Early Morning Gondola Ride

If they have an 11:35 am flight home, I'm not so sure they really would have enough time for an early morning gondola ride, still allowing enough time to get to the airport and checked in for their flight (for an 11:35 am flight, I'd want to be at the airport by 9:00, 9:30 at the very latest). That's cutting it too close for my comfort - lots of unexpected things can and do come up when you're headed for an airport.

Another way of looking at it is asking yourself this: what would happen/how much would it cost if they missed their flight home?

How about a nice sunset gondola ride the night before?

I have to agree with David. The earliest I've seen is a 10:30 which is way too close.

I'm also puzzled as to why, after learning how to navigate a gondola, they need another ride in one.

Thanks for your input. Since I am new at this any help is appreciated. The reason they were interested in both was that they feel they will be so focused on learning how to row that they won't be able to look around and take in the view. They are also different boats. I am not saying it is a logical choice, I am just seeing if I can make their wish come true. I realize I probably can't but I wanted to give it my best try. I thought if I could get a gondola ride from 7 to 7:30 that would give us 4 hours before the flight. One reason we are running into scheduling trouble is that I thought we would be able to get an earlier train from Florence the day before. I understand schedules change according to time of year, but based on the current schedules, the earliest train arrival I found was 10:35 am. I haven't studied up enough yet to be an expert on train schedules so maybe one of you can tell me the best way to check for an earlier time. We have a Walks of Italy tour that includes St. Mark's Basilica and the Doge's Palace Secret Passages Tour from 12:45 to 3:45. After that I was going to schedule the rowing lesson. An evening gondola ride after dinner could be the solution. Thankfully, my husband and I have two additional days in Venice.

I guess I don't understand the "rowing lesson" thing, and wonder if you might be greatly complicating things needlessly.

Do your kids hope to become professional gondoliers someday?
Do they have some intense fascination with traditional human-powered watercraft?
I'm pretty sure the gondoliers generally don't do much actual rowing, but instead push the gondolas with a long pole, no? Honestly, I wasn't paying any attention to my gondolier's technique - I was taking in the experience, and gazing into my wife's very, very happy eyes.

Regardless, given your tight time constraints, you may not have time both for "rowing lessons" and a gondola ride, so I think you may have to pick one or the other. It would be an easy choice for me. On a very short visit to Venice, I wouldn't spend any of my all-too-few hours in a rowing class (or any class) - I'd be enjoying the unique charms of the city.

FWIW, I think the best time for a gondola ride is to get on the boat just before sunset, and enjoy the changing light from the water as dusk turns to night, the twinkling lights all coming on. Hard to beat that for charm.

@ David — Learning to row a gondola with Row Venice is just for fun and a terrific experience. NOT a means of learning to be a gondolier. @Julie — the Row Venice lessons at cocktail time are really fun, as you row up to cicchetti bars, have a snack and a glass of wine and then do it again. Only one person rows at a time, so others will have the experience riding in a gondola. One of our best memories when my husband and I did a Row Venice lesson was rowing across the Grand Canal at sunset . After all, how many people do you know who can say they did that?

There is an earlier, direct Florence-Venice train usually running Monday-Friday, but not Saturdays and Sundays.

On Saturdays You can leave from Firenze SM Novella at 5:55 and arrive in Venezia S. Lucia at 9:18, but you'll have to change in Bologna Centrale at 7:15. Then stay 2 hours on a local train , the Regionale Veloce nr. 2224 that makes 7 stops before calling at Venezia S. Lucia.

There is a drop-down menu on trenitalia.com/tcom to select the hour of departure.

I would not expect there would be an early AM gondola ride. At 7 AM is when all the delivery "trucks" ( barges) are out and about and is not ideal time for a gondola.

If the flight goes to a non-Schengen destination, the general wisdom is arrive at airport 3 hours before flight.

They need to do their 'tourist stuff' the day before, as the day they leave does not permit it.

Julie,
I think your (subsequent) idea of doing the rowing class in the afternoon, then taking a ride in a gondola early that evening is a fabulous idea. And, of course, the kids may decide that after rowing they may not want to also take a gondola (as a passenger), so you can likely just wait and see what they feel like doing that evening.

But, oh my gosh.........if my husband hand known there was the chance to actually do some rowing (as a student) he would have been all-in when we visited Venice. Sounds like a fun experience for the adult kids....when they see photos of gondolas in the future, they will have that "we did that" feeling of having steered one, too :)

Life is made up of the special experiences (and the memories we treasure from them).

Enjoy your trip!

Julie, this really make me want to take a rowing lesson when in Venice, thank you!

but instead push the gondolas

I think this might be open to interpretation as you could say that the gondoliere pushes against the water, but if you mean that he pushes against the bottom: No

Good grief...the gondola is rowed, and if you pay attention to the way it is done, very skillfully... a good gondolier is really masterfull in the way they navigate. As a paddler, I was really impressed with the skills the gondoliers very casually (appears to be) have.
Rowing lessons...looked like fun but a bit of a panic. If I had make a choice, I'd go for a nice ride in the evening...

Thanks to each of you for your input and advice. As expected, you have been very helpful...you are a great group. We have tentatively decided to do the 12:45 pm Doge's Palace/St.Mark's Basilica Walks of Italy tour. We are doing their tour instead of getting our own tickets because all the Secret Passages tours in English are in the morning before we can guarantee arrival with time to drop our luggage. You can only get afternoon Secret Passages tours in English with a tour group. We will do Row Venice's Cicchetti Tour which includes a lesson and food at 5:30pm. That will leave us some time for a late night dessert and music in St. Mark's Square. If we can get that earlier train to Venice, we may have time in the morning to add that gondola ride or a trip to the top of St. Mark's Campanile. I heard the big bell rings at noon. Our kids will have to catch the rest of Venice when they come back on their own some day. My husband and I will get to explore Venice more with two additional days.

Just so you know, the rowing lessons are wonderful and fun and the teachers are great, but the beginner lesson is in a little harbor and then outside in the lagoon close to Venice. My husband took two lessons and only for the second one was he allowed in some of the back canals. The boat is not a gondola, but is rowed the same way.

He found it amazingly challenging, despite being a very, very strong and physically skilled person in general, very mechanical, fluent in Italian, a quick learner, AND already an expert canoeist for several decades. It's not at all like rowing a row boat, most obviously because you are standing up, but less obviously because there are no oarlocks ---- you are keeping both oars in their OPEN (very open) sockets the whole time. Your kids will love it, especially if they enjoy a physical challenge, but it may not be what they are imagining it will be like.

And, yes, they definitely must return for a longer time in Venice!