Hello,
It will be our 1st time in Venice in August as a family with kids. We are planning to do a private gondola grand canal tour. What time in evening is recommended ? Also, is this something we pre-book before we reach Venice or one can find options when we reach there. I am wondering if it rains is it better to schedule when we arrive in Venice. But with COVID, most things these days are sold out so we wish to plan accordingly. Thanks so much
Posted by
North Carolina
2499 posts
Once you’re there, you can find a gondola stand and approach the gondoliers directly to arrange a tour.
Posted by
Atlanta
5236 posts
Rick Steves has a downloadable app that is a "Grand Canal Tour". Many people listen to that while going along the canal on the vaporetto. Granted, that is not as great an experience as is doing it in a gondola, but it is a great deal less expensive -- and you'll probably have vaporetto passes anyway. Just food for thought.
Posted by
TN, USA
2163 posts
Something you might want to also consider is a water taxi from the airport (assuming you are flying into Venice). We arrived by "shared water taxi" several years ago, and the look on my husband's face during the ride and especially as we approached Venice, then the taxi went under the various walkway bridges (driver reminding us to keep our heads down at those times), was PRICELESS and is among our fondest travel memories (typed by someone who has visited all 7 continents, NZealand, Greenland, Iceland, etc....Europe many times. The water taxi was not really that expensive (since it was a shared one....we just signed up and collected at the airport). We also took the vaparetto (sp?) tour that is recommended in Rick Steves' guidebook...at least it was yeas ago when we went. He recommended getting seats in front of the wheelhouse of the vaparetto...we had to wait for the next one, which was set up that way, and it was perfect.
Enjoy your time in Venice!!
Posted by
Ontario Canada
673 posts
Go to the back streets to find a Gondola and do the back canals - ask the Gondolier to take time to go to the Grand Canal but do not
spend too much time there- very crowded but maybe in the evening not so bad. The most memorable time we had was taking a 6am Vaporetto to get to the train station. Only the boats delivering supplies (very few at that) were on the canal at that time. Awesome.
Just did this again in May of this year.
Posted by
Colorado
71 posts
I can’t speak to the expected crowds re: pre-reservation in August. We were there early April and took water taxis to and from hotel, different routes coming and going (from airport and to train). One of our best experiences ever. We had the airport pick up reserved @$110, but simply reserved the return the day before @$70. Traversed both the Grand and side canals. Certainly more costly than the vaporetto but much more personal and intimate - it’s 4 of you and not 100 - no sweaty tourists or pickpockets, you can go exactly where you want to go, and are guaranteed a front row seat.
My personal feeling is gondolas are too slow for the Grand, you can see way more in less time on a taxi. Maybe take a gondola on the smaller, quiet canals, or for a quick “taxi” across the Grand, though saving the money (for the taxi) and seeing them from along all the alleyways was plenty for us. Some love ‘em, some leave ‘em.
As for timing, check out a solar calendar app such as Sun Surveyor, or simply web-search for sunset times for the dates you are there. Perfect lighting 30 min before and 40 min after exact sunset; with cloud reflections, colors and shop lighting coming on. It was simply perfect at 7:35pm then.
Posted by
Bendigo, Australia
1297 posts
Bear in mind that a gondola will not do “a Grand Canal tour”. Maybe you traverse a portion of the Grand Canal.
Posted by
martinez, ca, usa
2418 posts
hey hey npathare
how many kids, ages, and where are you staying in venice?
i totally agree with others that say take the private water taxi. done it 4 times, may cost more but an easier way to get to hotel/apt. everyone always wants to save money/budget but doesn't always go the way you want. pulling/pushing luggage over steps/stairs, bridges, cobblestones, can only go as fast as slowest person without being tired. put your priorities where you want them with being grumpy and tired. your decision, lots to think about. europeforvisitors.com lots of info to read about
venicelink.com
motoscafivenezia.com
choose english. the vaporetto with have so many on board, you have kids and bags to keep track of. a private ride will take you as close to your place and only your family on board. best way to get there and so so worth it. give up an attraction to cut back on costs somewhere to do this.
walk around back canals for a ride. the grand canal is like a busy busy highway, most gondolas will cross over and back to canals with less people. we used [email protected], the singing gondolier. before 7pm is 80E and after 7pm and sunset is more. we emailed him. set date and met him at jewish ghetto in canareggio area.
aloha