September in Venice averages a daily maximum of 22.7 degrees C and a daily minimum of 16.1 degrees C, with about 120 mm of rain across roughly ten wet days, on the 1991 to 2020 reference period for the city (Copernicus Climate Change Service, 2026). The sea off the Lido is still close to 24.5 degrees C, and the two largest events in the Venetian calendar outside Carnival both fall in the first half of the month.
The month divides in two. Across those thirty years the first ten days of September average 24.2 degrees C by day, while the last ten average 21.2 degrees C, and daylight falls by an hour and a half between the first of the month and the last. Rain arrives in a small number of heavy days rather than as steady drizzle: the Lido weather station recorded 113 mm in only seven rainy days in September 2025, which made it the second wettest month of that year (ISPRA, 2026).
This page sets out the September figures, how warm the sea is, how likely flooding is at this point in the season, what the Venice Film Festival and the Regata Storica mean for a visitor who is attending neither, what the month costs, and what to pack.
What is the weather like in Venice in September?
On the 1991 to 2020 reference period, September in Venice averages a daily maximum of 22.7 degrees C and a daily minimum of 16.1 degrees C (Copernicus Climate Change Service, 2026). Rainfall averages about 120 mm across roughly ten days that record 1 mm or more, so two thirds of September days stay dry.
The monthly average hides a steady slide. Over the same thirty years the first ten days of the month average 24.2 degrees C by day and the last ten average 21.2 degrees C, a drop of three degrees inside four weeks. Daylight falls at a similar rate. On 1 September the sun rises at 06:30 and sets at 19:51 local time, giving 13 hours and 20 minutes of daylight, while on 30 September it rises at 07:06 and sets at 18:56, giving 11 hours and 50 minutes (Sunrise-Sunset.org, 2026). An itinerary built around late light needs an earlier start at the end of the month than at the beginning.
Individual years vary far more than the averages suggest. Across the reference period the driest September delivered 28 mm and the wettest 235 mm, and mean daily maxima ranged from 19.7 degrees C in 1996 to 25.5 degrees C in 2011 (Copernicus Climate Change Service, 2026). September 2025 fell on the wet side, with 113 mm at the Lido station in seven rainy days against an annual reference of 839 mm in about 80 days (ISPRA, 2026).
Is the sea warm enough to swim at the Lido in September?
For most people, yes. Daily mean sea surface temperature off the Lido averaged 24.5 degrees C in September across 2023 to 2025, against 26.7 degrees C in August and 20.2 degrees C in October (Open-Meteo, 2026). The fall from September to October is the sharpest month to month drop of the year at 4.3 degrees, so September is the last month in which the northern Adriatic reliably holds a comfortable swimming temperature.
The Lido is a long sandbar island with the beach on its seaward side, reached by public boat from San Zaccaria and from Piazzale Roma. A single 75 minute waterborne ticket costs 9.50 euro, a one day travel card 25 euro, two days 35 euro, three days 45 euro and seven days 65 euro (ACTV, 2026). For a day that combines the beach with the city, the one day card pays for itself on the third journey, and tickets must be validated at the start of each leg.
Bed capacity on the island is small. The Lido recorded 118,377 arrivals and 345,062 overnight stays across the whole of 2025, of which 106,911 arrivals were in hotels, with both figures down on the previous year by 8.6 and 9.3 per cent (Regione del Veneto, 2026). During the Film Festival those rooms are taken, so a September beach day is usually run out of the historic centre.
Does Venice flood in September?
It can, though September sits at the quiet end of the flooding season. Tide levels are measured against the Punta della Salute datum of 1897, known as ZMPS. The lowest part of Piazza San Marco begins to flood at 80 cm above that datum, and 110 cm marks the events Venetians call acqua alta proper (ISPRA, 2025).
In 2025 the tide reached 80 cm or more on 161 occasions across the year, while no tide reached 110 cm inside the historic centre at all, against seven such events measured out at sea (ISPRA, 2026). The busiest month by a wide margin was November, with 26 exceedances of 80 cm and the highest monthly mean sea level of the year at 48.1 cm. September carries far fewer, because the weather patterns that push water into the lagoon strengthen later in the autumn.
Those patterns are what matter for a September booking. Extreme levels are produced mostly by a storm surge driven by the southeasterly sirocco, reinforced by a seiche, a free oscillation of the Adriatic with a period close to 23 hours, and by the astronomical tide, which contributes roughly 50 cm at springs (Lionello et al., 2021). Events above 110 cm rose from about 4.2 per decade in the early twentieth century to 95 per decade in the 2010s, which is the reason the mobile barriers now sit between the forecast and the pavement.
