Gondola ride in Venice

[waverley7]

I have heard that it is okay to take a bottle of wine on the gondola ride with you, do you need to take a corkscrew or wine glasses, how does this work? There will be six of us and I think a glass of wine would be lovely.

[pete_coach]

We had a bottle of wine on the gondola ride when were were there. You do have to ask the gondolier though. When you find one in a location you wish to go, ask him if he has openers, glasses etc. He may provide that service and not allow you to take your own aboard (there were two that we asked that said no).

I suggest you take on near the Rialto bridge as opposed to Piazza San Marco or surrouding area. I found the gondoliers in the buisier (or more expensive) parts of town tried to get more out of you than in other places and around San Marco, they liked to out into the lagoon (not much to see there imho). Taking one from Rialto gets you on the Grand Canal and in some of the back canals as well, very very nice.

[einsteinsmom]

I agree with what Pete_Coach said. I would maybe go a step farther and get a gondola from one of the smaller piazzas. They will spend most of the time in the smaller canals and then probably end up on the Grand Canal. It is quiet if you are away from the gondola freeways!

We took one from Campo San Barnaba. We arranged it for the evening and bought some wine from a wine shop there. We also had dinner after our gondola ride in a restaurant on the corner of the campo...will have to look up the name, it was good!

kristy

[diane.in.ny]

How much are the rides?

[euro cruiser]

How much are the rides?

The price is set by the city of Venice.

 

Daytime rides are set at Euro 80 for the first 40 minutes (up to six people), every additional twenty minutes after the first 40 is another 40 Euro.

 

After 7 PM, the rate goes up to 100 Euro for the first 40 minutes, and 50 Euro per each additional 20 minute increment.

 

The minimum ride is 40 minutes.

 

You can read about it here: http://www.gondolavenezia.it/history_tariffe.asp?Pag=43

 

I've read about people who claim they have bargained a gondolier down to a lower rate ... it's not supposed to happen, but in a market economy ...

[agabbymama]

I hated paying that much just for a gondola ride, and I would have forgone the ride, but that is the one thing my friend ABSOLUTELY wanted to do, was ride a gondola. So we booked a walking tour and gondola ride at

 

http://www.viator.com/tours/Venice/Venice-Walking-Tour-and-Gondola-Ride/d522-2495TOUR2

 

It was $55 pp, paid for in US dollars before we ever left home. Printed out the voucher, met the tour guide, and did the walking tour and gondola ride. It was approx. a 35 minute ride at dusk. I felt I got a little more for my money than just the expensive gondola ride.

 

Have fun!

[arkansasnanny]

We are doing that tour in May. Cheap!! Was it good and was it hard to find the guide?Did you get on the gondola at the bridge? Any info would be greatly appreciated. We are also doing the Skip the line.. St. Mark's tour. Do you know about that one? I went through Sacred Destinations but it was through Avator. Price was right. Cheaper gondola rates than anyone else. Julie

[agabbymama]

We boarded the gondola close to the bridge. No it wasn't difficult to find the guide. Just be sure to allow enough time for the walking to get to the correct visitor center. There are two visitor centers and we went to the wrong one. The gondola ride was okay. We were paired with another couple from our cruise, then a third couple we didn't know. Our gondolier was a dud though. I don't know if he didn't speak English or what, but he didn't talk, joke, laugh or sing, even though we tried to encourage him.

 

Sorry can't help you with the St. Mark's tour, we didn't do that one.

[BigGuy25]

Make sure that you negotiate the price. As I recall, we paid around 80 euro for a "daytime" ride for four. But, when I asked the gondolier the price, he quoted something much higher. I said "Too much!!" and began to walk away. He quickly dropped the price.

[arkansasnanny]

We boarded the gondola close to the bridge. No it wasn't difficult to find the guide. Just be sure to allow enough time for the walking to get to the correct visitor center. There are two visitor centers and we went to the wrong one. The gondola ride was okay. We were paired with another couple from our cruise, then a third couple we didn't know. Our gondolier was a dud though. I don't know if he didn't speak English or what, but he didn't talk, joke, laugh or sing, even though we tried to encourage him.

 

Sorry can't help you with the St. Mark's tour, we didn't do that one.

Our hotel is one block from the square so hopefully we can find ithe visitor's center ok. We are direction illiterate.Ha Thanks for the info. Julie

[Hlitner]

We love sipping wine when on a Gondola and this is a pretty common practice. Some gondoliers might have a corkscrew and some may not but this is not an issue. Simply stop in any wine store right before you decide to get a gondola and have the wine shop pull the cork. Than ask them for a couple of plastic wine glasses (some will give them to you for free and others will charge a small fee) and you are all ready to go! You will find wine shops (and other shops that also sell wine) throughout Venice. They also sell wine in the supermarkets (such as COOP) but you will be better-off with the smaller wine shops where they are prepared to pull the cork and have the plastic glasses.

 

Hank

[MikeKam]

I have heard that it is okay to take a bottle of wine on the gondola ride with you, do you need to take a corkscrew or wine glasses, how does this work? There will be six of us and I think a glass of wine would be lovely.

 

We just asked the gondolier for a wine opener but we brought our own cups.

[skisteamboat]

An alternative is to take a Traghetto across the grand canal for .50 Euro. :D They are retired Gondolas that are used as shuttles to get from one side of the Grand Canal to the other. Not very romantic but you can say you did a gondola ride with Venetians.;)

[cynbar]

We boarded the gondola close to the bridge. No it wasn't difficult to find the guide. Just be sure to allow enough time for the walking to get to the correct visitor center. There are two visitor centers and we went to the wrong one. The gondola ride was okay. We were paired with another couple from our cruise, then a third couple we didn't know. Our gondolier was a dud though. I don't know if he didn't speak English or what, but he didn't talk, joke, laugh or sing, even though we tried to encourage him.

 

Sorry can't help you with the St. Mark's tour, we didn't do that one.

 

Can you tell us a little more about the walking tour? Also, which visitor center is it ?

[agabbymama]

I don't know the location of the correct visitor center, we went to the wrong one (right by San Marco) and they called the tour guide on her cell and had us meet her at an ice cream bar. So you might want to check once you get there, as to which Visitor Center to go to, and it's location. The one by San Marco is easy to find, but I'm not sure about the other one.

 

The walking tour wasn't that great, as the group was large and it was difficult to hear what she was saying, and we have mobility issues, so it was a little difficult to keep up, but others on the walk, kept an eye out for us, would slow down and wait for us at corners, so we didn't lose the group, etc.

 

But the gondola ride was wonderul, and really why we booked the tour.

 

We had done a ghost walking tour the night before, so we had already heard a lot of the lore and stories anyway. This tour would have been great, if it hadn't been pouring rain. We just missed the good weather in Venice, we arrived two days too late.

[Kathy130]

Make sure you negotiate...we, too, asked and turned down the original amt.....began walking away and he lowered it 20 euros!!!

 

I think a gondola ride is a MUST DO if just once in your life.......at least we were glad we did!! It is incredible on the Grand Canal......

[waverley7]

I agree with what Pete_Coach said. I would maybe go a step farther and get a gondola from one of the smaller piazzas. They will spend most of the time in the smaller canals and then probably end up on the Grand Canal. It is quiet if you are away from the gondola freeways!

We took one from Campo San Barnaba. We arranged it for the evening and bought some wine from a wine shop there. We also had dinner after our gondola ride in a restaurant on the corner of the campo...will have to look up the name, it was good!

kristy

 

I was wondering if you still had the information.....the name of this restaurant you ate in