Gondola Drivers Venice
A selection of Venetian cicchetti Tourist Trap: Dinner with a view of the Rialto Bridge Let me set the scene. You’ve wandered along the Grand Canal for that perfect photo of the Rialto Bridge crowning the canal in all it’s glory. Just as your shutter clicks, you hear the lilted Italian accent behind you inviting you in for the special tourist menu complete with a free Bellini. Just walk away as quickly as possible! Sure, the view is a spectacular one of the Rialto Bridge, but I guarantee your meal will not be.
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What to do instead: Graze at Venice’s best cicchetti bars Cicchetti are like Spanish tapas and cost €1-2 each. They are typically eaten standing up and are the most authentic Venetian cuisine you can have. A couple of my personal favorites are all located just steps away from the Rialto Bridge and frequented by locals. You won’t find any menus; just point to a couple that make your mouth water from the case of the day’s freshly made cicchetti. Try: Cantina Do Mori at Sestiere San Polo, 429 or All’Arco at San Polo, 436.
Learning to row a gondola in Venice Tourist Trap: Gondola ride The movies would have you believe that a gondola ride along Venice’s canals is incredibly romantic. You envision yourself gliding along a deserted canal as a gondolier in black and white stripes sings in Italian and you steal a kiss with your lover. The reality is a gondola ride will run you around €80 for a 20-minute ride as your gondolier shouts back and forth with his gondolier friends in Italian, leaving you feeling like you’re on a packed ride at Disney World. And the singing? That will cost extra. What to do instead: Learn to row your own Venetian gondola Venice has only one rowing school for tourists and delivers an experience you’ll truly remember for a lifetime.
Oct 13, 2016 2 bed, 2 bath, 1432 sq. House located at 1032 E Gondola Dr, Venice. This address can also be written as 1032 East Gondola Drive, Venice. 259 reviews of Gondola Ride at the Venetian 'I've done. And decided to go on a romantic Venice Gondola. But we had such a great Gondola driver.
Not only did I row my very own gondola along Venice’s beautiful canals, but I also got a history lesson and learned a lot of fun facts about being a gondolier! A 2-hour lesson will cost €60 for singles, €40 per person for doubles, or €100 for a family (two adults and two children). Avoid gelato that looks like this! Tourist Trap: Gelato artigianale There’s nothing better after traversing Venice’s 400+ bridges on a hot day than two scoops of gelato. You spot a gelato shop with beautiful, colorful gelato piled high in the case, topped with fresh fruit.
Must be the good stuff, right? Artisanal gelato is made by hand, using fresh ingredients. The gelato that is piled high in the case is piled high because it has been whipped—and this is the first indication that it is not artisanal or even made on site. Another surefire indicator the color. Banana (banane) is a common flavor and it should be grayish, not bright yellow, and mint (menta) should be white instead of green. What to do instead: Seek out Venice’s best gelato shops The tiny Gelateria Alaska, tucked away on Calle Larga dei Bari, 1159, in the Santa Croce neighborhood, is Venice’s best gelateria in my opinion.
Run by owner Carlo, who you’ll almost always find behind the counter, makes his homemade gelato daily. When he’s out of a certain flavor, that’s it for the day. Some of the flavors sound wild, but give them a try! His ginger gelato (zenzero) is a bit spicy, but surprisingly delicious. Another favorite of mine is the basil (basilico), amazingly refreshing on a hot summer day and pairs perfectly with strawberry (fragola). Glass shops line the canals of Murano Tourist Trap: Murano glass shops on the Rialto Bridge Murano glass is so named because it actually is made on the island of Murano. Though it travels only a 20-minute boat ride across the lagoon, Murano glass can be marked up to double or triple the price in most shops on the Rialto Bridge or in St.
Mark’s Square. And some of it isn’t even real; it’s made in China! If you absolutely must buy Murano glass in Venice, there are a few places I recommend such as Segreti Veneziani (also known as Rialto 79) where you’ll receive a certificate of authenticity for every piece. What to do instead: Take a trip to Murano Murano is easy to reach from Venice via vaporetto (water bus) on the 4.2 line from S. Zaccaria (the stop just in front of Doge’s Palace in St. Mark’s Square) or the 3 line from Piazzale Roma or Ferrovia (the bus and train stations).
Once on Murano, wander in and out of the various glass shops and factories. Even if you’re not buying, it’s fun to see the glass makers melting and then molding glass into works of art. A 12-hour travel card costs €18 per person. Wouldn’t you rather find a peaceful cafe like this one? Tourist Trap: Coffee in St.
Mark’s Square The whole idea behind this post came from the most recent €100 bill for four coffees in St. Mark’s Square, so I certainly can’t leave you without a tip to avoid this tourist trap!
Mark’s (San Marco in Italian) is Venice’s most beautiful, and actually only, piazza. But beware that occupying just about any of the outdoor tables in the piazza comes with a price tag. What to do instead: Take your coffee at the bar There is always a higher price for table service. This is because in Italy, servers are paid a wage instead of working for tips like in the U.S. A cappuccino or cafe americano that costs €1 at the bar can cost up to four times that when sitting. So, first wander out of St. Mark’s Square.
