Gondola Venice pre-book

Let me be first to say it is not necessary to pre-book. There are lots of gondolas for hire. I would prefer to keep schedule flexible and to do the gondola when i knew for sure what the weather was like. You may also decide the route once you are there as opposed to locking in the time and place forcing you to schedule your day around the gondola as opposed to the other way around.

If you want a unique experience look at rowvenice.org

Far more interesting and more interactive than a gondola trip in my opinion.

Dare I suggest rowing your own canoe. Www.venicekayak.com.

There are a plethora of gondoliers all around Venice looking for people like you. There is never a shortage for gondolas as most people find them extremely overpriced and a bit over-the-top touristy. But if you really want to ride a gondolier you do NOT need to prebook.

Peter, why paddle (you don't row) a kayak when you can learn how to do traditional venetian rowing and support an organization maintaining a Venetian tradition (rowvenice.org)?

From a visit in 2013:

After we visited Venice about six years ago, I read "Venice" by James Morris. I was taken by a sentence, when he was talking about "Streets Full of Water", viz.:

"One canal goes clean under the Church of Santo Stefano, and you can take a gondola along it if the tide is low..."

I was determined to pass under San Stefano by boat, and today (25th April, Liberation Day, St Marks Day and ANZAC day for Australians) I can announce Mission Accomplished. We've had the best day.

I'm not really a "tour" kind of person, but today we took a kayak tour. I chose today, because I did not much want to be mixing it with the delivery boats, rubbish boats, all the water-born traffic of Venice. 25th April was relatively quiet.

We booked a full day excursion with Venice Kayak (venicekayak.com) and it worked well. The day started at Certosa, reachable by 4.1or 4.2 vaporetto. Certosa was a military base in the 1800's, with a munitions factory and other fortifications. It's being cleaned up now, getting rid of the industrial legacy of pollution, and now is really pleasant. We'll go back there for a picnic another day.

Met up with the kayak people in the bar - there were a couple of running events happening on the island today, 2 km for the kids, 10 km for the adults, so it was pretty busy. We met up with Rene and Loretta, who was to be our guide for the day, were outfitted with life jackets and "skirts" to seal the kayak openings and headed off. We were six in all, Loretta, another couple, Lou and I, and an another guy (who I think was a guide in training, as he had a carbon fibre paddle and his own kayak, serious stuff).

Loretta seemed very business like at first - I can understand that, as it must be a bit tricky taking a group of paddlers out onto the lagoon without knowing what their capabilities are. She explained that canoeists are the lowest form of aquatic life, at the bottom of the marine food chain, so don't mess with vaps, water taxis, gondolas or anything else for that matter. We duly embarked, Lou and I in a double kayak, the others in singles, and headed out.

A completely new Venice unfolded before us.

I've tried to mark on our map where we went, and lost the plot. We went down canals little wider than a ditch, under bridges too low to paddle, just pull yourself through with your hands. Under the Rialto and Accademia bridges, no problems with height there. Down the canal at the back of the Guggenheim, around two sides of the Arsenal, crossed the Grand Canal several times, a bit of a dig in the Giudecca canal, all over the place.

Observing gondolas. Gondolas look small if you are viewing them from the Rialto, but are quite big if you are sitting lower in the water than the gondola passengers. And seeing a fire boat blasting down the Grand Canal, flashing lights, sirens, full noise, is quite exciting. Especially if you start to think that if said fire boat is going to turn from Grand Canal to Giudecca Canal round the Salute, you might be in the way. So back up a bit.

Yes, a completely new Venice.

Magic.

We stopped for lunch at Campo San Barnaba, which we know really well, as we have stayed near there on a couple of occasions, and I must say that it seemed a bit special to arrive in the Campo by water. Down back canals, past a couple of squeros, past the Cantina Schiavoni. Being photographed, as if we were film stars.

And under Santo Stefano! Excellent!

Practicalities. We paddled for about four hours, which was enough for a day. Experienced paddlers would do more, and we're not experienced. Loretta was a great guide, lots of info about places as we passed, very conscious to ensure that we had a happy time, and she took about 200 photos of us (which we've already received by email, which is a great demonstration of good admin). Once she knew that we were competent enough, she was relaxed, charming and funny. Highly recommended.