The Venice Film Festival: dates, tickets and the Lido
The Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica takes over the Lido at the start of the month. The 83rd edition ran from 2 to 12 September 2026, with the awards presented on the closing Saturday (La Biennale di Venezia, 2026). Dates for the 84th edition in 2027 had not been published as of 18 September 2026, and recent editions have opened in the last days of August or the first days of September.
The public can buy seats for individual screenings rather than only professional accreditation. In 2026 a ticket in the Sala Grande cost 18 euro full price and 15 euro concession for a 15:00 screening, and 50 euro full price and 40 euro concession for the 19:30 screening, while the smaller Sala Corinto charged 10 euro full price and 7 euro concession (La Biennale di Venezia, 2026). Seats were sold online through the festival's ticketing partner, with a further release on 24 August. Screenings run across a cluster of halls on the Lido waterfront, including the Sala Darsena, the Sala Perla and the PalaBiennale.
For a visitor who is attending none of it, the festival still shapes the first half of September. The Lido takes only about 107,000 hotel arrivals in an entire year, so its rooms go first, and the boats to the island carry the extra load (Regione del Veneto, 2026). The historic centre itself is barely affected.
Regata Storica: the first Sunday in September
The Regata Storica is rowed on the first Sunday of September. The 2026 edition fell on 6 September and the 2027 edition is set for Sunday 5 September (Comune di Venezia, 2026). The first records of Venetian regattas date to the middle of the thirteenth century, the modern annual competition dates from 1841, and the event gained the name storica in 1899 during the third Art Biennale.
The day has two halves. From 15:30 the corteo storico, a parade of dozens of sixteenth century boats with crews in costume, runs up the Grand Canal. It re-enacts the reception given to the Queen of Cyprus in 1489, and the boats in it are named and distinct, among them the eighteen metre Serenissima, the Bizantina with its marine prow, and the Cinese, whose dragon head marks the Marco Polo connection.
The races follow on the same water: the youth categories at 16:00, the young women's mascarete at 16:30, the young men's pupparini at 16:50, the six oared caorline at 17:10, the women's mascarete at 17:40, and the two oared gondolini, the race everyone waits for, at 18:10 (Comune di Venezia, 2026). The finish is at the machina, a decorated floating pavilion moored on a barge near Ca' Foscari, where the winning crews take the red, white, green and blue flags for the first four places. Watching from the public fondamente costs nothing, and the banks near Rialto and Ca' Foscari fill from early afternoon.
How busy and how expensive is Venice in September?
September is one of the fuller months of the Venetian year, and the published figures are annual rather than monthly. The historic centre recorded 3,980,264 arrivals and 9,376,638 overnight stays in 2025, with arrivals up 1.8 per cent on the previous year and stays down 0.6 per cent. Hotels took 2,099,568 of those arrivals and other accommodation, mostly flats and guest houses, took 1,880,696 (Regione del Veneto, 2026). Across the Veneto as a whole, 2025 set a record with more than 22 million arrivals and more than 74 million overnight stays (Regione del Veneto, 2026).
One cost that applies in spring does not apply now. The access fee for day visitors was charged on 60 days in 2026, all of them between 3 April and 26 July and all between 08:30 and 16:00, so no September day carried it (ANSA, 2025). Transport is the fixed cost that remains: 9.50 euro for a single 75 minute waterborne ticket, or 25 euro for a day of unlimited travel (ACTV, 2026).
Accommodation is the variable that moves most, and the first weekend of the month is the peak, carrying the Regata Storica and the middle of the Film Festival at once. The Biennale Arte 2026, titled 'In Minor Keys', runs from 9 May to 22 November 2026 at the Giardini, the Arsenale and other venues, so the autumn art audience overlaps the late summer one throughout the month (La Biennale di Venezia, 2026).
Is September a good time to visit Venice, and what should you pack?
September is the strongest month of the Venetian year for most visitors. Daytime temperatures suit walking from morning to evening, the sea is still swimmable, there is more daylight than in October, and both of the city's largest events outside Carnival fall inside it. The trade is that the first half of the month is as busy and as expensive as August, and the last week can turn autumnal with little warning.
Pack for 22.7 degrees C in the afternoon and 16.1 degrees C after dark, which means layers rather than one heavy item (Copernicus Climate Change Service, 2026). A long sleeved shirt, a light jumper and a thin waterproof cover almost every September day, with something warmer for the final week. Add swimming things if the Lido is on the plan, since the sea holds about 24.5 degrees C through the month (Open-Meteo, 2026).
Footwear matters more than anything else you carry. Venetian pavements are stone and they hold water, and about ten days of the month record measurable rain, often as one short heavy burst. A compact umbrella works better than a hood, because rain between the buildings usually arrives without much wind. Rubber boots are rarely needed in September and can be bought in the city if a tide is forecast for your dates. Bring a bag that closes and a refillable bottle for the public fountains, which run all year.
