# Venice or Barcelona?



## MBoyle (4 May 2011)

Myself & the other half planning 5 nights away mid to late August and are deciding between Venice and Barcelona as we've been to neither...  Which is nicer?  Would they be very hot in August?  What is there to do in either?

Suggestions please!

J


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## Staples (4 May 2011)

Venice and Rome are the most beautiful but are very hot and clammy in high summer.  Late August might be a little cooler though.  Also in Venice, plenty of eh.... "earthy" smells coming from the canals when it's hot.  Winter is a much nicer time to visit IMHO - less crowded, cheaper hotels and much more atmospheric. 

Best time for Rome is late spring or early autumn. 

Barcelona, with its sea breeze would be more comfortable but for me anyway, it's not a patch on Venice or Rome.


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## One (4 May 2011)

Venice or Rome or Barcelona? If you have never been to any of them and you enjoy history then I would go to Rome and visit the forum, the colesseum, the Vatican and the catacombs. There is a lot of graffati there, and a very short period of sunset, but that aside I loved it.


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## MBoyle (4 May 2011)

*Venice or Barcelona!*

Thanks for your replies!  My initial text was slightly incorrect - we are considering Venice or Barcelona - not sure why I typed Rome   Seem to be getting the impression that Venice would be better visited when it is less humid so maybe leave it for another time and do Barcelona in August...  How would Venice be in May?

J


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## niceoneted (4 May 2011)

Title says Barcelona or Rome. Then you say Venice or Barcelona so not sure which your trying to decide on. 
Bear in mind lots of things close in rome in August as it is there holiday period so check that out fully if your going to book there. 
I personally would think if your to visit one of these cities I would do it in Oct/Nov, due to weather, queues etc


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## bmcintyre (4 May 2011)

I'd go for Barcelona if you're going for 5 days. venice is lovely but it's more of a long weekend destination. I'd be bored if I was there for 5 days. The other half said the same.

Barcelona has so much more to do and see.

Plus it doesn't have canals that can stink to the high heavens when the weather is warm.


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## knealecat (5 May 2011)

Went to venice for 5 nights in March, 3 nights would have been plenty and very very expensive.  €8 for a coke


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## BOXtheFOX (5 May 2011)

If you go in to the back streets of Venice where the tourists seldom go you will find a less hectic but equally beautiful place to visit. The prices get cheaper the deeper you venture. If you go for 5 nights you could make your way to Trieste and overnight or cross over to Piran or Croatia and overnight for one of the nights.
Personally I would not visit either in August. I would prefer to head toward one of the Italian lakes or head toward Lake Constance on the German side and stay in somewhere like Friedrichshafen. Then you can head up and down the lakesides visiting the lovely towns.


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## coleen (7 May 2011)

BOXtheFOX said:


> If you go in to the back streets of Venice where the tourists seldom go you will find a less hectic but equally beautiful place to visit. The prices get cheaper the deeper you venture. If you go for 5 nights you could make your way to Trieste and overnight or cross over to Piran in Croatia and overnight for one of the nights.
> Personally I would not visit either in August. I would prefer to head toward one of the Italian lakes or head toward Lake Constance on the German side and stay in somewhere like Friedrichshafen. Then you can head up and down the lakesides visiting the lovely towns.


 Trieste is quite a distance from Venice just for an overnight and Piran is lovely but it is in Slovenia not Croatia but it would be a long way  for just a night or 2. I think if you wanted to do Venice 2 nights would be enough and then you could take a train journey to the Italian lakes like Desengano (sp) which is a few hours by train from Venice. Barcelona is always nice and has a lot of areas you could do day trips to


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## BOXtheFOX (8 May 2011)

Yes. Apologies. Piran is in Slovenia as Coleen pointed out. I stayed in Portoroz (Hotel Lucija) and visited Piran. It is a beautiful little town. There may be seasonal ferries from Venice to Piran or other ports in both Slovenia or Croatia. Sailing times are not too bad, maybe a few hours. A train from Venice to Trieste will take just over two hours. I still think that these are doable if you overnight despite the idea being dismissed. I am in the process of planning this for next year and onwards to Ljubljana. I would love to hear if others have done this.
I stayed in Desenzano (Coleens recommendation) last October for a week. It is a lovely little town with ferries across to Sirmione. You can also get buses up the coast. You could fly in to Venice and out of Bergamo if you were to do this.

http://www.desenzanoappartamenti.it/eng/ We stayed here.


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## coleen (8 May 2011)

I flew in to Treviso and took the train to Mestre close to Venice and got the train to Trieste which is as you say about 2 hours and then we got a bus to Piran where we stayed in Hotel Piran for 3 nights and then got a bus to Libjulana again a couple of hours and stayed 2 nights and it was lovely. We then took the bus to Bled where we stayed for a week and this was our favourite location. We are into walking cycling and outdoors in general and there was just two of us travelling so no kids it might be a bit of hassle with kids. We loved Bled and have returned there again this time going to Standsted and getting Easy Jet to Lubjluana which was a bit more straight forward. I hope this helps it is a lovely area and I would return again at some time


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