Venice Travel Forum

My husband and I are arriving in Venice next Wednesday for a week, and see a full week of showers forecast. Are these the British type of showers that you just put up your umbrella and wander on, or the North American type where you take shelter indoors?
Also at a wet 14-16C what are appropriate clothes?
Is all this rain apt to produce flooding. I read once of a hardware store in Venice where you can buy rainboots, but have lost the source. Can anyone help? Are the boots the same as we's get at home, or might they be worth taking back?

Thanks for all.

I have experienced several rainy days in Venice. Because of the many small canals, the wind coming blowing through them is quite strong, so in my mind either bring an expensive umbrella, the kind which can be blown upside down without any damage. Or don't bring an umbrella at all, but wear a good waterproof coat with a good hood. The usual umbrellas last about ten minutes.
In case of aqua alta there are wooden pathways put up, unless it gets really bad you won't need rainboots.

I have just come back from Venice. I arrived in a torrential storm, but other than that the rain is likely to be general European-style: drizzly, or heavier showers when one might want to take shelter.

Floods relate to a tidal situation rather than to rainfall. Walkways' are put down if an 'acqua alta' occurs, and mmost floods are only temporary (a couple of hours) generally affecting only the lowest-lying parts. I don't think you need to concern yourselves with this: the city carries on as normal during the vast majority of acqua altae.

http://europeforvisitors.com/venice/articles/acqua-alta-2.htm

I don't think I'd bother with boots (they are rubber/plastic ones, like wellingtons): rain is the least likely reason for floods.

As for clothes, take those you can layer. I needed a couple of layers (vest, long-sleeved t-shirt) plus jacket and scarf/pashmina in the evenings and mornings, but the afternoon sun was warm. The height of the buildings and the narrowness of the 'streets'/alleyways means much of the city is in shade, and at this time of year it was really quite cool for much of the day although beautifully warm in the sun.