A Gondola Ride in Venice, Italy
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Who can leave the canals of Venice without taking a ride in a gondola? Venice is a romantic city, and Italians are romantic people: and they’re also very good salesmen. I say salesmen deliberately, because almost without exception gondoliers are men. And the last time I was in Italy, one of these gondoliers managed to convince me to float through the Venetian “streets” in a shiny black gondola.
I nearly didn’t. Early on a late winter Sunday morning in front of the Piazza San Marco, most of the gondoliers were just taking the covers off their gondolas ready for the days work, and a bunch stood around smoking and chatting. When we approached some and asked about taking a gondola ride straight away, they told us a thirty minute ride would put us back 150 Euros. That was far beyond the reach of our backpacking budget, even for a “once in a lifetime” category treat. Eventually the better salesman came up to us and offered us a forty minute ride for just 60 Euros. In comparison this seemed like a bargain and we hopped into the wobbly black gondola without thinking twice.
Our gondolier was a chatty guy, anxious to point out that his gondola was better than others we floated past – his was traditional, he said, not all fancy fake gold to attract the tourists. He also provided a great running commentary on the history and personalities of Venice as we floated under the Bridge of Sighs and through other narrow “back canals” of Venice. It started to get a bit unbelievable that big names like Marco Polo and Casanova had really been important figures for so many of the buildings we passed, but the stories were big and romantic and fitting for a gondola ride through such a mystical city. He also spilled the facts on how expensive a gondola boat could be (we’re talking small house here) and how competitive it is to get a licence – most of them are still passed down from family members.
After three quarters of an hour, he had us docking back in front of Piazza San Marco. And I was very glad I didn’t have to leave Venice without taking a gondola ride: make sure you don’t either. Such a truly Venetian experience is something you’ll be able to tell your grandchildren about – and if nothing exciting happens during your ride, you can just invent lots of stories involving famous old Italians and the houses where they lived along narrow Venetian canals.
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Comments
Yes, we were lucky, the bargain was real. I think the guy realised that 60 Euros was better than nothing and sure enough, when we got back to the start his pals were all still standing there waiting to get passengers - and he already had 60 Euros in his pocket.
Oh, I went through an Edith Piaf phase after visiting Paris ... I can understand!
I love your gondola story! It wasn't until my 4th or 5th visit to Venice that I actually sprang for the expense. But then again, I didn't get as good a deal as you did! If you can afford it, it's certainly a memorable experience, and worth a bit of a splurge. Thanks for the great description!
Yes, we were really lucky to get such a good deal. But I agree, it's worth the expense because it's such a unique experience :-)
Hi Amanda,
Just FYI, there are actually possibilities to take a Gondola ride for almost free - if you know how. As a teenager, I was often in Venice (Italy) and students showed me places where you can take human transportation Gondola to not only pass a small canal but actually a larger ride. You wouldn't be alone on the Gondola, of course, but the feeling sitting in one would be the same. You could cross these canals as often as you want. Unfortunatelly, the places to embark are very hidden and even I can't remember them very well by now, somewhere in the region opposite the railway station. The fees are very, very low - perhaps a Euro or so by now.
Rainer
Rainer, that's very interesting to know! I will definitely have to try this out when I get the chance to visit Venice again. Thanks for the tip!
Hi Amanda and Venice Friends,
If your are a student (or so), you might try to locate Venice students. Over a friend I managed to stay in two different Venice student houses for over 2 weeks (continuously) - an unforgettable time. Although I was been in Venice many times before, staying in the student houses was free - for me. I got even my food from Venice Universities Mensas, almost free too. Note however that student houses in Venice are rare, may change often and naturally are very restricted (say crammed) so you need good contacts to get in. But the Internet may help.
With the new student friends in Venice I got even contacts further down in Italy and I was been subsequently in ancient places where virtually no tourist even know about: All of them are normally locked for outsiders. But students in Venice may be able help you again.
I never forgot Venice although I'm now a great deal older and living in Asia.
By the way, my link above of this post guides to the best Venice links I have collected over time. You might be interested, I'm pretty sure there are links you do not know about.
Rainer
We paid 150 Euros and went in the rain. I was hoping they would discount the ride since there weren't too many takers in the drizzly rain, but he didn't. Now I wish we had walked around more for someone who charged a little less. Oh well, maybe next time.
Venice is at the top of my list of places which I want to visit. Thanks for sharing your photos.
![Turino (Turin) [public domain]](http://s2.hubimg.com/u/1796721_50.jpg "Turino (Turin) [public domain]")
Harlan Lewin says:
3 years ago
I was waiting for a shoe to drop that this bargain was too good to be true, but it was good and true, congratulations. I loved your description. Makes me want to go to Italy, though, as you can see, I'm hooked on France. I saw the movie "La Vie en Rose" last night-a docudrama about Edith Piaf. The production was awfully cut up in bits and pieces, continual flashbacks and flashforwards, but the actress who played Piaf did an excellent job and of course the recordings of her singing was enough to make a person weep.