More about: Venice Gondola Rides
Venice is made up of 150 canals and 455 bridges leading to the majestic Grand Canal. Many of these small canals can only be seen from the gondolas, originally conceived as a means of transport and now an icon of romanticism.
Venice Gondola Ride
The best way to move along the Grand Canal in the purest Venetian style.
Enjoy a tour of the canals of Venice with a ride in an authentic gondola. Choose if you want on-board commentary, if you fancy a group tour or if you prefer a gondola exclusively for you and your partner.
Your visit to Venice will not be complete without a ride on one of the legendary gondolas that ply the Grand Canal. You can book a gondola ride online and, once there, head to the meeting point and let the gondolier take you to contemplate the best views of Venice.
When booking you can choose between a shared ride with a group in which the guide will tell you the highlights of the monuments you will see, or, if you prefer, you can select a private gondola without a guide so that you can enjoy a more intimate experience. In both cases you can choose the time of day and the ride lasts about 50 minutes.
The best gondola rides in Venice
- Gondola ride in Venice -from £33
Gondola ride along the canals with city tour on foot
This tour fulfils two of Venice's must-do's: a walking tour accompanied by a local guide who will explain the fascinating history of this amazing city and a 30-minute gondola ride along the Grand Canal and other waterways through smaller neighbourhoods, such as Fenice.
This tour is very convenient because for a little more than the usual price, you get a gondola ride that includes the guided walking tour of Venice. You'll start your walking tour near the formidable St. Mark's Square and walk around it while learning about the history of the city known as 'La Serenissima'.
What you will see on foot
- La Fenice Theatre. The Fenice Theatre was once one of the seven main theatres in Venice and is now the only opera house in the Italian city.
- Rialto Bridge. The most famous, oldest and most visited of the four bridges that cross the Grand Canal in Venice, with more than two million tourists crossing it every year.
- Palazzo Contarini del Bovolo. Very close to the Rialto Bridge stands this small 15th century palace, famous for its spectacular and picturesque exterior spiral staircase.
What you will see from the gondola
- Grand Canal
- Rialto Bridge
- Piazza San Marco
- Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute
- La Fenice Theatre
- Basilica dei Santi Giovanni e Paolo
- Campo Santa Maria Formosa
- Venetoinside
- Bacino Gondola
- Marco Polo's House
Gondola ride along the canals with on-board serenade
Want to make your ride even more iconic and romantic? Give part of the limelight to the person responsible for making the magic happen, the gondolier. With this ride you can enjoy an enjoyable trip along Venice's Grand Canal, seeing some of the impressive buildings and monuments that line its banks while a gondolier sings classic Italian music serenades.
What you'll see on this gondola ride
- Grand Canal. Known as 'the most beautiful road in the world', the Grand Canal is the largest in all of Venice. It stretches for 4 kilometres across the city in an S-shape and is watered by all the waterways that run around it. From here you can see impressive palaces such as the 18th-century Palazzo Grassi and the city's most famous palace, the Ca' d'Oro, a Gothic palace named after the gilding that originally adorned it.
- Peggy Guggenheim Collection. This building houses one of the most important art collections in the world, which originated when Peggy Guggenheim, from New York, arrived in Venice in 1949. From your gondola you will see the beautiful terrace where Guggenheim himself used to sunbathe while enjoying the view over the Grand Canal.
- Palazzo Gritti Badoer. This majestic palace owes its name to its former owners, the powerful Venetian family of the Gritti. Its most notable member was the Doge of Venice during the Renaissance, Andrea Gritti, who led the Venetian armies against the League of Cambrai, which sought to stop Venice's expansionist ambitions in France.
Gondola ride with city tour and entrance to St. Mark's Basilica
With this gondola ride with guided city tour and entrance to St. Mark's Basilica you will fulfil 3 dreams in one: a gondola ride through the picturesque canals of Venice, a walk through the streets and passages of the city with the commentary of a professional guide and a guided tour with skip the line access to one of Venice's greatest attractions, St. Mark's Basilica.
