The afternoon of October 1st in Venice felt like a warm day in April, yet there’s a striking difference. Mornings are colder and very bright in autumn while on foggy days, colors become blurred and look rather pastel.
In this post we are sharing our nine favorite impressions of autumn in Venice and a few Slow Travel tips. Actually, it’s not easy for me to write this on a day which looked like summer :-) yet we’re in for a change in the season. You can see it and you can smell it. The air feels sharper and sometimes a breeze of cold wind hits all of a sudden.
Then one sunny morning in October, you notice how the temperature has dropped sharply, making you long for spicy morning coffee or our staple crostata alle mandorle e cardamomo – cardamom-almond grape cake.
A few days ago, GoEuro published their article Twenty Insider Tips for Things to Do in Venice. Here you can find wonderful tips for a trip to Venice provided by travel bloggers, amongst them OG Venice Travel Guide, Monica Cesarato and us !!
#1 Expect mood swings Autumn days often start out bright and calm yet rather cold. You notice how the temperature drops sharply in the morning while noon may feel like a mild summer day. As October progresses, more days will start foggy. By November, the light starts fading and the colors of the sea and sky turn pale. Yet the water will take on a special sparkle on a calm November day.
#2 What you need to know about acqua alta stagionale You can notice that the passarelle are back in town. I mean the wooden planks you can see in most parts of Venice and in particular in Piazza San Marco. They are used to walk on during exceptionally high tides (acqua alta). October through February you must expect acqua alta during the New and Full Moon and the days immediately before and afterwards. Learn why acqua alta occurs and how to predict it in our little guide Venice and the Moon.
#3 Dressing up for the season :-) From the first days of October, chrysanthemum, in particular the white and yellow blossoming plants and cyclamen appear in the flower stores and gardens. Would you like to see our garden in early fall ? Click here to take a glimpse.
#4 All about breakfast in autumn Coffee in the morning is a must. We love flavoring it with invigorating spices like cardamom. We also make spice cakes for breakfast that are delicious and healthy at the same time (soon online in our Recipe Section).
#5 Discover flamboyant markets and spicy squash soup The markets in Venice offer everything I need to make our velvet squash soup, the local squash variety zucca marina di Chioggia and flamboyant citrus fruit. Tangerines from southern Italy are usually first to arrive at the markets. Tangerines trees also grow in Venice, my family harvest them in November.
#6 Enjoy Halloween-colored nights Don’t expect Indian Summer in Venice yet. Amongst the first trees whose foliage turns golden are the fig tree but there’s no hint of that as of now. Don’t be misled by the pictures, we do get calm and balmy evenings even in autumn, so perfect to enjoy candlelight dinner in the garden.
#7 Taste pistachio dreams Perhaps autumn is the ideal time for the culinary heritage of Venice to unfold. Freshly harvested almonds, raisins, pistachios and similar products were used for more than 1,400 years in Venice to make cakes, in addition to almond flour, rose water and flower essences. We recommend that you taste pistachio cake like the one you can see below in a pastry store on Strada Nova, Pasticceria Dal Mas.
#8 Street Food Time In October, we notice that some street food vendors turn from ice-cream parlor to selling hot chocolate and even pancakes. Venetians love street food yet it’s not encouraged to eat on the street. An exception is the Autumn Fair during the Festa della Salute taking place next to the Basilica on 21 November.
#9 Enjoy golden green colors and the quiet Lagoon We went on a trip to Burano in late September, on a day that started out like summer and all of a sudden turned autumn at noon. We’ll be back telling you more about this trip next week !
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