The Rough Guide to Venice and the Veneto

of pilgrimage and a university city – similarly has a character that is quite distinct
from that of Venice. Even in Vicenza, which reached its present form
mainly during its long period of subservience, the very appearance of the
streets is proof of a fundamental independence.
This is Italy’s wealthiest region, and there’s plenty of support here for the
sharp-suited mediacrats of Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia party, and for the
xenophobic separatists of the Lega Nord, who like to depict the north as a
sort of overburdened life-support system for the parasitic south. But the economics
of the Veneto have undergone a reversal over the last century or so.
Venice, formerly the great power, is now the region’s biggest headache, tourist-choked
and physically fragile. The one-time provinces are now dominant:
Verona, Padua, Vicenza and Treviso are all major industrial and commercial
centres, while intensive dairies, fruit farms and vineyards (around Conegliano
and Verona especially) have made the Veneto a leading agricultural
producer as well. The Veneto’s income is boosted by the industrial complex
of Mestre and Marghera, the grim conurbation through which all road and
rail lines from Venice pass before spreading out over the mainland. It’s less a
city than an economic support system for Venice, and the negative impression
you get on your way through is entirely justified.
| INTRODUCTION | WHERE TO GO | WHen TO GO |
When to go
Venice’s tourist season is very nearly an all-year affair. Peak season
is from Easter to early October, when hotel rooms are virtually
impossible to come by at short notice; if possible, try to avoid July
and August, when the crowds are at their fullest, the climate can be
h The Canal Grande