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Experience a gondola ride

Are you getting to Ca’ Savio and finally have the chance to visit Venice for a gondola ride? For sure an unforgettable experience is waiting for you, but before you get on board, keep on reading and decide if a gondola ride is for you!

1. What is a gondola?

A Gondola is one of several types of local rowing boats, for sure the most famous and an icon image of Venice. Gondola has a flat bottom, it is handcrafted using 280 pieces of 8 different types of wood as oak, fir, cherry, larch, walnut, linden, mahogany, elm and unlike most Venetian boats, it is asymmetric. The measures of a gondola are: 11 m long, 1,45 m wide, less than 1m deep, for a total weight of 600 kg. Once ago gondolas were regularly used by Venetians, but today they have been replaced by private motor boats or public transports called “vaporetti” (water buses) and used only by gondoliers offering gondola tours in the canals of Venice.

2. How does a gondola ride work?

Gondola holds 6 people. So if you are travelling solo, you can share it with other travelers without an additional fee. You can experience a gondola ride during the day or the night (you will pay more for a nightly tour), but please note that gondola is not equipped with awnings, so on a hot summer day you will be under the full sun. The ride starts: the gondolier will help you boarding his gondola and invite you to sit down on a double-armchair. Then the gondolier will start rowing and take you on a ride on the canals around your point of departure (if you want to go to a particular place, discuss it with the gondolier before the ride, because there may be an extra fee). The gondolier can give you some sightseeing narration during the ride, but don’t expect it as he will sing as in the movies. The tour lasts 30 minutes and then you are taken back to your point of departure.

gondola

3. How much does a gondola ride cost?

Standard gondola rides in Venice have a fixed cost, so don’t try to negotiate it! The price is 80€ for a 30-minutes tour during the day (from 09:00 to 19:00). At night (from 19:00 to 03:00) the cost is 100€. If you desire to stay longer ask for the price before the start of the tour.

4. Where to go on a gondola ride?

You can ride close to the most famous landmarks of the city as the Grand Canal, St. Mark Square and Rialto Bridge or on the quiet back canals as most people recommend. There, far from the main tourist areas, you can discover the authentic Venice and admire the city from a different point of view!

gondola (1)

5. Where to find a gondola station?

Here a list of gondola stations (called “stazio”) located all around Venice:

  • Hotel Danieli Stazio, Riva degli Schiavoni (on the right side of St. Mark Square, close to vaporetto stop “San Zaccaria – Danieli”)
  • Stazio Molo, Riva degli Schiavoni (in front of St. Mark Square)
  • Stazio Dogana, Riva degli Schiavoni (on the left side of St. Mark Square, close to vaporetto stop “San Marco – Vallaresso”)
  • Stazio Trinità, Calle Larga 22 Marzo, 2091/b (on the left side of St. Mark Square)
  • Stazio Bacino Orseolo, San Marco 1162 (behind St. Mark Square)
  • Stazio Accademia, San Polo, 2259 (in front of Accademia Galleries)
  • Stazio Ferrovia, Piazzale Roma (close to Santa Lucia railway station). Here you can also find a unique wheelchair friendly dock suitable for disabled people, who can easily access the gondola with their wheelchair. Further information on http://www.gondolas4all.com/