St Mark's Basilica
Since it was built in 832, St. Mark's Basilica has been the most important religious temple in Venice. This is what you will learn on the guided tour included in this pack, where you will discover that this church was built to house the supposed relics of St. Mark the Evangelist stolen from Alexandria.
Located in St. Mark's Square, this temple with a Latin cross floor plan and five domes, houses in its gilded interiors more than 4,000 square metres of mosaics, important works by famous Venetian painters and 500 columns from the 3rd century. Don't miss its Byzantine treasure of gold and silver from the sacking of Constantinople and its important Pala d'Oro, an altarpiece of precious stones made by medieval goldsmiths.
St Mark's Square
St. Mark's Basilica is located, unsurprisingly, in St. Mark's Square, one of the most famous squares in the world and the centre of Venice's city and social life since it was founded in the 9th century. From here you can admire many historical buildings and monuments, such as the Doge's Palace, the columns of San Marco and San Teodoro, the Campanile Tower and the Torre dell'Orologio, a marvellous Astronomical Clock.
Church of Santa Maria Formosa
This church of 1492, designed by the Renaissance architect Mauro Codussi, was built on the site of a 7th century temple which, according to tradition, was one of the eight churches founded by St. Magnus, bishop of Oderzo.
Itinerary by gondola
- Grand Canal
- St. Mark's Square
- Basilica di San Marco
- La Fenice Theatre
- Basilica of Santi Giovanni e Paolo
- Santa Maria Formosa Church
Gondola ride and entrance to St. Mark's Basilica and Doge's Palace
This is the most complete package, combining the gondola ride and entrance to the Basilica and the Doge's Palace so you won't miss any of the city's must-see sights. With this tour you will cross the Grand Canal and its most charming river tributaries on a gondola ride and you will access the St. Mark's Basilica and the Doge's Palace without queues and with a guided tour, as well as other magnificent palaces around St. Mark's Square.
It will also give you access to an audio guide with a digital map of the 5 districts of Venice and information on over 200 points of interest to make your own walking tour of the city.
Doge's Palace
The Doge's Palace, in St. Mark's Square, is one of the symbols of Venice and the former seat of political power in the city, going from being a fortified castle in the 9th century and residence of the Doges to a prison of the Republic. From its halls of power, up to 120 doges (dukes) controlled the destiny of Venice for almost a century.
Both its exterior and interior are spectacular, with marvellous rooms filled with hundreds of masterpieces by Titian, Tintoretto and Bellini, among others. Through its famous 17th century baroque Bridge of Sighs, the condemned to death would embark on the final stretch of their lives as they looked out of their windows and longed for the last time for the Venetian Lagoon.
Basilica di San Marco
This is a unique tour where, in addition to a guided tour of the Basilica di San Marco, you can enjoy part of the tour comfortably seated in the middle of the Basilica.
Grand Canal
During your gondola ride along the Grand Canal you will see Mozart's House, the La Fenice Theatre, the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, the Punta della Dogana, the Accademia Bridge and the Ponte di Rialto, among palaces that will leave you speechless. For me, this is definitely the best part of the tour, as it will help you appreciate Venice from a different point of view.
About gondola ride prices
A gondola ride in Venice is not the cheapest activity in the world, but it is a once in a lifetime experience in my opinion. Venice is supposed to have 'official' prices for gondola rides on its canals, but the reality is that in situ it is very difficult to know whether the gondoliers who keep calling out to you from their moorings to hire their service are charging you the real price or whether they are 'pirate' gondoliers.
The average price for a standard 40-minute gondola ride along Venice's canals is 80 euros per gondola ride, regardless of the number of people travelling and with room for up to six passengers. Please note that in the evening after 19.00, prices go up to 100 euros per trip.
That's why I think it's a good option to book the service in advance or even combine it with another activity to make it more profitable.
You can find more information in this post where I explain how much it costs to take a Gondola ride in Venice.
Other interesting activities in Venice
Have you been craving for a gondola ride in Venice? If you enjoyed this activity, I am sure you would also like to visit the enchanting islands of Murano and Burano. Here is my guide to the islands of Murano and Burano Day Trips to Murano and Burano from Venice so you can organise your visit.