sueger

We are two couples and will be in Venice June 2018. We would like to take a gondola ride especially since one of us will be turning 60 the day we are there. On the website Viator, they are totally booked up for the day we are there. Is it likely that we will be able to find someone to take us on the day we are there (June 16th). How do we go about it? We would like to be on some of the smaller canals, I think. Thanks.

Saraho

I think that you can just stand at a smaller canal where you see gondolas and gondoliers waiting. They will ask you if you want a ride. That's what we have done.
Just got home from a week in Venice.

pariswat

Forget Viator.
They are an intermediary and take money for nothing.

Just go where the gondolas are and haggle one. It is part of the game.

StCirq

I've never been to Venice without seeing gondolieri hanging around various canals waiting for customers. You don't need Viator or any other middle man.

pariswat

Middle man sounds more English than intermediary.

One day I'll speak English ;-)

StCirq

C'est pareil, Pariswat! Your English, as you know, is excellent.

HappyTrails2

Although I cannot speak from experience, people who have taken a gondola ride along the Grand Canal have been disappointed due to the heavy boat traffic, choppy water and noise level. The smaller interior canals are much more serene.

Dukey1

We usually stay in a hotel which fronts on the Grand Canal and when having breakfast or another meal or drinks on the deck there are inevitably all kinds of gondolas with passengers along with all the other boat traffic including water busses, garbage skows, freight boats, etc., etc.

yes it is busy; yes it can be somewhat turbulent, yes it can be noisy but it is still the Grand Canal and for some, that is everything.

Those gondoliers are inevitably hanging around some of the various bridges which cross the smaller canals, especially as you make your way toward places like San Marco, so no you do not need to make a reservation IMO.

Be aware that as "romantic" as the trip might be for you, that gondolier can be doing things besides propelling you through the water to include smoking, using their cellphone,
chatting with other passing gondoliers, etc.

Nelson

We weren't planning to take a gondola ride on our trip to Venice, but on our last day we decided it was important.

As noted above we just found a nearby area where there were always gondoliers hanging around, settled on a price and off we went. We knew where to find them since we had been there a few days, but that isn't an issue, you'll find them. Note that the price may change depending on location, demand or time of day. More expensive around sunset, for example.

It was worth it. We were on a quiet, narrow interior canal and that was wonderful.

<i>gondolier can be doing things besides propelling you through the water to include smoking, using their cellphone,chatting with other passing gondoliers, etc.</i>

Or your significant other may get an uncontrollable urge to sing some famous song in Italian, off-key.

vincenzo32951

I'm an advocate of a group ride v. hiring an individual gondolier. They're a lot more fun an interesting. You can usually hook onto one via a local travel agent on Venice or through your hotel concierge.

Dukey1

Vince, please don't forget about "picking" the neighbors.

bvlenci

There is in theory a fixed price of €80 for 30 minutes in a gondola, regardless of the number of passengers. There shouldn't be much need to haggle. I've never taken a gondola ride, so I can't say if the price is more honored in the breach.

I have taken a traghetto (gondola passenger ferry) across the Grand Canal a few times. That costs only a few euros, but you're not guaranteed a seat, and the gondolier doesn't sing "O Sole Mio" (which is a typical song of Naples, by the way).

greg

Availability depend on the time. The demands and the traffic are heavy during the afternoon when the day trippers and shore excursioners are in town. Are you staying overnight in Venice? Then you can easily find one AFTER rush rush day trippers have left the city. Prices are posted at the several gondola stops. You choose a route you want by choosing a gondola stop that does a route you want. Ask the gondola folks to show you on the map which canals that stop serves.

vincenzo32951

>>Vince, please don't forget about "picking" the neighbors.<<

They mentioned having 2 couples, so they'll at least have one end of a gondola to themselves. Besides, everyone's in a pretty festive mood.

sueger

Thanks everyone..now we know what to do!!

Sassafrass

Check water levels with the Gondolier and ask when is best time for smaller canals. If the water is too high, they may not be able to go under some of the bridges in the smaller canals, so have to stick with Grand Canal or wider ones.

Dukey1

IMO some, notice the word spelled S O M E, of those smaller canals are about as boring as watching walls on each side of you getting closer, and closer, and closer and you wonder, "Is this really it??"

RoamsAround

During our trip to Venice we did a (late afternoon) gondola ride that began on the Grand Canal but quickly wound its way along a series of smaller canals that for the most part weren't very picturesque. The ride included a brief stop (a few minutes into he trip) where a local restauranteur presented us a plate of canapés, a bottle of Prosecco and 2 glasses. The trip was quiet as there was very little other traffic on the canals. We had a nice time but it was one of those things - been there, done that, don't have to do it again.

As other have mentioned, there are scores of places along the Grand Canal and some of the smaller canals where people queue up for gondola rides. it's not unusual to see a whole fleet of gondolas, all with groups of 4 to 8 people, following each other along a specified route - reminds ms of a typical ride at Disney World - queue up, wait for 20 or 30 minutes till you reach the front of the line, board the next gondola, take a ride and exit the gondola "to the left" while the next group boards on the right.

Guenmai

Two friends and I did a gondola ride some years ago. I was staying with a longtime friend, who moved to Italy and lives outside of Venice, and we took a short train ride up to Venice. When we got there my friend walked into a hotel, asked the receptionist the average price of a gondola ride, and then two of us approached some gondoliers and haggled the price to what we would pay. It was during the spring time and although there were a lot of folks in Venice that day, as the weather was really hot, we were the only ones at the gondola area and this was on the Grand Canal.

Happy Travels!