by The almost empty water taxi juddered and made a strange whine, ethereal, as if it was driven by whales. Approaching Venice a week before Christmas, we were enveloped in light: silver-blue meeting the pearly sky. Palaces and lace domes, a mirage, began to intensify. Venice is the most beautiful in winter.
There is a new reason to visit Venice outside of peak times. In 2024, the city is trialling a daily tax of £4.30 (€5), with a complex timing system from April to July. All visitors must register, with many exceptions. Venice tourism consultant Simone Venturini emphasizes that the aim is to reduce “hit and run” visits, saying, “Venice is an open city, and it will always remain so.”
Host and resident podcast author, Monica Cesarato, confided in her Travel Telegraph that she is not sure that the tax will have the desired effect. “It would be better to limit the number of Airbnbs,” she said. “To educate visitors and promote long stays.” She offered me a mass of recommendations for my winter visit, from jazz concerts to the city’s best hot chocolate (Vizio Virtù, with recipes from the 1800s). “It’s cheaper to travel, so you can stay longer. All the museums are open and more enjoyable because there are less people. Obviously some of the restaurants are closed, but you have the opportunity to go to the restaurants that are usually famous.”
In December the city felt eerily quiet compared to my last visit, in July. We saw figures hurrying away at a narrow end calli, and Venetians walking their dogs. At one point, we turned a corner to see a flower-crowned coffin on board a boat; mourners gathered by the canal. Smooth skies were washed out with yellow, orange and gold. On gray days, powder-pink and pistachio walls were muted, as if seen through a veil. We walked through the paths of Dorsoduro at dawn and the only sound was our feet and the mournful glint of the lanterns. As the sunset dropped yellow across the sky, we watched the seagulls vanish as if the sky was writing in a spider’s script.
I was nervous that we had a risk high water (high water), but “with the MOSE [the system of flood barriers inaugurated in 2020] the threat is not as bad as it was,” Cesarato told me. “Of course you run the risk of bad weather, but there’s so much to see inside. The atmosphere here is also magical when we have the fog. And, when the sun is shining, there are skies like I’ve never seen anywhere else.”
We were a little disappointed to miss the fog, but instead had several days with so much sunshine that people stood by the canal, faces pressed like sunflowers. Under a bright pink-blue sky, we walked to San Marco. On the way there was a sign born-out-of-frustration in English, reading “Keep right, in two,” but now we walked through it unhindered. There was – of course – a queue at St Mark’s Basilica, but it was extremely short.
I was told I should book in advance even in the off-season, but I found same-day tickets to the Peggy Guggenheim Museum so we wandered around the mansion that houses the heiress’s extraordinary art collection, with works by Picasso, her. ex-husband Max Ernst, and alleged lover Jackson Pollack. We explored the sculpture garden with works by Barbara Hepworth and Anish Kapoor, and ate Venetian winter staples in the Guggenheim cafe; Bean soup spread with radicchio, and veal meatballs.
Winter is also the perfect time to take courses run by local artisans. We went to the masker Ca’ Macana, who revived the craft in the 1980s. It was like going backstage as they passed through a workshop where women were busy finishing plaster molding masks. We learned how to grade and stipple, and then it was left to paint, varnish, and add heels and feathers. It was a great thing to do with kids.
As evening fell, the empty streets were elegantly melancholic, cast by the shadows of a maddened sun. Although it was cold outside, the patrons of the cicchetti bars still took to the street, and we joined the crowd outside Cantine del Vino già Schiavi. Some wore flat caps; The Italians were sent to provinces as if for apres ski; there was one man in Venetian Point. Using the canal wall as a table, we snacked on artichoke, baccalà, spicy salami, gorgonzola and pear, washed down with ombre (shade) of wine.
I spoke to resident Jane de Mosta from local curators ‘We are Here Venice. “In winter, with fewer tourist crowds, more of the beauty of Venice is revealed. It’s more peaceful,” she said, expressing the refrain that visitors should stay longer. “Be aware of the locals and make your vacation as long as possible, to have time to explore and learn about this unique civilization,” she advises potential future visitors.
Cesarato, too, gave me some pointers. “Don’t take the time of an artisan to buy nothing, and then buy cheap replicas from the store next door,” she said. “Research the city, read guidebooks, listen to podcasts, get to know the people before you arrive: be an informed traveller.”
With the new tax and accompanying bureaucracy on the horizon, it was a pleasure to experience this beautiful city in the off-season, and it felt like it had come back to the residents. To discover what lies behind the mask, come to Venice further, travel smarter, and visit in winter.
Fundamentals
Palazzo Veneziano (00 33 1 4029 4732; palazzoveneziano.com) is a comfortable four-star hotel in a quiet Douudoso seaside location. It faces Giudecca and is near the Zattere vaporetto stop. There are some canal view rooms, but these can be noisy and not always worth the extra cost. Double rooms cost from £87 in winter; includes breakfast.
You can fly to Venice from many UK airports with easyJet (easyjet.co.uk), BA (britishairways.com) or Ryanair (ryanair.com), with return flights from £100. The best (if delayed) way to get to the city is by Alilaguna boat (alilaguna.it) from the airport; the orange line is the most beautiful way.
