27;s a unique chance to experience some hidden gems a tourist would never be able to see.<p>If anybody is interested in exploring the Biennale Arte, I have built a non-official app that helps you navigate all those events, [0]. It&#x27;s a hobby project, so please be kind! If you go and want some tips, feel free to get in touch.<p>[0] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;apps.apple.com&#x2F;gb&#x2F;app&#x2F;biennale-arte&#x2F;id1620771374" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;apps.apple.com&#x2F;gb&#x2F;app&#x2F;biennale-arte&#x2F;id1620771374</a>

Thanks for this piece, I enjoyed reading it.<p>I was in Naples a few weeks ago and they drive theough all the tiny streets there, it was so stressful. We saw Pompei also. I could not help but marvel at how closw and homley everything felt. Abolish cars in cities!!

When I first visited Venice, I loved it, but that was 40 years ago. Thirty years later it had lost much of its charm. There did seem to be too many tourists, but in all honesty, I think the age of a visitor alters perception.<p>In any case, City Walk videos may not be ideal, but they provide a rough idea of the current situation.<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;youtu.be&#x2F;QqTsxl820lo" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;youtu.be&#x2F;QqTsxl820lo</a>

I&#x27;ve been visiting Italy for years and this last trip during the pandemic, sans the typical tourist volumes, was fantastic. Now that travel is back on, I recommend getting away from the main tourist hot spots, the rest of the country is just as nice and much less crowded.

If you are interested in the topic - try to get a copy of &quot;Migropolis: Venice &#x2F; Atlas of a Global Situation&quot;:<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.hatjecantz.de&#x2F;migropolis-2388-1.html" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.hatjecantz.de&#x2F;migropolis-2388-1.html</a>

Ha! That front picture is of the Biennale!<p>Denmark is bringing it! (they made the centaur art thingy)

This has that cringey quality you can only find in self-indulgent writing. Kind of like what you&#x27;d expect from a small lib arts school undergrad lit major. Some things are better left unwritten or delivered in conversation over a drink or two.