As an American, traveling to Venice was a totally different experience for me. I had never been to Italy before and had always heard about Venice and seen pictures. I flew directly into Venice Marco Polo and stayed a few days in the city. Since then, I've traveled back to Venice two more times. For me, the train is the only option and is very easy to use. I typically avoid the tourist map and just wander around until I find what I'm looking for. Americans are generally interested in the museums, churches, monuments and tacky souvenir shops. For me, I feel like Americans stuck out very easily in Venice. I also went to Venice during two busy weekends-Carnevale and Easter. Many tourists from all over the world were packed into the small streets and into Piazza San Marco.
My Italian friends have very similar traveling experiences. Most take the train into the city, but others who own cars are able to drive directly there. Those who live around the area have been to Venice multiple times and usually know the easiest way to get around the city. Others have family members who know the ins and outs of the city. For the Italians, traveling to Venice is more common and not as popular as it is for all the other parts of the world. They also try to avoid the big holidays or weekends and try to visit during the week when it's less busy. Even for the Italians, the local people of Venice aren't the friendliest. We also both noticed that there aren't very many people our age in Venice. There were generally middle-aged and older families and not many teenagers.
In general, we didn't find many differences between our cultures and the way we travel. In the end, the way American and Italians travel is typically very similar and we both like experiencing the beauty of different places.
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