Venice Canals - Stink in Summer?

[mikeob]

I have been reading about the four destination I plan on visitng next summer, with Venice being one of them, and quite a few websites have mentioned that the grand canal has a horrible smell in the summer. I am planning on Venice being an extremly romantic location for my grilfriend and I. However, if all we can smell is sewer on our gondola ride, that just might put a damper on the whole visit.

Anyone have any input into this?

Thanks!

[WillTravel]

Mike, I haven't been there in the summer, but I think the smelly canal issue is something that was resolved decades ago, more or less, although some reputation persists. I read lots and lots about Venice, and complaints on this issue are very few. There's no exhaust fumes, so that should compensate if you do happen to smell a whiff of a canal being dredged.

Gondola rides are very pricy - like at least 100 Euros or more from what I've read, for a 45-minute to an hour trip. Maybe it's worth it, but just wanted to send along that warning. You can take the public vaporettos to get around, which have a good view, but are about as romantic as a city bus . A hand-in-hand walk around the less-touristed parts would be extremely romantic, though.

[kena]

I went there in mid-June a few years ago, in the middle of huge heat wave, and there weren't any smell issues. It did smell a little bit seaside-ish (salt and algae I suppose?), but there certainly weren't any sewer smells. But that's just my experience; things might be different later in the summer.

[stanncie]

I have been to venice in the height of summer as well as in may and I didn't smell anything partiacularly awful either. YOu do smell water and algae sometimes like someone mentioned but it's not really that bad. I find Venice extremely romantic, even moreso than Paris and as a woman i would love to go on a gondola ride with someone I loved. Good luck and tell us how it goes

[Jules80]

i was there in september and sometimes you'd get a dead fish kinda smell but it wasn't everywehre...

[dougj]

i was there in september 04. The diesel smell was worse than the pollution smell of the canals. in some areas it seemed to be kept cleaner.

[mikeob]

Great, thanks for the replies.

Will - I've heard the gondolas are pricey, but it's something the girlfriend and I have always wanted to do. We have done the one here in Las Vegas at the Venetian hotel, but I doubt it's anything near the real thing.