The best time to visit Venice, Italy: an overview of the weather in Venice in each season and tips to plan your Venice trip at best.
Venice can be visited all year round, however, there is no doubt that some seasons are better than others.
The things to consider when planning a trip to Venice are the weather, the crowds and the carnival, a huge yearly event that alters significantly the number of visitors, the atmosphere in the city, and the prices!
These are our top tips for picking the best time for visiting Venice Italy.
If you are visiting Venice as part of a longer Italy itinerary, then I recommend you also check out our guide to the best time to visit Italy here.
Table of Contents
What is the best time to visit Venice?
Venice is located in the North East of Italy, in the Adriatic sea.
The city is connected to the mainland by a bridge (arriving in the city by train makes quite an impression!) and literally sits in water.
Venice’s foundations reach deep down under the sea and the houses spring up like waterborne flowers.
The water nature of this city has strong impacts on the daily life of inhabitants and has consequences on the Venice weather system.
At a glance, the best time to visit Venice is:
- Go to Venice in winter if: you want to avoid the crowds and don’t mind layering up
- Visit Venice in February if: you want to experience the carnival and don’t mind the cold
- Go to Venice in spring if: you want to see the city at its very best
- Visit Venice in summer if: you are in the nearby region and feel like a day of city exploration, don’t mind the heat and the mosquitoes (aka: try not to go to Venice in summer!)
The best time to visit Venice: Venice by season
Venice in winter
Winter in Venice is cold and the humidity, especially in the evening, can make it bitter.
The average temperature in Venice in winter ranged between 3/8C – 37/46F.
Our last time in Venice was in December and we were grateful for our woolly hats, scarves and gloves – they may not have looked stylish, but they were a lifesaver!
You can find our packing list for Italy in winter here.
If you can only visit in winter, however, don’t despair as there are good points about it too!
First, you can be in luck and get some beautiful bright days.
Secondly, the streets are much quieter and you can easily find yourself away from the crowds, something that gets increasingly difficult as the high season approaches.
Also, Venice has a rich and beautiful coffee culture and winter is the perfect season to enjoy the warm interiors of his cafes and ‘bacari’ (tapas bars).
The food to order in this season is hot chocolate (a local specialty) and if you like wine there is no better time than this to enjoy some of the gorgeous reds that come from the local Veneto wineries.
You can read here >>> our guide to visiting Venice in winter
Acqua alta: high tide days in Venice
In winter Venice is subject to the peculiar event that is ‘high water’.
Depending on the sea movements and the wind, on some days Venice gets flooded and the roads get covered in water.
When the high water hits you cannot ignore it: it raises up a good few centimetres (every few years, over 1 meter), floods streets and ground floors and affects all daily activities, especially if you are not used to it.
We didn’t experience acqua alta while there but chatted with the locals about it and discovered how they cope.
When the high tide hits, the city lays out a series of boardwalks for people to walk on (water is so high you cannot just walk through it in normal shoes) and shoe covers and wellington boot sellers pop up at every corner so you can buy the necessary gear.
Locals see high water as a pain and indeed you need to adjust your plans should you be there when it happens, but they also said that tourists love the magical light and atmosphere that the high water brings.
If you are prepared, this even can turn into a highlight of a winter trip to Venice!
Need to know: in 2019, Venice experienced an exceptionally high and disruptive high tide. While this is not the norm and should not discouragne you from visiting Venice in winter, I do recommend checking the weather forecast for the days of your stay in Venice closer to the time, so you can plan accordingly.
Venice in February
February is the month of the carnival and Venice gets flooded (no pun intended) with tourists from all over the world.
Prices soar and crowds feel the streets – only visit during the carnival to experience the carnival itself or you will get frustrated.
If visiting Venice during the carnival, make sure you book hotels and popular attractions well in advance.
Venice weather in spring
Spring is a wonderful time to visit Venice.
Between March and June, the weather gets steadily warmer and drier and, outside of the Easter weekend, the crowds are usually manageable.
The average temperature in Venice in spring is between 12/20C – 54/68F
Expect evenings to still get chilly at the start of the season and layer up.
Spring is the best time to visit Venice if you want to go sightseeing and add a trip to nearby islands of Murano and Burano famous, respectively, for workshops making stunning artisan glass (Murano) and artisan lace production (Burano)
We found spring to be the best time for visiting Venice with kids too, thanks to the mild temperatures.
Find out what to pack for the season with our essential packing list for Italy in spring.
Venice in summer
Summer is a tricky time for visiting Venice.
The humid heat can easily get overwhelming especially since Venice has few green spaces and this makes the perfect breeding environment for one of the most annoying pests: mosquitoes.
They are fierce in Venice and while they do not carry diseases as such, it is awful to have them munching on you day and night.
If you visit Venice in summer, make sure you choose a hotel with air conditioning as this is the best weapon to keep them at bay at least while you sleep.
Find out what to pack for the hot summer months in our summer packing list for Italy
The average temperature in Venice in summer is 20/23C – 68/73F.
Venice in the fall
Weather is unpredictable in Venice in the fall.
The temperature starts to drop at this time of the year and while you may get some days with stellar sunshine and temperatures close to 20C, rain is also possible.
However, this is not a bad time to visit Venice.
In autumn, the crowds are less intense in Venice and there are some nice local festivities that are worth experiencing such as San Martino (November) which has a wonderful local feel.
You can find our packing list for Italy in autumn here.
The average temperature in Venice in autumn is 20/8C – 68/46F
I hope you found this overview of the weather in Venice useful and it helped us decide on the best time to visit Venice. Safe travels!
