We went to Venice on the spur of the moment after a long pandemic year without travel. We entered our available dates into Google flights, put in our budget, and voilà, Venice! It wasn't a place either of us had thought we would visit in the near future, but a quiet December weekend turned out to be the perfect time.
LGBTQ+ Venice
We were initially apprehensive of being openly gay together in Italy — the status of LGBTQ+ rights in Italy is among the worst in Western countries. We were perhaps more cautious than we needed to be, linking arms instead of holding hands. We didn't experience any direct discrimination and found more signs of welcome than we expected. Are we concerned about what Georgia Meloni's recent election means for queer folks in Italy going forward? Very much so.
Though Venice isn't specifically known as an LGBTQ+ destination today, it has a rich queer history and a vibrant, albeit small, queer scene. Until the 16th century, the Republic of Venice had very strict legislation against sodomy and (male) homosexuality was punishable with death. Despite this hostile environment, an underground gay scene flourished across the city and, following the decriminalisation of homosexuality across Italy in 1889, many wealthy gay men found their way to Venice in order to avoid prosecution in their own country.
As usual, there's significantly less documentation of lesbian, bisexual, and trans lives in historic Italy, but we all know they certainly existed, particularly in such a cosmopolitan, maritime trading city. The rise of fascism across the country in the early 20th century significantly changed the lives of queer people, reinstating many criminal offences.
Today, tourism, the university, and a robust arts scene mean the city's social climate is one of acceptance, or at least indifference to a couple of femme-presenting gay women. No one at our hotel batted an eyelid about our two girls, one bed situation.
The Venice International Film Festival handed our eternal crush Cate Blanchett best actress this year for her portrayal of (yet another) tricky lesbian character in Tár (apparently the role was written explicitly for her). And our personal Film of the Month, Blue Jean, dir. Georgia Oakley, snagged the coveted People's Choice Award.
We were blown away (unsurprisingly) by Venice's beauty and its unusual ghostly atmosphere. We arrived via the airport ferry in the dead of night and slipped away again in the early morning just four days later.
"The whole city, especially at night, resembles a gigantic orchestra, with dimly lit music stands of palazzi, with a restless chorus of waves, with the falsetto of a star in the winter sky.” Joseph Brodsky, Watermark
When we bought our flight tickets, Marion exclaimed that Venice was the city of love (something we still laugh at today — obviously that title has always belonged to Paris). She had built an image of Venice in her head as a romantic city, a city for lovers. She wasn't entirely wrong: Venice in the winter is romantic in the way that Gothic novels are. Its cold, dark alleyways never lead where you thought they would. There was something beautifully eerie — haunting even — about finding ourselves completely alone in them.
The first weekend of December doesn't bring many tourists. We were enthralled by the quiet. Our early mornings were spent drinking coffee on the hotel's rooftop terrace, listening to the seagulls and the occasional cargo boats.
Food & drink
Even in the dead of winter, everyone is drinking Aperol spritz. Our best Aperol spritz experience was buying a pack of little bottles from the supermarket and having them on the hotel's roof terrace, watching the sunset (and freezing our fingers off).
It often surprises people that Italian cuisine is so suitable for vegans. At the end of the day, all you need is good pasta, quality vegetables, and olive oil. When we travel, we're occasionally flexible with our veganism — sometimes having bivalves (mussels, scallops, and other seafood without a nervous system) or something that contains eggs. But, for the most part, you'll just find our vegan recommendations here.
Here's everywhere we ate:
Frulalà: We stocked up on fresh veggies with some DIY smoothie bowls, even on chilly December mornings. Frulalà has a couple of locations around the city and is a quick and casual place to grab breakfast if you're not a pastry person. They also serve mulled drinks in the evening.
Sullaluna libreria & bistrot: Café with a bookshop on a small canal. Plenty of vegan lunch options and plant-based milks!
OKE Zattere: Classic Italian restaurant with outdoor seating along the canal. There were a couple of vegetarian pizzas but we ended up having pasta with a carafe of white wine.
Vino Vero: A cozy wine bar that opened in 2014 and that offers one of the best selections of natural wines in the world. Vino Vero is very well known and therefore gets quite busy in the evening, but is definitely worth a visit! We managed to get a couple of seats indoors for a delicious aperitif and thoroughly enjoyed the atmosphere and the variety of wines.
La Tecia Vegana: Organic vegan restaurant that offers plant-based versions of local Italian dishes. We unfortunately didn't manage to try it, so tell us how it is!
