When tourists are in season

When's the best time to go to Venice?

Every year, up to 1.5 million tourists join Venice's 70,000 residents, making the town called La Serenissima (the Most Serene) anything but calm. During peak times (the summer season of June through September, plus Carnevale), hotels are booked solid, and the crowds can be overwhelming.

Then again, travel in the winter off-season presents its own challenges. Fellow tourists are still pretty thick on the ground (just not as street-clogging choking as in summer), and in winter you often have to contend with the acque alte, the high waters that see the lagoon invade the city streets on a regular basis and everyone has to slosh around with hefty bags over their lower legs or mince along the temproary boardwalks that are strung along major arteries. (Still, that can be fun, too.)

As is usually the case, the shoulder season is best, though for Venice I'd pick spring (April and May) over fall (October and early November), if only because Venice is damp by nature (though calling such a waterlogged city "damp" is something of an understatment) , so you can feel those first chilly nights of autumn right down to the bone.