Why Winter Is the Best Time to Visit Venice

When I say I live in Venice, I get two kinds of answers: “How beautiful!” and “How can you live with all those tourists?”

It’s true. I sometimes feel overwhelmed by the maddening crowds who come from every corner of the world to admire the city’s beauty. But living here is an entirely different experience than visiting, and if you want to feel like a local, I suggest you come in winter.

No one thinks of Venice in winter, and to be here at that time of year is sublime. Winter in Venice means silence, and being wrapped in a dreamlike fog. Can you imagine stepping into an empty Piazza San Marco and walking into the gold of the Basilica or Palazzo Correr without waiting in line?

Winter starts here a month earlier than in the rest of the world, on November 21st, Madonna della Salute day. A floating bridge is set up across the Grand Canal to Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute, and locals cross it to light a candle, pray, and chat with their loved ones. Even non-religious people like me tend to perform this ritual.

After that, Venice becomes a small, beautiful town, where we locals discuss how to get the best seasonal sweets. Some restaurants shut down, but many remain open, and it’s not hard to reserve a table. Osteria da Codroma is a fantastic place to try the local cuisine, and utterly different from what you usually experience in Italy.

If you want to spend an afternoon in a cozy bistro and independent bookshop, pay a visit to Sullaluna. Some New Yorkers might know its younger sister in the West Village, but this one, on Fondamenta de la Misericordia, is the original. It will be easy to spot college students opening the first page of Death in Venice while nursing a cup of delicious hot chocolate.

If you are traveling with children, take a ride on the small carousel in Riva dei Sette Martiri. The green, purple, yellow, and red lights reflected on the water are magical. Or how about ice skating in San Polo? You can get a pizza later at Birraria la Corte. (Unfortunately they don’t heat the courtyard.) If instead you are looking for pizza in the Ghetto, I recommend Strazzaria.

If you are here at Christmastime, try focaccia at Pasticceria Ponte delle Paste. In the rest of Italy, focaccia is a savory bread; in Venice it is sweet. After the holidays, frittella season starts. A frittella is a fried doughnut filled with raisins or custard, and there is a sort of competition among locals to defend their favorite one. In my opinion, Dal Nono Colussi, Pasticceria Dal Mas, and Pasticceria Rizzardini are the top contenders.

This magical secret season comes to an end only with Carnival, in February. The days get warmer, and tourists return. Easter arrives, and so does La Biennale and summertime, when locals leave and the city becomes too hot and humid.

But if you really want to have a feeling of what living in Venice means, put on a warm scarf and a coat and come in winter, when other tourists are not even thinking of traveling. But please don’t tell other Venetians that I am the one who told you so.