Things to Do in Venice in December
December weather, activities, events & insider tips
December Weather in Venice
Is December Right for You?
Advantages
- Acqua alta season creates genuinely magical photography opportunities - the flooded piazzas reflecting palazzos at dawn are worth the wet feet, and you'll experience Venice as locals have for centuries, navigating raised walkways while the city adapts in real-time
- Tourist crowds drop by roughly 60% compared to summer months, meaning you can actually stand in front of the Tintorettos at Scuola Grande di San Rocco without someone's selfie stick in your face, and restaurants that require August reservations often have same-day availability
- December brings authentic Venetian life back to the streets - locals reclaim their city for Christmas shopping along Strada Nova, neighborhood bacari fill with workers having their ombra and cicchetti after work, and you'll hear more Venetian dialect than English for once
- Hotel rates drop 40-50% from peak season while quality remains identical - that 500 EUR summer room at a decent three-star near San Marco goes for 200-250 EUR in December, and you're getting the same canal view without the cruise ship crowds blocking it
Considerations
- Acqua alta flooding happens 4-6 times most Decembers, typically affecting 10-15% of the city including San Marco, and while it's atmospheric, you're genuinely sloshing through 15-30 cm (6-12 inches) of seawater in rubber boots for 3-4 hours at a time when high tides peak
- The cold is deceptive - 7°C (45°F) feels much colder than thermometers suggest because humidity sits around 70% and the wind off the lagoon cuts straight through layers, plus there's no escape since Venice has virtually no heated indoor public spaces beyond museums and churches
- Daylight ends brutally early at 4:30pm in early December, which compresses your outdoor sightseeing window and means that romantic evening passeggiata you imagined happens in complete darkness with damp fog rolling off the canals
Best Activities in December
Venetian Bacari Food Tours
December is when bacari culture actually belongs to Venetians again rather than tour groups. These traditional wine bars are packed with locals from 6-8pm doing their giro di ombra - the circuit of small glasses of wine paired with cicchetti. The seasonal offerings in December include baccalà mantecato made from stockfish that's been prepared since November, sarde in saor with its sweet-sour onions, and game-based cicchetti you won't find in summer. The cold weather makes the warm, crowded bacari genuinely appealing rather than stifling, and you'll hear actual Venetian being spoken around you. Tours typically run 3-4 hours covering 4-5 bacari.
Venetian Island Explorations
December weather makes the outer islands like Burano, Torcello, and Sant'Erasmo dramatically more atmospheric than summer visits. The vaporetto rides across the lagoon in winter light - that silvery-grey quality photographers obsess over - are genuinely beautiful, and you'll often have Torcello's Byzantine mosaics nearly to yourself. Burano's colored houses photograph better under December's diffused light than harsh summer sun, and the lace shops are staffed by actual artisans rather than summer help. The 40-minute boat ride feels properly adventurous in December rather than just hot and crowded. Budget 5-6 hours for a proper three-island circuit.
Venetian Glassblowing Workshops
December is ideal for glassblowing experiences because the furnace heat that's unbearable in July becomes genuinely welcome when it's 4°C (39°F) outside. Several Murano furnaces offer 2-3 hour workshops where you actually work with molten glass under master guidance, not just watch demonstrations. The December timing means you're often in smaller groups since tour buses don't run as frequently, and artisans have more time to explain techniques. You'll understand why Venetian glass commanded premium prices for centuries, and the pieces you create make better gifts than anything you'll buy in shops. Most workshops include furnace tours showing the 1000°C (1832°F) ovens where cane glass is pulled.
Venetian Opera and Classical Concerts
December brings Venice's classical music season into full swing, with performances in spaces tourists never see in summer - scuole grandi with Tiepolo frescoes overhead, piano nobile rooms in Renaissance palazzos, and churches where acoustics were designed for Vivaldi himself. La Fenice opera house runs its full season, and the quality in December rivals anything you'd see in Vienna or Milan. The cold weather makes sitting in an unheated 15th-century church for a Baroque concert feel appropriately atmospheric rather than uncomfortable, and ticket prices are 30-40% below summer tourist concerts. Performances typically run 90 minutes to 2 hours.
Dolomites Day Trips
Early December offers a unique window before ski season fully kicks off - the Dolomites are snow-dusted but lifts aren't mobbed yet, and the mountain light in winter is extraordinary. Cortina d'Ampezzo sits 2 hours north by bus, and you can do proper alpine hiking on lower trails or just absorb the scenery from mountain rifugi serving polenta and game stews. The contrast from sea-level Venice to 2000m (6562 ft) peaks in one day is dramatic, and December weather in the Dolomites tends to be clearer than the foggy lagoon. By late December, you can add beginner skiing to the mix. Budget a full 12-hour day for the round trip.
Venetian Rowing Lessons
Learning to row Venetian-style standing up in a batela or mascareta is genuinely difficult and genuinely rewarding, and December's empty canals make it less embarrassing when you inevitably lose your balance. Several rowing clubs offer 2-hour introductory sessions teaching the traditional voga veneta technique that powers gondolas, and you'll develop immediate respect for what looks easy when gondoliers do it. The physical exertion keeps you warm despite December temperatures, and you see Venice from the only perspective that matters - water level, moving at rowing speed through rio that tour boats can't access. Most lessons stay in quieter Cannaregio or Dorsoduro canals.
December Events & Festivals
Festa della Madonna della Salute
November 21st technically, but the devotional atmosphere extends into early December as Venetians continue visiting the Salute basilica. This is Venice's most authentically local festival - a thanksgiving celebration for the end of 1630's plague that killed a third of the city. Venetians walk across a temporary pontoon bridge spanning the Grand Canal to light candles inside the Salute, and street vendors sell castradina (smoked mutton stew) and fritole (fried pastries) outside. It's not tourist-oriented at all, which makes it valuable - you're watching genuine Venetian religious culture that hasn't changed much in 400 years.
Christmas Markets and Decorations
Venice's Christmas markets are modest compared to German or Austrian versions, but the city's approach to holiday decorations shows restraint that actually works better. Campo San Polo hosts the main market mid-December with wooden chalets selling artisan crafts, Murano glass ornaments, and local food products - skip the cheap imported stuff and focus on Venetian makers. The real magic is how the city decorates - subtle lights along canals, nativity scenes in church doorways, and shop windows along Calle Larga XXII Marzo that show actual creativity. Piazza San Marco gets a large illuminated tree, though it tends toward tacky.