Thanks for the replies!

-I understand that finding a gondola ride once we are in Venice would be the most practical. However, I heard it is like a taxi dispatcher...you go and just get the next available gondolier. I would not be happy to get someone who isn't really into it (talking on their cell phone) and having to pay the 80 euro.

-I love the ideas of learning to row a gondola or take a kayak...right up my alley...however, my wife would not approve. I've made her compromise on other things (just taking a carry-on instead of bigger suitcase). If it was up to me, I would not do a gondola ride. I don't like doing things just because "you have to". But I know she wants to. And if we are doing something, I'd like to have the best experience for her that we can have.

I'll look at tripadvisor again...I thought I bookmarked that page and another one with a recommended take-away pasta place, but I can't find them (of course!)

Up to you. You can google "venice private gondola" and you can pre-book a gondola. However, you are just booking through an agency and not an individual gondalier. They may throw in a bottle of wine, but the overall charge is much higher based upon the online prices. No guarantee who or what you will get. Does pre-booking a New York cab get you a better driver/car? Not all Gondolas are the same. If you pre-book you get what you reserved or what they will give you. On the other hand, if you wait on the day of your visit, you can find one with really frilly cushy pillows and a gondlier with Dean Martin looks (and maybe voice to match).

My personal view is that the Gondoliers are like Disney characters. They are dressed up to serve and will do their best to impress in the hope that they will get a couple extra Euros as a tip.

If you want to book a particular gondolier(a), there is one who has her own website where you can be certain.

http://www.gondoliera.com

Alex Hai is billed as Venice's "first female gondolier" but that honor actually belongs to Giorgia Boscola, who is the first female to pass the qualification exams for a license. Alex Hai is a "private gondolier" so she doesn't wait at one of the gondola stations. You book her on her website and she meets you. At least it seems that is how it works. But at least you can be sure you won't end up with someone smoking or talking on his cell phone the whole time.

I heard it is like a taxi dispatcher...you go and just get the next available gondolier.

No, it isn't like that. Says he who has never and probably will never hire a gondola despite being in Venice at least once and often more every year, but who has seen the operation many times in many parts of Venice.

The boats do not queue up like a taxi rank. It is more like the Miss Universe Pageant (I guess), where they are lined up side by side and you can informally decide. Unless it is the middle of the very low season and it is blowing a gale and the cold rain is coming sideways. Then you may only have one to choose from. BTW - the gondolas are not covered so that if it is raining you WILL get wet. You will also get wet if it has just stopped raining when you sit in the wet boat.

I finally found the tripadvisor info! I guess he doesn't advertise, but gives people his contact info to share. This is one of the reviews that hit home for me. I will reach out to him and see if we can work something out. Thank you for the tips on weather. We are going in April, so that is something we will definitely consider when deciding to pre-book, or just go spontaneously...or just take the traghetti!

We were in Venice for just 1 day and knew that we had to ride a gondola, as it is a must-do when in Venice. After a bit of online research, I found Luca through high recommendations on TripAdvisor and booked an appointment through email.
We paid 80 euro for a 30 minute ride, which is standard in Venice. In comparison to several of the reviews on random gondoliers, I believe you can't go wrong with Luca. I understand that there are many gondoliers that hang around the touristy areas and take people around for less than the standard rate (I saw an ad for 31 euro), you probably will end up sharing the ride with several other people, and the gondolier may be rude, unattentative, or cut your agreed time short.
However, Luca was very sincere and entertaining the entire ride. When we met with him in the Jewish ghettoto begin our ride, he took us around Old Venice while giving us some interesting background history about the old districts and his outlook on Venice. He even sang a small song. I think the nicest thing was that although the old districts were not deserted, there were very few people on the streets, and those that were around were locals and not tourists. It made the ride very peaceful, enjoyable, and also easy to hear what Luca was saying.
For couples, I highly recommend that you contact Luca for a gonola ride in advance. You won't regret it. His email is luckyluca6@hotmail.com and phone is +39-340 51 16 063.
Visited August 2015