Venice is one of the most unique cities in the world, replacing streets with canals. Which, while very romantic and charming in concept, may throw some off. After all, would that not eventually get very stinky? Well, does it? Does Venice stink?
There are select tourist blogs which sing the praises of Venice as smelling of violets, wonderful coffee and lilies. We, sadly, cannot relate. At the same time, if people are trying to propose that Venice is one massive sewage centre, that’s also bonkers and tourists wouldn’t flock to Venice as much as they do were that the case.
The smell is certainly there at times. It comes and goes with the wind and certain areas will invariably have the smell for longer. The strongest odours appear in the summer, due to the heat. It’s not the stench of sewage or anything, it’s just a stinky river smell. It’s not particularly bothersome and goes away as soon as you move away from the spot. The whole city isn’t just in a constant state of stinkyness but rather experiences very short waves.
If you’re very sensitive to smells and you know for a fact that these things bother you a lot, you may want to consider visiting Venice in colder months. Still, for most people the smell may be an occasional wake-up call rather than any real nuisance. Frankly, you’ll likely be more thrown off by the smell of fish around the city than of the canals.
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