Venice w/13 year old: kayak or gondola rowing?

Since you have both kayaked and you can do that many, many places and since you can really only be a gondeliet in Venice, I can’t see doing anything ,except the gondola. I had never heard of doing this and now I think that my son and I might give it a try next year !

Go for it. This a a once in a lifetime experience. Rowing a gondola in Venice. Do both if you can.

I would 100% do Row Venice!!! Only place you'll ever be able to row an actual gondola!!

I'll be in Venice next week, and not being able to make Row Venice work for our group is something I'm really bummed about. You should totally do it!!

We have kayaked twice in Venice. Memorable both times. Here’s the story.

https://www.fodors.com/community/europe/venice-canoeing-kayaking-975809/

I would go for Row Venice as you can't do that anywhere else....but are you the type that doesn't want any "help?" because it's more like a lesson than a "go somewhere and see stuff" thing....we were in the canals away from most things (on the way to the lesson I was crossing a bridge towards some folks and was like "huh, that's Tea Leoni!" and kept walking) and didn't see MUCH of specific interest except "Venetian things"

My husband has done Row Venice three times and i got to be the non-athletic passenger --- the instructor is superb and the back canals are just more interesting than they are when seen from the walkways. I highly recommend the back canals rather than the busy, churning Grand Canal, and my husband tells me that he saw almost nothing anyway while he was rowing --- it takes a lot of concentration! My guess is that when a novice rower who is less experienced with boats than my husband is learns to row, the instructor is also rowing and steering in the back of the boat. It's not a gondola, by the way, just rowed in a similar way.

I just asked and husband says it was tiring but not a "sore" or "can't move the next day" thing, and he did it with an extremely painful arthritic ankle that a few weeks afterwards had fusion surgery.

I would vote for daytime for Row Venice, but do at some point take a vaporetto down the Grand Canal in the dark when all the lights are shining.

Thank you all very much for the helpful replies! I understand what many of you are saying about it not being a sight-seeing thing, more of a experience and that sounds perfect.

We will try the gondola-like experience through Row Like a Venetian and see if we can squeeze in a kayak tour too.

Again, thanks!