We will be arriving in Venice on July 6th from Florence, leaving July 8th for Rome. Need suggestions:
We are back tracking, planned to fly out of Venice (but due to our flights needed to back track to Rome).
Why are you backtracking - going north from Florence to Venice, then back through Florence(?) on the way back to Rome?
The train station you want is Venice Santa Lucia ("Venezia Santa Lucia").
I've never taken a gondola ride. I always assumed one could just book one on the fly after you arrive; pick a starting point and ask the gondolier the route it will take and negotiate the price then. A vaporetto #1 (water bus) ride up the Grand Canal at dusk would be just as beautiful (if perhaps a tad less personal) but a whole lot cheaper.
As for the gondola, I have to disagree with Andrew. Yes, expensive, and a bit corny. But if you do it at twighlight, just the two of you in the gondola, it will be a memory you will cherish. Be sure the gondolier takes you into the smaller canals. You’ll quickly be alone with just the sound of the water lapping along the walls of houses just a few feet away. The vaporetto? A water bus.
You'll want to book your accommodations soon. Availability may already be getting limited. Definitely stay in Venice proper, not in Mestre on the mainland. The train station you want is Venezia Santa Lucia. We like to stay near the San Zaccaria (sp?) Vaporetto stop. It's close to San Marco, without being too close, if you know what I mean. Others may prefer other areas. It's not that big a place, so you really can't go wrong. But it's nice if you can find a place relatively close to one of the vaporetto stops, so you aren't schlepping luggage up and down endless bridges. I use booking.com to find potential hotels, then check reviews on TripAdvisor, and their location on Google Maps. We've stayed at a Hotel Campiello our last 2 times, and like it very much.
No need to pre book a gondola ride. If you see a gondolier parked, ask where his favorite route is. I'd recommend a route that is away from the Grand Canal. Just too much traffic there. If you want to ride up or down the Grand Canal, do it on a vaporetto. You can Google gondola stations to see where they cluster, but you can find them all over the place.
I hope you have more luck with your gondola ride than we did. Just the two of us, early evening, but a gondolier who just couldn't keep his mouth shut, but insisted on telling us about each and every building we passed :-(
Also look at https://europeforvisitors.com/venice/ for some general Venice information.
I agree that you don't need to pre-book a gondola ride, but slightly disagree with avoiding the Grand Canal. We did a gondola ride that was mostly on side canals but went onto the Grand Canal for a short section. It made for some great pictures to have the Rialto bridge in the background. Prices for gondolas are regulated so they will not vary between gondoliers, but prices do go up in the evening.
I have always thought it would be wonderful to have a gondola ride in Venice, so my husband and I plus 3 of our adult children chose a random gondola waiting in a little canal and off we went. We travelled along the Grand Canal briefly, but spent most of the ride in picturesque little side canals. It remains one of our favourite New Years Eve memories
Just visited Venice with my GF in the week before easter. We debated a long time whether we should do a gondola ride as we heard lots of stuff like "too expensive", "tourist trap" etc.
We checked some online options and saw prices like 200€ so when we saw these standard signs next to every gondola station that said 80€ we figured that was per person. On the last day we finally decided to ask them anyway and it turned out to be per gondola. So we figured for two it's not too bad and booked it. It was nice. If you can split the cost by 3 or 4 it's actually quite a good deal IMO. The standard routes all take about 30 minutes I belive but presumably you can negotiate longer rides (don't know how the rates scale then...)
We only had a brief trip through the grand canal and then back through the smaller ones. If you want to go past a specific point you should definitely ask the gondolier and check the maps in advance to find the most likely gondola stops for that place.
There's also the option of taking a less shiny gondola as a ferry to simply cross the canal. But those are generally different stops.
As far as other suggestions go:
When we were there we stayed very close to St. Mark's square - easy to find, always signage around for when you get delightfully lost wandering the small side streets of Venice (to get away from the daytripper crowds). We stayed at Hotel Firenze and liked it very much. Please do stay in Venice itself, not on the mainland - Venice is most delightful early in the morning and later in the evening when most of the crowds have gone.
Gondola rides are delightful - don't let jaded people calling it a tourist trap deter you! :) During the day it looks much less pleasant, as there are literal traffic jams of gondolas and people staring at them from every bridge and space - go in the evening! We went just when it was getting dark; took one from Orseolo right outside St. Mark's square, down the small side canals and for a brief period on the Grand Canal. It was wonderful and memorable - one of our best memories of Venice!
Check out Locanda Fiorita. It's in San Marco but away from the crowds and easy walks to several popular sites. (Go left for Rialto, right and through Campo San Stefano for Dorsoduro and right then left for San Marco). Good breakfasts and nice people at the desk, although it's not right next to the vaporetto stop.
Allow plenty of time for the vaporetto ride between the train station and wherever you end up staying. When it got busy during the day, it was about 40 minutes from the Sant'Angelo stop (closest to the hotel) and the train station.
And if you're ok with sandwiches and cicchetti (Venetian tapas), you can eat pretty cheaply and spend the money on that gondola ride!
We did evening gondola ride for 80 euro. Touristy? For sure. But amazing memory for my wife and me. I would recommend it as a "once in a lifetime" type experience. Definitely don't need to book in advance. There will be many gondolas waiting to take your money.
We stayed here:
Definitely not luxury, but nice, near enough to St. Mark's square, very very quiet, tucked into a little square of its own. We enjoyed it very much.
There are nice recommendations for restaurants in Rick's book.
We booked an apartment through vrbo.com in Venice and that was a great option. I would recommend the Dorsoduro district - it felt more residential and charming but was still very close.
DO the gondola ride! It's wonderful. No need to book ahead - they're everywhere and easy to hop in. I believe the prices are somewhat regulated as they had signs up, indicating prices (80 Euros). They all have different personalities, so talk a bit and find someone you like. We were mainly in side canals with a bit of Grand Canal, which was great. We took the gondola ride in a neighborhood further from where we were staying, so we got to see new things along the way, which was fun.
Thank you for the feedback! We had a great time in Venice.
Gondola Ride - If you are considering, this is what I found helpful. I did not go to the stands that have multiple gondolas- we went up and started talking to the individual. We went to a couple before we selected the individual we wanted to ride with - I wanted to make sure I could understand them and had a good vibe! We had a blast!!!
We visited Venice in April, we came via the train and it was so much different than expected! It was amazing to get off the train and experience Venice right away! We stayed in Dorsoduro, it's quiet and easy to get to everywhere. We did the Gondola, no big deal! I would skip the Gondola and spend the money in a water taxi instead. Enjoy, it's a wonderful place.
