Venice in November: Weather, Acqua Alta, Salute and What Is On

What is the weather like in Venice in November?

On the 1991 to 2020 reference period, November in Venice averages a daily maximum of 12.5 degrees C and a daily minimum of 7.2 degrees C (Copernicus Climate Change Service, 2026). That is a drop of more than five degrees on October, which averages 17.8 degrees C by day, and it puts November within four degrees of December, which averages 8.0 degrees C. The month behaves like two different months joined together: the first week often still carries autumn light and mild afternoons, while the last week is winter in everything except the date.

Rainfall over the same reference period averages about 125 mm across roughly 10.9 days that record 1 mm or more, which makes November the wettest month of the Venetian year, marginally ahead of September and October. Two thirds of November days still record little or no rain, so the picture is a handful of genuinely wet days rather than persistent drizzle.

The spread matters as much as the average. In 2025 the ISPRA weather station on the Lido recorded its widest swing of the year in November, about 14 degrees C between the warmest and coldest daily maxima and the same again between daily minima (ISPRA, 2026). A single November week can hold a bright 17 degree afternoon and a raw 4 degree morning, which is why one warm coat is a worse answer than three thinner layers.

Does Venice flood in November?

November is the month when it is most likely. Tide levels are measured against the Punta della Salute datum of 1897, known as ZMPS, and 80 cm above it is the level at which the lowest parts of Piazza San Marco begin to flood (ISPRA, 2026).

In 2025 the tide at Punta della Salute reached or passed 80 cm on 26 occasions in November, the highest count of the year, and November also recorded the year's highest monthly mean sea level at 48.1 cm above ZMPS. March, August and October followed with 17 events each, and February recorded none at all. Across the whole of 2025 there were 161 exceedances of 80 cm, down from 227 in 2024 (ISPRA, 2026).

The historical record points the same way. Of the ten highest tides measured at Punta della Salute since the series began in 1872, six fell in November, among them 194 cm on 4 November 1966, 189 cm on 12 November 2019 and 151 cm on 12 November 1951 (ISPRA, 2026).

The severe end of that range is now rare inside the city. During 2025 no tide of 110 cm or more was recorded in the historic centre, while seven were measured at sea, a gap produced by the mobile barriers at the lagoon inlets. The background level keeps rising: mean sea level at the same gauge has climbed about 2.6 mm a year since 1872, and 4.6 mm a year over the last thirty years (ISPRA, 2026).

The Festa della Madonna della Salute on 21 November

21 November is the one day of the Venetian year that belongs entirely to Venetians. Every year on that date, and for more than three centuries, the city walks in pilgrimage to the Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute to light a candle, and tens of thousands come from Venice and across the Veneto to do it. A novena begins on 12 November (Basilica della Salute, 2026).

The church is the reason for the date. It was commissioned by the Republic as a votive offering for delivering the city from the plague of the 1630s. The first stone was laid on 1 April 1631 and the basilica was consecrated on 9 November 1687, fifty years later. The image on the high altar, the Mesopanditissa, was brought from Candia and installed in November 1670 (Basilica della Salute, 2026).

The visible sign that the feast has begun is a bridge. A pontoon bridge is laid across the Grand Canal from Santa Maria del Giglio to San Gregorio for the processions: 80.51 m long, carried on eight unsinkable boats, lit by 26 lamps, with hinged ramps that work at any state of the tide and a 10 m central gap to let the vaporetti through. In 2025 it opened on 19 November and stayed walkable until Sunday 23 November (VeneziaToday, 2025).

Expect a slow queue of local families on the bridge and a basilica full of people there to pray. For a quiet building, come on any other November morning.

What is on in Venice in November 2026?

The Biennale closes this month. The 61st International Art Exhibition, titled 'In Minor Keys', runs until Sunday 22 November 2026 at the Giardini and the Arsenale, in other venues across the city and at Forte Marghera on the mainland (La Biennale di Venezia, 2026). The final three weeks are the calmest of the whole run and the cheapest time to find a bed near the Giardini, and both main sites involve long outdoor stretches, so a dry forecast is worth waiting a day for.

