One of the most iconic activities to participate in when visiting beautiful Venice, Italy is undoubtedly floating through the narrow canals and waterways on a graceful gondola. Seeing Venice from the seat of a boat gives travellers a view of the city that can't be seen from just strolling the streets.
In October of 2018, I was lucky enough to find myself in historic Venezia, and of course, made sure that I had the chance to ride in a gondola at least once during our stay.
If you were ever wondering, "Is a gondola ride worth the cost?" or "Are gondola rides just cheesy tourist traps?", I beg you to take the time to read this post in order to help you answer those questions.
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| My husband and I were very excited for our Venetian gondola ride! |
Venice in October, during our stay at least, offered up some wonderful weather. We set out on our second morning in the city in jeans and short-sleeved shirts, coupled with light jackets, which were only needed for small portions of the day. The sun was shining brightly, and the light glittered off the canals like jewels. A perfect day to go for a gondola cruise!
There are gondola stations all over the city, so it isn't difficult to find a gondola to hire. You will even walk past small pairs or groups of gondoliers as they lounge on random bridges, their boats tethered to posts just beyond the bridge stairs. You can secure a ride from there just as easily as going to a station.
However, the gondola station closest to our AirBnB apartment was right beside the Rialto Bridge. (And wow! What an apartment! I'll post the video about it below so you can check it out.) So off we strolled to Rialto, only getting lost a handful of times. Because getting lost is what Venice is all about!
Gondola Rental Basics
There are some pretty basic regulations when it comes to hiring gondolas. The prices are fixed throughout the city, to eliminate shady business operators and outrageous competition. A daylight gondola ride, which lasts about 30 minutes, will cost you 80 Euro. That 80 Euro is the price to hire a boat, regardless of there being one single passenger, two passengers, or six passengers. If you have 6 people in a boat, you 6 can split the cost of the 80 Euro between you. (So the more riders the better the price, but the less romantic the feel of the adventure.) The limit is 6 passengers per gondola, so if you have any more than that in your group, you will have to rent out two boats. |
| A quick guide on Venice gondola hire rates. |
If you are looking to see Venice from the waterways at night (which is amazing, I'm guessing, just from seeing Venice at night on foot) the price to rent a gondola for 35 minutes is 100 Euro. The hours for a night tour begin at 7:00 p.m. and end at 8:00 a.m.
While 30 minutes may seem really short to you for the price, I can tell you from experience that it was a perfect amount of time for me. The views are gorgeous, the ride is peaceful, and it is fun to people-watch tourists from lagoon-level, but after 30 minutes I was ready to move on and explore the city some more. This may not be the opinion of everyone, but I thought the timing was just fine. (We also split the cost with another couple, so it wasn't quite as expensive for us to hire the gondola.)
The Gondola Route
Our gondola tour took us up the Grand Canal for a bit, where we were able to see some of the grander buildings, water-side restaurants and cafes, and have the opportunity to feel small and delicate in the middle of such a busy, wide waterway. But it was a busy waterway, and after being rocked a bit by vaporettos (water taxis) and cargo boats, I was ready to slide seamlessly into the smaller, calmer canals of interior Venice. |
| The Grand Canal from aboard a gondola. |
The smaller canals were far and away my favourite place to explore via gondola. They were quieter, with a bit of echo due to the narrow buildings, where loud sounds were muted and softer sounds were emphasized. Distant conversations and shouts of passing people blended together softly, while the dip of the gondolier's oar into the water was crisp and clear. The hollow bumping of a moored gondola drifting against the side of a building clunked rhythmically, lulling you into a dream-like state.
The smaller canals were like magic to me.
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| Some of the canals were so narrow I couldn't even picture a gondola going down them! |
I don't even know how many 'lanes' we explored, our gondolier sliding the craft smoothly from one group of buildings to the next. We glided under bridges, where our navigator had to duck to keep his head from getting whacked by hundred-year-old brickwork. He would then turn us sharply around corners, effortlessly it seemed, and we'd begin the whole process again, weaving our way through yet another neighbourhood.
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| Some beautiful buildings along our route. |
And then our route led us back out onto the Grand Canal, where we emerged just beyond the looming Rialto Bridge. We cut through the choppier water back towards the Rialto gondola station, our tour ending just around the 35 minute mark.
The Sights
There was nothing historically or architecturally significant that we passed by on our little tour, at least not according to our gondolier. He would point out various signs that were hung on the sides of buildings, marking their construction date or sometimes what the building was before it became a residential block, but nothing was truly notable unless you were a hard-core history buff.What we did see what simply stunning, however. There is something so unique about the look of Venice, due to its age and location.
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| One of the wider interior canals that we explored. |
Venice is in a state of 'elegant decay'. I'm not sure where I heard the term, but it is an incredibly suitable description of the buildings in beautiful Venezia. The ravages of constantly flowing water, dampness, storms coming in from the sea, and other natural elements mean that it is a losing battle for Venetian citizens to maintain the exteriors of their homes and businesses and keep them looking new.
So the residents of Venice have accepted this look - crumbling walls, faded paint, peeling shutters, chipped facades - all of which sounds depressing and unsightly. However, somehow, Venice makes it stylish. The disheveled state of the building exteriors makes the city look noble, ancient, and... elegant. It truly is a state of 'elegant decay'.
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| An example of the 'elegant decay' of Venice's building exteriors. |
Of course, the interiors of the buildings are treated with modern upkeep. Structural supports are replaced and maintained as needed, and renovations and remodels are constantly underway on the interiors of homes and shops to keep them looking new and upscale. Our AirBnB had recently been renovated and had all new walls and flooring - the only thing that remained that was original on the inside were the 600-year-old ceiling beams!
As we floated through the network of canals around Venice, this state of elegant decay was definitely noticeable, and I loved the whole atmosphere it created.
Side Notes
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| A row of gondolas await you! |
- Be careful when embarking and disembarking the gondola! They can be very wobbly, and although I proudly told the gondolier I didn't need a hand getting in, I ended up grabbing it in a panic anyway! If the gondolier extends his hand to you, use it! I didn't feel balanced on the boat until I was sitting down, so use caution and move slowly.
- Tips are considered a faux pas, according to our AirBnB hostess who was born and raised in Venice. I can't quite remember her reason for stating that, but she repeated it about three times to us, so that's what stuck in my head. I did read somewhere that if you want your gondolier to sing to you, you might need to pay him or her extra, but that's only if they reveal to you they know and/or want to sing. So there's no guarantee you will be serenaded either way.
We had a wonderful time seeing Venice from the seat of a gondola, and I highly recommend that if you are ever in Venice, you splurge at least once and go for a ride.
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