Florence vs Venice: which is better for Airbnb investment? (2026)

Bottom line

Florence and Venice score similarly on the metrics that matter most for short-term rental returns. The right pick depends on whether you optimise for yield (lower regulation risk, higher RevPAR) or capital growth.

Head-to-head metrics

	Florence	Venice
Median occupancy	26.3%	26.3%
Median daily rate	£166	£194
Median RevPAR	£45	£49
Active listings	10,534	7,243
YoY occupancy	+0 pts	+0 pts
YoY daily rate	+42.3%	+47.6%
Regulation risk	—	—
Annual night cap	None	None
License required	No	No

Full analysis: Florence vs Venice

There is no clean winner between Florence and Venice. Florence posts 26.3% occupancy and £45 RevPAR; Venice posts 26.3% occupancy and £49 RevPAR. Weighted together with regulation risk the two finish inside the margin we are willing to call, which is the honest answer rather than an evasive one — a scoring gap this small would flip on the next data refresh. When markets are this close the decision stops being about the market and starts being about the deal: what you pay, what it costs to run, and how quickly you could exit.

On the mechanics of the yield the two are hard to separate. Florence runs 26.3% occupancy at £166 a night; Venice runs 26.3% at £194. That leaves RevPAR almost level too — £49 against £45 — so operating quality, not market selection, is what will decide your return between these two.

A tie does not mean the two are interchangeable — it means each holds something the other does not. Florence is the deeper market at 10,534 active listings against 7,243, which usually means better comparables going in and a wider buyer pool coming out. Venice is the less crowded of the two — 7,243 active listings to 10,534 — so a well-run property has fewer near-identical rivals to out-rank. Pick the one whose advantage matches how you intend to operate, because the composite score will not do that job for you.

Neither Florence nor Venice currently has a verified short-term rental regulation record in our register, so the comparison above is a yield comparison only. Regulation is the single largest source of downside in this asset class — an unverified market is an unpriced risk, not an absent one.

The two calendars also behave differently. Florence peaks in October at 64.8% and bottoms in December at 30.5%; Venice runs from 68.6% in October down to 29.1% in December. Florence is the steadier of the two at 34.3 points peak-to-trough against 39.5 — easier to underwrite against a mortgage — while Venice concentrates its return into a shorter window and rewards operators who price the peak aggressively instead of holding a flat rate all year.

Who each suits, then. Florence suits buyers who want a conventional, lightly regulated entry and whose economics survive high turnover — more bookings, more cleans, more guest contact per pound of revenue. Venice answers to the same regulatory profile, so the split between them is operational rather than legal: it is the market for an owner who can hold rate through the shoulder season rather than discounting to fill the calendar. Every figure above comes from the same Inside Airbnb snapshot pipeline on both sides, dated 2026-09, filtered to listings with at least one booking in the last twelve months. Occupancy medians are drawn from 10,534 active Florence listings and 7,243 in Venice.

Frequently asked questions

Is Florence or Venice better for Airbnb investment?

Neither pulls clearly ahead. Florence runs 26.3% occupancy and £166 a night; Venice runs 26.3% occupancy and £194 a night. Once occupancy, revenue per available night and regulation risk are weighted together the two finish within a couple of points of each other, so the decision turns on purchase price, how far you are willing to travel, and which rulebook you would rather work under.

Which has higher occupancy, Florence or Venice?

Effectively neither — they are level. Florence sits at 26.3% and Venice at 26.3%, a 0-point difference that is inside the noise of a median drawn from a listings snapshot. Over the last twelve months Florence was flat and Venice was flat, so the gap is closing.

Which has higher nightly rates, Florence or Venice?

Venice, at £194 a night against £166 in Florence — roughly 16.9% more. Revenue per available night agrees rather than contradicts: £49 in Venice against £45, so the rate premium survives contact with the occupancy figures.

Which has stronger year-over-year growth, Florence or Venice?

Florence, on occupancy: +0 points over the last twelve months against +0 points in Venice. Nightly rates rose 42.3% in Florence and rose 47.6% in Venice over the same window. One year of movement is a direction, not a trend — weigh it against the regulation picture before treating it as momentum.

Which is the bigger Airbnb market, Florence or Venice?

Florence, with 10,534 active listings against 7,243 in Venice. Size cuts both ways: a deep market gives you comparables, contractors and an exit, while a thinner one means fewer near-identical rivals competing for the same search results.

How much can you earn from an Airbnb in Florence vs Venice?

Venice earns more: roughly £17,881 a year for a median listing against £16,422 in Florence. Those are gross booking revenues before cleaning, management, platform fees, furnishing amortisation and tax — budget for a meaningful share of them, and note that a median listing is a median operator, not a good one.

Go deeper on each city

Market guide

Airbnb in Florence →

Occupancy, ADR, neighborhoods, regulation

Market guide

Airbnb in Venice →

Occupancy, ADR, neighborhoods, regulation

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