The Festa della Madonna della Salute falls on Saturday 21 November in 2026, one day before the Biennale ends. That pairing gives the third week of the month more happening in it than the rest of November put together.

Opening hours change on 1 November across much of the city, and the Salute is a good example: from 1 November to 31 March the basilica opens 9.30 to 12.30 and 15.00 to 17.30, with the sacristy open 10.00 to 12.00 and again in the afternoon from Monday to Friday, and longer at weekends. Entry to the main rotunda is free, while the sacristy and its paintings need a ticket (Basilica della Salute, 2026). Assume shorter afternoons everywhere in November and check each site's winter timetable before you set out.

How busy is Venice in November, and what does it cost?

November is the low season, and the clearest official sign of that is the access fee. For 2026 the Comune applied the day visitor charge on 60 days only, on Friday to Sunday weekends across April, May, June and July, with two longer continuous runs in late April and early June, always between 08.30 and 16.00 and never on the minor islands (VeneziaToday, 2025). No November date appears anywhere on that calendar, so a November day trip carries no entry charge at all.

Transport costs the same in November as in August, because ACTV fares do not vary by season. A single 75 minute Rete Unica ticket covering the waterborne and mainland networks is 9.50 EUR, the Venezia Daily Pass is 25.00 EUR, and the multi-day cards run 35.00 EUR for two days, 45.00 EUR for three and 65.00 EUR for seven. Travellers aged 6 to 29 can buy a 6.00 EUR Rolling Venice card and then a three day ticket for 27.00 EUR (ACTV, 2026).

What does fall is accommodation, and with it the queue at every ticket desk. The exception is the week around 21 and 22 November, when the Salute pilgrimage and the closing days of the Biennale land together. If you want the emptiest version of the city, take the first ten days of the month or the last week, and avoid that middle weekend.

What to pack for Venice in November

Pack for 12.5 degrees C in the afternoon and 7.2 degrees C after dark, and for the fact that a single November week in Venice can swing about 14 degrees either side of those averages (Copernicus Climate Change Service, 2026; ISPRA, 2026). Three layers beat one heavy coat: a long sleeved shirt, a warm mid layer and a genuinely waterproof shell with a hood.

Footwear is the decision that matters. This is the wettest month of the year, the pavements are stone, and even without a high tide the calli hold water after rain. Bring shoes that are waterproof and that stay comfortable when they are wet, and a second pair so one can dry overnight. Full rubber boots are only worth carrying if a tide is forecast for your dates, and they can be bought locally when one is.

Add a compact umbrella, which works better than a hood in the sheltered calli, and a bag that closes. Bring a scarf: the wind off the lagoon on an open vaporetto deck or along the Zattere makes November feel several degrees colder than the thermometer says. Daylight is short by the end of the month, so a downloaded offline map earns its place. Finally, book the indoor things in advance, because in November they are what you fall back on.

Is November a good time to visit Venice?

It is, if you want the city rather than the weather. November gives you the lowest room rates of the autumn, no access fee, short queues in the Biennale's final weeks, and a Venice doing its own business rather than performing for visitors. The 21 November pilgrimage is the most Venetian day you can attend, and nothing about it is staged for tourists.

The cost is real and worth stating plainly. This is the wettest month on the reference record and the month with the most tides above 80 cm in 2025, so a week long stay carries a genuine chance of both rain and water in Piazza San Marco (Copernicus Climate Change Service, 2026; ISPRA, 2026). Daylight is short, and many sites move to winter hours from 1 November, the Salute among them (Basilica della Salute, 2026).

The way to make it work is to plan indoors and let the weather decide the order. ISPRA publishes tide forecasts and live levels for the lagoon stations daily, so check the evening before: if a peak falls in the morning, do St Mark's in the afternoon and spend the high hours somewhere with a floor above the water. A tide in the 80 to 100 cm band covers the lowest ground for a few hours and then drains, walkways go down on the main routes when levels warrant it, and the public boats keep running. Treat the itinerary as a list to reorder rather than a schedule to keep.