Why I Hated Venice

While some people list getting lost as a fun and adventurous thing to do in Venice, I feel it is over romanticized. Have these people actually truly been lost in the dead end, bridge water way, unmarked streets of Venice? It is not nearly as fun and exciting as it sounds when you are lost for hours with every sign leading you into what seems like a huge circle around where you actually need to be! With that being said, I do not recommend trying to find the Ferrovia station on foot! You will get lost unless you are a local or have an amazing map to guide you. Do yourself a favor and find the nearest water taxi dock and just pay the 4-6 Euro ride over.

Rain. It is not your friends in Venice. Even a light drizzle will cause massive flooding in the squares. San Marco square looked like a lake anywhere you tried to cross. They even have some wooden platforms built to get across but it was narrow and still nearly flooded as well. After two days walking calf deep in rain water, I was ready to leave the island.
The last thing that pretty much hammered the nail in the coffin for me and Venice was the Gondola rides. They were outrageously priced at a 100 Euro for a 40 minute ride! Being solo, I passed on the experience.

In fairness and not be a complete Debbie Downer on Venice, the San Marco church is beautiful and I saw a great show in a small theater about the history of Venice that was amazing. The shops for masks and costumes were spectacular and I must admit I would love to go back just for a day to buy one or two of their lovely handmade costumes and masks.

Maybe I went over a bad couple of days with the rain, and it just dampened my whole experience, but I have never remembered Venice as fondly as others. What was your experience? Tell us about your trip to Venice! Maybe you’ll convince me to give it another fair shot.