Your Gondola Recommendations

[mapleleaves]

DH and I will be in Venice in May also and we are looking at doing a Gondola ride. We are looking at the Viator "Venice Night tour and gondola ride" It is $67.32US per person. Has anyone done this?

 

Do you get the gondola to yourselves or is this a shared tour?

[Cardex]

I did do a Walking tour that ended with a gondola ride, also thru viator dot com. My friend wanted to ride a gondola, so we though the tour & gondola ride was the best deal for our $$, instead of just the gondola ride alone.

 

Thanks, I think it is a good deal too.

 

Do you get the gondola to yourselves or is this a shared tour?

 

It is a shared tour (max 6 people). They do offer a private tour also.

[CathyCruises]

Thanks, I think it is a good deal too.

 

 

 

It is a shared tour (max 6 people). They do offer a private tour also.

 

Just be sure to do the math. We know the standard rate for a gondola ride is 80 euros for about 40 minutes. So if you decide to prebook through Viator, you will know how much they are charging for the walking portion and how much the markup is. Very very easy to get a gondola on your own.

[mapleleaves]

Thanks, I think it is a good deal too.

It is a shared tour (max 6 people). They do offer a private tour also.

 

Yes, I agree with cathycruises ... do the math on that one.

If the 'touring' aspect is your priority, consider taking a Viator tour via watertaxi instead ... taxis travel faster so you'll cover a bigger area and see much more. A gondola moves very slowly, so there won't be much exploring.

But if the gondola is the priority, just book your own gondola when you come to an area that seems right .... it will be just the 2 of you and you'll be travelling in an area of your choosing.

[deedeetoo]

We loved our gondola ride. We got on a gondola on a back canal that was relatively near the Rialto bridge. Sorry I can't be more specific. We did swing out into the main canal for a few minutes but most of our ride was on the little back canals. Our gondolier was quite personable. He sang a a little even though we did not pay him extra. He told us about how his family had been doing this for generations and answered our questions about what we were passing. At the end, he showed us pictures on his phone of him with the Pope - he had been selected to give the Pope a ride on his Gondola! It was pricey but it was a great experience.

[agabbymama]

Yes, the gondola is a shared ride. There were about 30 of us on the walking tour (with an English speaking guide) for about an hour's walk through the back streets of Venice (without getting lost once), we stopped at an ice cream bar and each had a treat, then on to the gondolas for about a 30 minute ride.

 

As I said before, it wasn't romantic in any way. We started by the Rialto Bridge into the Grand Canal for just a few minutes, the we were boat to boat in the back canals lots of debris floating in the water, smelly. We certainly did not have the experience that deedeetoo had. Our gondolier never said one word, nor smiled. The six of us even started singing That's Amore" ourselves (but the gondolier still ignored us).

 

But again as I said before, we felt the walking tour + the gondola ride was a better bargain for the dollars spent, than just the gondola ride itself.

 

We did do lots of walking around Venice ourselves, and had a vaporetto pass and did get out to Murano (but not Burano) as the storm was making it difficult for the vaporetto to make it across the Lagoon.

 

Late October was not a good time to plan to be in Venice!