Ristorante Al Vagon: Restaurant serving seafood & Venetian dishes with seating under a canalside portico. We arrived very early and found ourselves alone in the restaurant, the staff was incredibly lovely and we both ate delicious gnocchi al pomodoro.
Rossopomodoro: Neapolitan restaurant with clearly marked vegan pizza. Lots of tourists, but a nice spot if you're in the centre and strapped for time.
Trattoria Misericordia: Cosy restaurant with a friendly waiter and delicious house wine, right along the canal in Cannaregio. We had pasta (as usual) and it was divine.
Bookshops
Every blog will tell you to visit Acqua Alta, and for good reason. This cozy and whimsical bookstore is made of over-stuffed rooms and boasts an impressive collection of both new and vintage books, and has become the home of a few stray cats. This bookstore is definitely worth visiting if only to walk around or buy some of their beautiful postcards. A little touristy for our tastes!
If you are looking for something slightly more 'authentic' and explicitly queer-friendly, we highly recommend Libreria MarcoPolo. This independent bookshop in the Dorsoduro district was one of our personal highlights of the trip. Its welcoming atmosphere and wonderful collection of both new and used books in Italian, English, French, and German makes it impossible to leave without a purchase. It also boasted a great section of books on politics, economics, feminism, and LGBTQ+ issues. Hannah bought a new copy of Italo Calvino's Invisible Cities and Marion left with a bilingual edition of Kae Tempests' Let Them Eat Chaos.
“Arriving at each new city, the traveler finds again a past of his that he did not know he had: the foreignness of what you no longer are or no longer possess lies in wait for you in foreign, unpossessed places.” Italo Calvino, Invisible Cities
Museums and culture
"Nothing in Venice is straight." Our tour guide.
Take a free walking tour, especially if you can find one that suits your interests. We opted for the Southern Venice Free Tour: the artistic soul of the city, and thoroughly enjoyed it! Highlights included lots of talk about Peggy Guggenheim, who was ostensibly straight but had at least four female lovers, and the history of the Palazzo Dario, also known as the "house that kills."
We also spent a few hours in the Gallerie dell’Accademia. There were a few brilliant Bosch paintings that we enjoyed, but the Christian imagery got a little overwhelming by the end (though, the ceiling in one of the rooms was WILD and well worth seeing). We would take the time to explore a more contemporary museum next time.
Neighbourhoods & photo walks
We recommend walking as much as possible. Beauty is literally around every corner in Venice — take the side streets, follow your curiosity. But here are a few of our favourite spots.
Viale Giardini Pubblici
This walk has the open sea on one side and the Biennale gardens on the other. At dusk, the pink streetlamp begin to glow.
Sotoportego de le colonne
A more residential area. It felt like we were the only people here. The streets were empty except for locals with their shopping bags and washing hung out to dry.
Cannaregio
Cross the Ponte Chiodo and Ponte della Misericordia to find the canal running through this lively neighbourhood full of young people having Aperol and natural wine.
Stay along the Rio della Misericordia or follow the side streets for hidden gems. It was full of bars and restaurants we would've loved to try.
In the early morning, the gulls are out in full force, picking up the scraps from the night before.
Campo Santa Margherita
This area felt totally different to the rest of Venice — student-y and relaxed. It's home to a nice square to sit and people-watch, quiet residential canals, and the LGBTQ+ friendly bookshop Libreria MarcoPolo.
Our reading recommendations
Marion carried Joseph Brodsky's Watermark: An Essay on Venice, a most perfect addition to our experience as it offers Brodsky's reflections on the city in winter. Hannah grabbed creepy Daphne du Maurier's short story Don't Look Now from the library.
If you want to really lean in to the sense of foreboding in the silent city, try a double bill of Don't Look Now and Thomas Mann's Death in Venice — both the books and the films!
Hannah also listened to Irish writer Colm Tóibín read aloud from his diary of Venice in the depths of the first pandemic winter. His attention to art and that pervasive quiet made for a very special podcast episode. You can find it here.
Getting there
We took a budget flight from London Gatwick and caught the last night ferry. Don't be alarmed if the ferry stop is oddly empty — many people take the bus to Venice's main station instead. However, if you're staying in the northern or eastern part of the islands, we recommend arriving by boat.
Want to know more? Or have you been to Venice and think we missed something special? Get in touch with us at gaygirlstravelguide@gmail.com. We'd love to hear your thoughts, especially as we're just getting started.
Or just want to get in the Italian mood? Here's the best playlist we found: