Gondola first timer

Jen I am hoping you get some good replies. I know many people will say its a hokey tourist thing, but I think you have to do the gondola. My answers as follows:
1) No the gondolas do not launch from each vaporetto stop. There are several places on canals off the grand canal (but near it) from which they congregate and launch. I can't tell you where, because directions are kind of meaningless. Other than you will see a group of men in the striped shirts hanging around in one place. I think as you walk around, you'll come across them. Or ask your hotel. There are gondolas cruising, looking for takers, so I suppose they will pick you up at stops or along the way. But I think they have dedicated loading areas.

2) I am guessing that they mostly use fixed routes, that include part of the Grand Canal and some back canals, to get back to their launching areas (they are designed to turn in only one direction). But no, the Grand Canal is best part, since it is so wide open and that's where the beautiful facades are. Some of the back canals are narrow, ugly, unlit and smelly too. I would say that going down Grand Canal at early evening with all the restaurants and bars lit up was beautiful, and less traffic. I would think it would be less so in daytime.

3) Well, good reason to arrange in person while you are there, so you can look them over. But I think it is good to arrange during the day for a evening cruise. Its kind of like a cab rank, where there is one guy who acts as a dispatcher, and handles reservations. You negotiate with him as to what you want. I am not sure you can count on a specific person, w/o paying in advance, since they are all on the street hustling for tourists all the time. I don't think they will talk or explain anything to you, unless you ask them questions. Ours did not speak any English (or didn't want to), but you are supposed to be holding hands and romancing, and they will greet and chat as they pass their co-workers.

4) you arrange this ahead of time, with the "dispatcher". There has to be room in your gondola for the musician and the singer (that is, you need to have a big gondola), or you have to pay for two gondolas as well as the singer, so they can go along next to you. Yep, its pretty touristy, but you know, its fun. Another reason to go when its dark so you can enjoy the sights and sounds, and not get too much attention. Its just like a movie, to be pushing into the Grand Canal, the guy singing "Volare", and the crowds at the brightly lit restaurants clapping and waving.

Bite the bullet and do it.............you have to at least once in your life. What I did was to create a playlist on my phone and played it when we went down the canals. We had been to Venice several times but never did the gondola, but did on our visit last September. Expensive, but worth it....splurge, you are in Venice!

My recommendation is not to go on a gondola late in the evening. We did this on our RS Best of Italy Tour and I think I would have enjoyed it more at dusk or during the day. While it may be more romantic at night, it is very difficult to get good pictures unless you have a nice camera. So many of the pictures I had hoped would turn out good were very grainy. I did get one picture that I was very happy with, but could only enlarge it to a 12 x 12 size as the quality was not that good.

I've been to Venice more times than I can count...and that's a very nice thing to be able to say. Yet in all my trips I've never ventured to spend my time or money riding a gondola. I have stood on the bridges and watched the gondolas go by and that was good enough for me. Vaporettos, traghettos, water taxis, alilaguna - I've done them all, but just don't see the need for a gondola.

Of course it's your money and your time. But I count my Venetian trips as quite successful and all enjoyable while never setting foot in a gondola.

Hi All,

thanks so much for giving a wonderful point of view about the gondola. feel excited and can't wait to get there.

after fitting my itinerary , i plan to start the gondola route from Rialto going down to St. Marco by passing the Bridge of Sighs. I'm not sure if they have this route or this route could even be achieved within 30minutes ride. i'm also not certain if there's gondolas pool around Rialto but assuming it's one of the main transit point.

and to be safe in terms of the view, i plan to take the gondola during the day then vaporetto during the evening as the gondola is lower/nearer the water too and there might be tidal during my visit in Dec. hopefully i could return back to venice and experience gondola at night. it must be a different feeling.

Hi Stan,
thanks so much for clarifying lots of things for me. so it's like a taxi stand where you could not actually pick the gondolier unless you book beforehand for later ride. i also think each gondola has dedicated route. the recommended gondolier that i got always start his from the Jewish Ghetto. Yes, i also see from gmaps that some parts of the back canal is really not nice to be seen by tourists w/ clothes hanging around and very scruffy wall. the gondolier singing thing is really only in the movie huh :D

A main gondola stop is called STAZIO (station), the plural is STAZI.
They are all over the Grand Canal. I would pick up one away from Piazza San Marco, like at the Salute or near Accademia.
The gondoliere is called POPE in Venetian (pronounce: Po-pay)

Hi Roberto,

thanks for adding more knowledge in regards to the stazio and the pope :)
yes i plan to avoid taking up gondolas from st lucia, st marks and bacino orseolo. what do you think about Rialto? is it overcrowded too?

i still look for a credible website that could show me the fixed routes. i want to know if my planned route is permissible ie Rialto to st marks passing bridge of sighs.

also in regards to the price, i saw that w/ EUR80 you could get 40-50mnts instead of 30mnts. Has the price increased?

If you go from Rialto to San Marco you will not pass the Bridge of Sighs. And that would be a long time on the Grand Canal. Most gondola rides do a loop from their Stazio back to he same place, not a point to point.

The Bridge of Sighs crosses a side canal by the Doge's Palace, named Rio Canonical Palazzo. According to this map of gondola Stati, there is a station very nearby---Stazio Molo.

http://www.gondolieritravel.com/gondola/traditional-gondola-rides/

Perhaps you could start there, cruise under the Bridge of Sighs, and then on
Rio San Zulian to meet the Grand Canal near the Rialto Bridge. Head down the Grand Canal to pass under Rialto Bridge, then into the next small canal ( maybe Rio San Luca?) to return to the Stazio Molo.

You can see the route on Google, satellite view. I don't know how long this would take or if it is even possible, but it is worth asking, since you want something so specific.

I believe the current price is 80€ for 30 minutes.

Hi Lola ,

thanks so much for the info. it really gives me idea of how the route would look like more or less. I was thinking of passing Rio San Zulian as well but i feel it might take longer than the 30minutes time? i would email the travel and update here. also the route that passes Bridge of Sighs via Rio Maria Formosa and Rio san Severo is pretty bad looking and i think the shortest route compared to others.

the one w/ bigger canal route is Stazio Train Stat one. i think it's the best route as well. its gondola dock is near Giardino Papadocoli, is this different with one in St Lucia? because i read that the gondolier in St Lucia and St Mark offer quite bad service.

also the one that passes Rialto Bridge , Riva del Carbon route is not bad though the market would be closed by the hour i get there. it encircle the GC until Ca'd'Oro going through small canals (some of them are bad view also) and out from the Frari complex. quite nice view in the Frari complex.

now decision decision...

That's why it is so much better to look around when you arrive, work out what looks appealing to you, not google, and see if what you want is practical.

You are going at the coldest and wettest time of the year. Are you going to want to go on your pre-booked and pre-paid gondola in a cold windy rain knowing that you, your husband and your mother (that's right isn't it?) will be 20 cm above the waves with no cover or rain protection? Or might you wait until the weather is better and you have sussed out the best place for you to have the experience, and you have seen the various gondolas and their crews on offer that day?

Was it you, in one of your other questions, who asked if it is dark at 1630 will you still see some sun 2 hours later at 1830? The answer is no, it will be dark. It will be completely dark 15 minutes after sunset at this time of the year.

I am somewhat north of Venice in England so I know that times are a little later in Venice, but as an example I actually had some sunshine today but had the lights on just after noon, couldn't do anything outside much after 3, sunset was at 1551, and by just after 4 it was completely black outside.

Nigel brings up an excellent point. Winter can be wildly unpredictable so I personally wouldn't pre-book this particular activity at this time of year. You could be in for a cold, rainy, windy and altogether less than enjoyable ride.

Just a guess based on prior reading but I think you can expect a customized route to cost you quite a bit more, and especially so if you do not start and end at the same point and/or those points aren't where the gondolier (if booked in advance) isn't usually stationed.