You’ll find bars in just about any alley leading out of it. Second, live like a local and order your coffee at the bar standing up. You can actually get a coffee and a delicious pastry for the cost of just the coffee and sitting down for a few minutes!
For more from Jennifer on traveling smart in Italy, and on Venice’s famous Carnival celebration,. Sorry, Jennifer, a gondola ride is 80 euro for up to six people for 35-40 minutes, not 20 minutes. That is the standard tariffe set by the city of Venice. And, I completely disagree that a gondola ride is ‘just a tourist trap’. It is THE best way to see Venice, the way Venice was built to be seen; from the water. Sure, it would be fun to take a rowing lesson while in Venice, too, but I doubt that would be on an authentic gondola (they’re too big, too heavy and too difficult for beginners and even some experienced rowers to maneuver) and lessons certainly wouldn’t be given in the small canals–Venice’s most characteristic–because it takes great skill to maneuver even a smaller ‘sandolo’ row boat in these tight spots. And I deeply disagree when you say a gondola ride isn’t romantic–because it is, it just is!
Granted I’m partial, my husband is a gondolier, but believe me I’m not writing this beause I’m concerned this article will put him out of work. My words are sincere. There is no more beautiful, romantic way to see Venice than from a gondola. I’m fortunate to do that often, and I never tire of drinking in the beauty of Venice from an angle one can only see while sitting in a gondola.
Almost every gondola we saw yesterday was packed full of people, which might make it more cost-effective. But I found it much more interesting to take turns with my boyfriend while learning to row ourselves. We did a lesson with row venice this morning and it was very fun and interesting!
We learned the history of rowing and why it is important to the city from our instructor. This would make me appreciate paying for a gondola ride some other time, perhaps, but I’m not interested enough in just a ride at this time to pay any amount at all, since we just rowed ourselves for a time today. For a date, a ride yes, for an interesting story and experience unlike others in the states or many other places, I would definitely try row venice when you’re here! But certainly if you have the time and money, both.
Oh, what did concern me is the amount of gondola “drivers” / rowers we saw drinking beer. But I guess it’s not the same as a taxi driver. And the canals are not very deep. Once I thought about it more, I guess it’s not that big of a deal if it isn’t effecting their job.
It’s not like a taxi as much as I thought at first. But having a gondola rower alternating between drinking beer, rowing, and speaking on a cell phone (all things we frequently saw), wouldn’t be the most romantic. It’s not what you envision after being fed ideas from movies. However I’m sure not all gondola rowers practice this way and I’m sure if you had big romantic plans, you could just tell them of these plans and ask for whatever you’re looking for to happen. I think the original author was saying this is a “tourist” thing because the people of venice don’t take gondolas around as an activity of something to do or very often to be romantic.
Jennifer, I love your site but PLEASE add one more warning about the vaporetto? My boyfriend and I recently got slapped with a 60 Euro fine by the vaporetto officers (PER PERSON) for not “validating” our tickets that we had just purchased and SHOWED them the RECEIPT for (showing the date and time it was purchased which should have been enough evidence for any vaporetto “authority figure” to leave us alone)! We had only been in the city for 3 days and it was an easy mistake to make. Several Venetian residents argued with them upon our behalf to stop “harassing us” for such a simple mistake and for not taking note of our receipt.
By the way, the same so-called-officers did not bother to check anyone else’s ticket on the boat. Everyone working for the vaporetto looked the other way, making this seem like a clockwork trick (by the infrastructure itself!). We did not pay the fine but I think others very well may have. PLEASE warn tourists to validate their tickets before boarding the vaporetto!!! Hello, I wanted to ask you whether you got a fine and did not pay it or whether you were not fined after all? Do you think it is dangerous not to pay?
Thanks very much for your answer! (Just a month ago we got two fines for not validating our tickets. We had bycicles, which means two tickets per person.
Some of us only validated one of them since the doors opened quickly and because we were nervous, we entered it without having validated the second ticket. We have written a letter to a given address without getting a response. Now we wonder whether to pay or let it be.) Marie. Unfortunatelly i have paid. I just arrived Venice and bought five tickets.
For me, my wife and 3 kids. Nobody said i was supposed to “validate” them and i didnt saw that tiny machine that existed at the pier.
So the boat arrived as i was buying the tickets and immediatelly entered the boat. The officials arrived 3 stops latter and applied a € 52,00 fine per person (€ 260,00) that i have paid, after public humiliation, just to avoid wasting my free time in a police station. I had the receipt proving that the tickets were bought 20 minutes before. It felt like a scam. I read this article the week before I went to venice and I just got back.
