cdispoto

So I'm staying in Dorsodoro near Santa Maria Della Salute and have tickets to La Fenice.

Would love to take a Gondola ride to the theatre but I'm not sure where to get the gondola. I assume I have to get across the Grand Canal to find one? Otherwise traversing the Grand Canal seems like a bumpy ride.

I'd like to find one in a less traveled area so we can get a nice ride to the theatre.

Thoughts? Advice?

nytraveler

Have you checked how close to La Fenice you can get by gondola? If you look on a map it certainly has a large canal at the back (presumably a loading dock) but there appears to be a square in the front. I've never been - so don't know. Perhaps a local can tell you the options.

cdispoto

Well I don't need to be dropped off at the door, just close enough to walk to it quickly.

tarquin

On the northern side of Dorsoduro overlooking the Grand Canal, there is a vaporetto stop named Salute, and slightly west of it, a traghetto/gondole stop. You should be able to negotiate a reasonable fee because La Fenice is not far at all.

Ackislander

If you have always wanted to arrive at the opera in a gondola this just might, just might, be worth it to you. As nytraveler says, you enter from a landlocked plaza and the canale leading to it does seem to be mostly for freight boats. I am sure a gondola could take you up the canal but who knows where you would get out.

I also don't understand one of your points about bumpy crossings of the Grand Canal. A gondola is going to be just as bumpy as a traghetto, which is, if I understand, a retired gondola. But you don't have to stand up like a Venetian.

Your only water-crossing-free route would be to walk to the Accademia bridge, and it isn't really all that far.

caroline_edinburgh

Where are you staying?

There is a small gondola station in Campo Sant'Angelo which is very close to La Fenice, and the canal it's on doesn't get a lot of gondola traffic & gets no big parties (we live next to it!). I'd discuss a route with one of the gondoliers there (or anywhere else) in advance & arrange it that way.

Wherever you start, I'm sure you'll still have to pay the standard evening starting price of E100 for 40 minutes, though.

I'd suggest you have dinner then get the gondola for a 40 minute (almost) round trip finishing as close as you can disembark for La Fenice. The building itself only has what appears to be a goods dock on the canal at the back (and as others have said, the main front entrance is on a square with no canal by it). I wonder, though, if they still have facilities (as I'm sure they must have had in the past) for people arriving by private boat - I can imagine that happening for premieres & gala evenings. Ask the gondolier. You will also be able to discuss with him whether you want to go out on to the Grand Canal or stick to small canals.

caroline_edinburgh

Sorry, just realised you did say where you are staying. If you want to avoid the Grand Canal, my idea would work! The Grand Canal can be choppy and in the evening, that section of it does tend to be frequented by large parties spread across several gondolas, mostly with a singer & often an accordianist too - not very romantic.

tarquin

Caroline, I see that your feelings about fisarmoniciste (I had to look it up!) are the same as mine.

cdispoto

Stupid question: do they all sing or only some or do they sing for extra money?

caroline_edinburgh

If you want much singing, or actually want to specify singing be included, you have to pay extra for a singer and maybe an accompanist. Otherwise, some gondoliers will warble the odd snatch (usually of 'Volare') if they feel like it, some won't. Some talk to you and attempt a bit of a guided tour, some don't.

(Hi Tarquin - now I've learned a new word too!)

NeoPatrick

A couple years ago we rented an apartment in Venice which literally looked out to the loading dock of La Fenice right across the canal from us. That was hardly a way you'd want to enter if you even can. It was all gated off. But there is a small bridge right next to it, and I'm about 80% sure that gondolas could let you off there -- still at the back of the theatre -- but right there!

Delaine

My boyfriend and I took a gondola ride around 7pm last year in September, and it took us right past the water entrance to La Fenice. It is not just for freight boats and is a pretty nice entrance; I took a photo. I had asked for a route that went mainly on rios and smaller canals with just a short stint on the Grand Canal.

We had dinner reservations(on the recommendation of a friend who had eaten there many times) at Ristorante da Raffaele near Santa Maria del Giglio (same side of Grand Canal as La Fenice). There is a gondola station right in front of the restaurant. We got drinks from the restaurant, took our gondola ride, and went back for our dinner. It was very good, and I would recommend it. They have tables both inside and along the canal. I had requested canal-side in my reservation, and that's what we had. It was lovely. http://www.ristorantedaraffaele.com/

Ackislander

Delaine, your report is the kind of thing that keeps me coming back to these forums! Personal experience is best! I love anecdata! I was pretty sure from my maps that the OP could "land" at da Raffaele, but I was unsure about everything beyond that.

Delaine

Thanks, Ackislander.