All that aside, customized tours of ANY sort almost always are the priciest options so I definitely wouldn't count on the standard fees applying to special requests.

Kathy brings up a good point.

If you think of a gondola as a sort of taxi, it is easy to see that if you come up with a bespoke route that takes the gondolier away from their base they will have to get back. Much like renting a car in one city or country and turning it in somewhere else, So after you get out of the boat he or she will have to charge you for the return journey so they can get their next fare.

Exactly, Nigel.

I too was going to suggest that you NOT try to pre-book your gondola ride. The weather could be nasty, or your could end up with one of those chain-smoking,cell-phone talking gondoliers that people complain about in reviews. Or a route you do not like.

Much better to wait until you get to Venice and look around. Check out the scene. Find a gondola station in an area you like, hang back and observe to see if there is one gondolier that appeals to you. Usually there are enough other people around you can do this. Then come back to take the ride when the weather is good and you know what you want.

Who knows---after seeing what it is like to ride in a gondola, with all the other tourists looking at you as you pass under bridges, you may change your mind about doing this.

Hi All,

yes i expect the rain and the flood as a precaution. i'd ask my mum to bring her rubber boots. i know it'd come real handy when she bought that. and nope i wouldn't pre-book the gondola at all. i've read bad reviews from higher price and gondoliers didn't show up after paying via online booking. i just want to get a picture of their routes and no wonder i read reviews of bad canals they entered. i don't know why they like to use that part of small canals that are not that nice to be seen especially for tourists whilst i could see other canals just next to it that looks better and wider (well perhaps they expect the customized route for these canals). i won't do customized route as well.

Nigel thanks for giving me the idea of how dark it'd be even before the sunset time. i think if we got good weather by the time we arrive, we'd use that opportunity for the gondola. btw i post another question on driving in Grand Corniche thread if you mind to take a look.

cheers

Haven't been in a gondola for many years, but as I recall some of the small canals were one-way for boat traffic, that may be why you won't be able to completely customize your route.

i just want to get a picture of their routes and no wonder i read
reviews of bad canals they entered. i don't know why they like to use
that part of small canals that are not that nice to be seen especially
for tourists whilst i could see other canals just next to it that
looks better and wider

But you have to be very careful with reviews. Some tourists tend to have expectations based solely on advertising pictures and romantic notions when the reality can be far different. People have different tastes as well; you'll find as many who enjoyed the smaller, quieter, residential canals more than the heavily trafficked ones. For fans of the off-the-beaten, it can be a more authentic peek at the city. Beauty being in the eye of the beholder, one visitor's "scruffy" can be another's "very interesting"!

Tidal cycles make a difference in appearance as well. Those just are what they are. And for those who don't expect it, yes, the water in the canals ranges from algae-green to brownish-green.

I was just looking at some video I shot about 10 years ago and I recall that everything I ever wanted to see of the Grand Canal was really easy by vaporetto and traghetto; it is the romance of the small canals going off into the neighborhoods that provide the lovely surprises and discoveries. The narrower the calle and the canal, and the more convoluted, the better for me and my wife.

That's probably why I have been back 2 or 3 times a year since.

To each their own.

I was just looking from a three sided bridge near Santa Maria Miracoli where gondoliers from three directions meet and watching that ballet in the exceedingly narrow canals was loads of fun. Got a pastry from Didovich into the bargain.

I have taken a fair amount of snaps of hanging laundry, Nigel! It adds color and interest, IMHO. :O)

Hi Lola,

the gondola route from Rialto Station. I know i should just use it as an indicator of what's the route would be like. It starts from Rialto bridge and passing the market and viewing the Ca d'Oro from distance then entering the small canals and out by the Frari complex. i just see this looks more than a 30mnts ride, you think?

from Ca d'Oro most likely it would enter from Rio de S Maria Mater Domini canal, continue until the end of the canal then turning on Frari complex. it seems like impossible to be achieved within 30minutes (well i'm not a gondolier either ;p).

if for example, they finish the route longer than 30mnts, would i get extra charged?