Venice

Is Venice safe?

For violent crime, Venice is one of the safest places in Italy. Venice province recorded 3 homicides in 2023, about 0.4 per 100,000 people (Eurostat), and robbery runs at about a third of Florence's rate per head. The historic centre has no cars, so the biggest everyday danger in most cities, traffic, barely applies.

The catch is the crowds. Venice province received 5,963 pickpocketing reports in 2024, the fourth-highest rate per head in Italy, and almost all of them come from a small, packed centre. Add inflated bills and high tides that flood the lowest squares, and you have the risks worth planning for. We score Venice 76, a little above Florence and Milan.

Pickpockets and crowds

Overtourism shapes almost every risk in Venice. On a busy day, visitors outnumber residents of the historic centre several times over, and they funnel through the same few routes. The Il Sole 24 Ore crime index, built on Interior Ministry data, puts Venice province eighth in Italy for crime reports per head in 2024, sixth for thefts and fourth for pickpocketing.

The places to keep a hand on your bag:

• Vaporetto boats, especially lines 1 and 2 on the Grand Canal and the boats to Murano, when passengers are pressed together at the doors.
• The Rialto Bridge and the lanes to St Mark's along the Mercerie.
• St Mark's Square, in the queues for the Basilica and the Doge's Palace.
• Santa Lucia station and Piazzale Roma, where people offer to carry luggage or help with ticket machines.

Overcharging is the other common complaint. Restaurants near St Mark's and the Rialto sometimes add large cover and service charges or price fish by weight without saying so. Check the menu before you order. Water taxis are expensive, so agree the fare before you board.

Rules for visitors

The city has added rules to manage the numbers, and fines are real. The UK Foreign Office notes that swimming in the canals is an offence, and towns across Italy fine people for sitting on monument steps or eating next to churches. Venice also tested an access fee for day visitors on peak days. The 2026 trial ended on 26 July, and the city council will decide whether to charge it in later years. None of this is about safety, but it can cost money.

Is Venice safe at night?

Mostly very. Once the day-trippers leave, the centre becomes quiet, and dark lanes that feel uneasy in other cities are simply empty here. The European Commission's 2023 survey of how safe residents feel did not cover Venice. In Verona, the nearest surveyed city, 64% said they feel safe walking alone at night in their city and 63% in their neighbourhood, well above Rome's 38%. Gallup puts Italy as a whole at 60%, but only 44% of Italian women, the lowest share in the EU.

The less comfortable area at night is on the mainland: the streets around Mestre station, where many budget hotels are, see drug dealing and occasional fights. If you stay there, take the tram or a taxi late at night rather than walking side streets. In the centre, the practical danger is slipping on wet stone or stepping off an unlit canal edge after a few drinks.

Acqua alta and the MOSE barrier

High tides, called acqua alta, are part of life in Venice. Since 2020 the MOSE system of 78 mobile gates at the three inlets to the lagoon has been raised when a tide of 101 cm or more is forecast, to keep the water in the city below about 110 cm. It has worked: in 2026 alone the gates went up 18 times between late January and mid-February, according to Il Post.

But St Mark's Square and the area around the Rialto market are among the lowest points in the city and flood once the tide passes 75 to 80 cm, below the level that triggers the barrier. Autumn and winter visitors should expect wet feet now and then. The city publishes tide forecasts and sounds sirens a few hours ahead, and raised walkways go up on main routes. Waterproof boots sold in local shops are enough for most tides.

Summer brings a different problem: heatwaves, humid air and few trees. Air quality is also mediocre. Like the rest of the Po Valley, Venice has fine-particle pollution well above the WHO guideline, worst in winter. Tap water is safe, and the main hospital, Santi Giovanni e Paolo, is in the centre, with ambulances that travel by boat.

How to stay safe in Venice

• Keep phones and wallets in a zipped bag worn in front on the vaporetto and at the Rialto.
• Stay in the historic centre rather than near Mestre station if your budget allows; Cannaregio, Castello and Dorsoduro are quieter than the area around St Mark's.
• Check tide forecasts from October to March and pack boots you do not mind getting wet.
• Watch your step at canal edges after dark, especially with children.

How we scored it

Violent crime (92) is Venice's strongest factor, and traffic safety (80) is high because the centre has no cars. Theft and scams (58) is the weakest, reflecting one of Italy's highest pickpocketing rates per head. Natural hazards (68) reflect tides that still flood the lowest squares. Walking at night (74) uses Verona's answer to the EU's 2023 survey, which we use for every European city, because Venice was not surveyed.