Thank you for recommending Row Venice it was a real exciting treat and a genuine experience. It was €80, which included myself+girlfriend for 90 minutes! Excellent value. It was a two person rowing gondola very similar to the classic one person rowing gondola, the ‘student’ is in the front and the instructors (who seem to be all females unlike touristy gondolas which are all male) are in the rear because it is a more difficult place. You do get the chance to learn both, the rear is a very challenging position as you go through the city streets through homes appartments, shops, passing pedestrians, and you go outside the city a hundred metres or so.
To avoid disappointment you should email them before AND after to confirm your booking and to tell them you have now paid and are confirming the times. Thanks for this post- I wish I had read it before going to Murano.
It was very disappointing to realize that the factories there are Much more expensive. I knew the salesmen at Vetraria Ducale mark up the prices in order to make it seem like they are giving you a deal. But I was shocked to find the same one I purchased available for a quarter of the price. So now what are my legal rights to cancel the purchase? They charged me 50 percent up front and the balance in 30 days. The receipt says no refund, but is this permissible under Venetian law? I contacted them the same day to say I wanted to cancel and letting them know I found the same item for a fraction of their price.
Thank you for your reply. Just came back from Venice few days ago the central districts are full of tourist traps without any doubts. The first day my husband and I took a gondola tour close to Hotel Cavaletto after a quick visit to St. Mark Square ( a bit overcrowded ). The tour was nice but very expensive and quite short. We went then to Murano on the afternoon, using the vaporetti line 4.1: the atmosphere there was better than the central square and the “glass shopping” afternoon was quite nice.
We came back to Piazzale Roma and eat something at the Jewish Ghetto at the Kosher restaurant Gam Gam (nothing special). Our second day in Venice was all about Biennale (modern art) and the Burano island. Burano has been one of the best places I visited in Venice, an island with many colored buildings and a magic atmosphere, we spent the whole evening there until 9pm. The third day was quite different from the others, as we decided to book a wine tour to sample tapas and wines in different bars of Venice. After a long research on the web we booked a tour that came highly recommended (the webpage is venicewinetour.
This is not the typical tour you could find in Venice, it’s very intimate, limitated to little groups and gives you the chance to avoid many tourist traps, learning tons about Venice and the italian wines. We felt lucky to close our stay in Venice this way! Once you are in Venice try to avoid the central areas and try to dedicate more time to the islands or to the less visited districts where just the locals go. I agree with those who have posted about the 60€ vaparetto ‘non validation’ fine scam. It is indeed targeted at tourists.
We had a 7 day ticket on a recent trip and were checked by inspectors or crew most days. Only those carrying a camera or luggage were checked! Luckily, we escaped a fine, but it doesn’t make any sense to check an ‘all you can eat’ season ticket for validation when there is no intention/possibility of fraud!! On our last day, I was dismayed when inspectors singled out a couple of harassed looking, elderly US tourists and announced ‘Non Bueno’ and a 120€ fine on them for not validating the tickets they had just bought. Anglophones beware That said, it is a truly amazing city.
The Bienniale Arts festival venues are free and quite often amazing experiences. Go to La Fenice Opera House on a performance day around 10 am and you’ll treated to a free dress rehearsal. I found the best Restaurants and Cicchetti bars were on Dursodoro. Murano and Burano islands are stunning and a must for any schedule.
One final tip – take wellies. The main tourist area of S.Marco is liable to flooding at high water every day. Warning about buying glass in Muranomake sure you buy something you can carry out with you or ask to actually watch them crate the item and prepare it for shipment. We bought a beautiful and perfect piece of blown glass that we had crated and shipped to the states.
This was at one of the large and reputable shops. When we received it about 6 weeks later we discovered they switched the perfect piece we bought with a different poor quality replica with bubbles in the glass and even a different set of colors.
Very disappointing. I work in an Artigianale gelato shop, and ours IS home made, fresh every day. We make it for our three shops in venice,has to delivered by boat every morning. Its my job to decorate all of them BY HAND, and i make them high a swirly, i do it all with a spatula, its hard work. Our gelato quality is fabulous, we use all natural ingredients and do also vegan options. The hight of the gelato has nothing to do with the gelato itself.
Italian Gondola Driver
The supermarket has flat gelato!! And its mass made crap. You need to look at texture and color mostly ask questions, ask to taste. Look it its watery. All of it comes out of a machine, even old carlo’s. He doesnt mix 150 kilos of ice cream with a spoon. What makes it different is,like us, made in SMALL BATCHES, FRESH, GOOD NATURAL INGREDIENTS.
Height is completely up to whoever is holding the pan when its coming out. Great tips and will use these when returning to Venice (I live in Italy now).
Gondola Drivers Are Called
First visited Venice in 2009. Just spent 9 days in Venice (will post a blog in the next few weeks) and couldn’t believe the changes. One main change is that many of the Italian-run restaurants are either run by Chinese, Albanians, or Arabians.
What has happened to the Italian chefs in Venice? Most of the food around the popular tourists areas are the same expensive prices for the same tasteless meals dished up. It’s disappointing. Lucky we had our own self-catering apartment and could buy fresh ingredients to make our own food.
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