You wont find much if any nightlife in Florence or Venice. If you had to pick 1 out of the 2 I would pick Venice. More to see and do. Florence is on the way to Venice though so you may be able to hit both if traveling by train.

I liked Venice over Florence. Venice was a really neat place…definitely worth going to, especially for a few days.

I just came back from europe. I didnt have a chance to go to venice, but i did see Florence and it was so touristy!!! i couldnt believe how many americans i met!!!! but it is also a good home base to do side trips— to siena, pisa, wine regions etc. fairy central! you can see all of florence in 2 days!

I’d go to Venice though! just my opinion

Both Venice and Florence are expensive cities, but without a question, I’d pick Venice.

Ah……. but the shopping is so good there that being on a tight budget may be chaotic……. Nah, go to Venice.

quote:
I just came back from europe. I didnt have a chance to go to venice, but i did see Florence and it was so touristy!!! i couldnt believe how many americans i met!!!!

I’d go to Venice though! just my opinion

Trust me, Venice is just as touristy. No question.

If you would like a taste of italian culture then venice is definitely not somewhere you want to go, it’s a fabulous city & has a charm all of it’s own but it is so full of tourists it’s unbelieveable, we found there were barely any italians there and it’s expensive. florence, is a beautiful city and there is so much to see!! in terms of cost, we felt it was as expensive as you allowed it to be (the same goes for venice though i guess!). in terms of tourists – yeah lots of tourists there too, but it’s a bigger place and it doesn’t seem as bad. that was our opinion anyways

i guess it depends if you’re into art too because if you are then florence is a must.

if you opt for venice, then try to see more than just the main island as the other islands are less touristy if that’s what you’re after. it’s a pretty special place.

good luck deciding!!

rach

If you would be going to both, may be it would be worth to stay longer in Florence – from the point of view of art it almost beats even Rome. But if you go only to one of these places – then surely Venice, an absolutely unique experience.

Thanks for all of the input! Sounds like both are wonderful cities, but full of tourists…hopefully May won’t be as touristy…if I go to Venice, I’ll definitly try to get to other islands to see more of the culture. Thanks for the tip.

I visited Florence out-of-season in Oct, and really enjoyed the city. A lot less tourist made the sightseeing much more pleasureable.

When I visited Venice, also out-of-seaon in Feb, it just simply didn’t do it for me. OK, I had an unpleasant personal experience, but even so, I feel that Florence has a hell of a lot more to offer than Venice.

Either way however, Rome beats them both !!

Have a great time!

__________________________________________[url=‘http://www.bangor.ac.uk/~fos007/travel.htm’]Rome & Florence Travelogues[/url]

I went through both breifly a couple of years ago. I thought Venice was worth a day, and not more. Also, I found Venice to be more touristy.

Florence suited me better – I felt like I got more out of my time there than in Venice and would have liked a few more days.

In my opinion you are wasting a lot of time…if you could raise another $200.00 you can fly to Athens round trip from Rome (Or save money and time and fly into Venice and work your way back to Rome). This way you don’t have to spend any time in Brindisi (plus that ferry ride…it’s very long). Utlizing your time this way will make both Florence and Venice possible. They are both very different places. Yea, touristy but worth seeing.
It would help to know the duration of your trip.
Good Luck!

Venice is more visual and you’ll spend most of your time outdoors just strolling around or taking water taxi rides.

You’ll certainly spend more time indoors in Florence compared to Venice, because it is the art that is in churches and museums that makes Florence famous.

Venice is certainly more expensive, however you may end up spending more money in Florence if you hit many museums/churches. Frankly, if renaissance is not your cup of tea, that should make your decision very easy.

My friend,

Venice is the type of place where you go to see it. You do not want to be spending more than one or two night there. Everything is incredibly expensive and overrun by a money-hungry tourist trade. There are a few great sights, but I would stronly encourage you to go there just to see it and then move on to Florence, where there are many more locals (Venice has a population of only 50,000) and where you can be in the heart of Tuscany and in the middle of the Renaissance, one of the most beautiful and mind boggling cultural movements of world history. No other place did I feel so trapped and so isolated from true Italian culture than in Venice. Hope this helps!

Pete

Go to Venice. I wish we would have skipped Florance and went stright to Venice from Rome. I ran into these 5 girls from Michigan in Florance, and we all went to Venice together. We all agreed that Venice is much better.

Venice = Beautiful, romantic, and you are filled with the feeling of "ahhh, i’m in Venice". It’s very moving.

Florence = Monster museums.. Academia – with David, which if you are not into art or art history you might think it’s nothing.. but that’s just ignorance as it represents the florentine past.

and Uffizi art museum/gallery which is 1 of europe’s Top 5 museums. so it’s definitely a must see

So pick between scenery/beauty or culture/history/art

PS. if you go in the summar, the Gelato in Florence is the best anywhere.

I loved Florence and Venice, but I only needed one full day to experience Venice, whereas you could easily spend 4 or 5 in Florence. I’m not a huge art fan, but the Academia blew me away, and the staue of David is the most impressive piece of artwork I have ever seen. There’s something about Florence that I wasn’t expecting and I fell in love with the city. Climb the Duomo and eat tons of Gelati. Venice completely exceeded my expectations, I wandered around and "got lost" and was able to see the sights in a day. If you have more than two days, I would say Florence, but if you are on a tight schedule, Venice- just make sure to give yourself a whole day in the city.

I just came back from Europe last month and I did Venice in 3 days 2 nights and Florence in 2 days and 1 night. And… I very much wished that I had done the opposite. 2-3 days in Venice is an overkill. It is beautiful even with the tourists, but everything is really ridiculously expensive and you can really finish up the core areas in less than a day. Although it’s said to simply "get lost" in the streets, I’d still say you should get a reasonably good map. I did not invest in one and relied on the sun to give me my bearings (pretty crazy, but it also means i had to head back to my hostel before dusk). Most of the shops are closed though and it’s pretty difficult to get directions, since every other person is also a tourist and probably as clueless as you are.

In my short stay in Florence, it was more magical for me than Venice. I can still hear that man playing his violin @ the Uffizi, and well, everything was just beautiful. I’m sorry I had used Florence as a base for my trip to Pisa, which meant that I only explored Florence for a mere 4 hours.

But again, it is subjective, and as the other people had suggested, it is pretty much based on your taste.

I hate these "vs" questions because it’s so personal what people prefer.

I liked Florence much better than Venice. I thought the art, architecture, and atmosphere in Florence were great, but that Venice was overrated.

But that’s just me. Clearly, lots of people disagree. You won’t know unless you go to both and decide for yourself.