Those canals are.... Disgusting. Hopefully the dysentery they contract was worth it.
this post was submitted on 15 Sep 2025
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‘Stop swimming in our canals! And put some clothes on!’ Venice declares war on unruly tourists
(www.theguardian.com)
I was going to suggest putting something in the water that would discourage swimming, but I guess it needs to be worse than whatever's already in there... and not kill the wildlife. That's a fine line if it exists at all.
I thought I read that the canals cleaned up quite a bit after COVID, due to no tourists being around. Are they back to being disgusting?
Yeah during the first lockdown they were pretty clear. The thing is that they're incredibly shallow and muddy, and Venetians use boats as their main mode of transport (after walking) so it never settles usually
Lockdown cleaned up a lot of things, but only temporarily, because our species fucking sucks.
They really really are. I don't know how anyone with more braincells than teeth could look at that water and want to swim in it
Best to think of the canals like an open sewer.
When I visited Venice, we had some whitewater kayaks with us in the car. We thought it would be a really memorable and unique experience to kayak around the canals of Venice.
Then we got there (in late summer) and took one look at the water and said "nope, I'm not dipping my toe in that toxic mess."
... and I do not regret that decision.
It would have been a terrible idea anyways, and illegal for a reason. Those canals are proper roads, they are narrow and have actual traffic like DHL/UPS boats, taxis, cranes, people commuting, police, ambulances, etc. No, the ambulance is not a quirky thing, regular ones and helicopters are not really an option.
Why is swimming in the canal such a terrible thing, anyway?
There’s poo in there.
No one tells me to put clothes on.
My in-laws retired after a lifetime of union work - carpenter and nurse. It's given them a retirement that has let them, among other things, go to Venice 4 times.
But they're model Canadians and I think they'd be the least likely to block a through-way or make a spectacle of themselves. But they realize that just walking through the city has impact just from their mere presence.
It's too late for them but I get why they'd go back. Venezians (Venetians?) are cursed with a beautiful city and it makes their existence a struggle because tourists are dinks. I grew up in a tourist town and I hate tourists even when I am one, and even though to try to represent my polite country reputation as well as I can.
Can we consider going in the off-season? How can we preserve the city for future citizens and visitors?
Can we please drastically raise the price for everything and then award the residents a monthly stipend to completely offset it as well as using the rest for maintenance and restoration of the exteriors while we improve the infrastructure? I don't mean to sound posh, because it's more a value proposition: I'd pay extra to be able to go, if it means that extra revenue will allow that to happen. I'm willing to wait until I can foot the bigger bill, even if that means I never get to go.
Is there a better idea that allows the activity of selfish people like me who want to one day see it, preserve it for people like me; but most importantly for the residents who have to suffer my gawking and smiling for a week?
Throw them in prison for a year. It'll stop real quick