Gondola Ride - Honeymoon must do! and other Venice, Italy Transportation Tips

'Mode': AROUND
Category: Other
Getting TO/AROUND: Here is a question for you -> When you're on honeymoon in Venice, what is a definately "must do"? No, it's not a trick question and the answer is plain and simple -> Have a gondola ride! We had the intention to do our ride on the Canal Grand (Grand Canal) and asked Michele of our B&B for advice. She said that there are two important rules to remember about gondola rides in Venice (and did read this on a website once we returned back home):

01) If the price bothers you, don't do it;
02) If the price doesn't bother you, make sure you understand the gondelier correctly.

This means that we had to negotiate both the rate and length of the ride before we went into the boat.

Earlier that day we saw gondolas and gondoliers throughout the main tourist areas like the Palazzo Ducale (Doge's Palace) and some secundary canals. We went to the Ponte di Rialto (Rialto Bridge) area and before we knew it we heared someone ask politely "Gondola?" as we walked past the flotillas of parked boats. Time to negotiate!

The gondolier asked €90.- for a 40 minute drive. After toggling off we ended up at €80.- for a 50 minute drive. Not a bad deal we guess? But anyway, it was about time to forget about the price and enjoy the ride and focus on the beautiful scenery.

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'Mode': AROUND
Category: Other
Getting TO/AROUND: Off we went towards the Ponte di Rialto (Rialto Bridge). To be honest we don't know the exact route we took, but did some secundary canals in the sestieres of Castello and San Marco. The gondelier stood behind us and told us something about the canals and beautiful buildings we passed like Chiesa San Maria Formosa in Castello and Chiesa di San Luca in San Marco. In the main lines (afterwards saw on a map) we concluded that we passed the canals of Rio della Fava, Rio San Sullan, Rio Fuseri, Rio di San Luca and finally returned to the Canal Grande.

During the ride the gondelier told us also something about his great tradition. He was the 4th in line of his family to be gondelier. He told us that he invested a great deal in his boat, nearly €20.000.- for his traditional hand-built wooden gondola with a useful life of about 20 years. He also must earn the bulk of his annual income in a few short months. Finally he made it clear to us that he would be able to earn more money for less work in an industrial plant on the mainland.

So, just be fair to a Venice's gondelier. We figured out that the gondelier's living cost may even be higher than ours, since Venice is an expensive city in one of Italy's wealthiest provinces.

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'Mode': AROUND
Category: Other
Getting TO/AROUND: The gondola is certainly the most photographed craft in the world and its image has become, for million of tourists, the symbol itself of Venice. All those gondola's on the water is a beautiful sight to see. Realizing that we were part of during our ride was just great. Especially at the secundary canals everybody was watching us and maybe it was a bit embarrassing to see that almost all those tourists were taking a picture of us in the gondola. We must have ended up in quite some photo books! :-)

Sitting inside the gondola gave us a nice opportunity to have a close look ath the boat. The famous iron of the head is an element that has to balance the weight of the gondolier. The double "S" bending should simulate the proceeding of the Canal Grande and the lunette. Just remember that the gondola is unique even for it characteristics, because it's asymmetric. Therefore it's to be adviced that the gondelier helps you get in and get out.

We ended our amazing gondola ride with a huge laugh. We asked the gondelier to take a picture of us while sitting in the boat. I gave him my photo camera and wanted to explain to him how the camera works. He said:"Don't you worry. I know how it works, because photographer is my second occupation!"

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'Mode': AROUND
Category: Ship/Boat
Getting TO/AROUND: Whenever you arrive in Venice it's definately clear to you that the best way to see and explore Venice is just hiking your way around. But (of course) the best way to see the Canal Grande (Grand Canal) and the lagoon of Venice is by boat. While you can hire a water taxi, the slower but much cheaper vaporetto is a very good choice.

Ever since 1881 there a organized ways of public transport over the water. But it still lasted a long period untill it was trully a professional orgaisation. Because of the building of important roads (such as the Marghera flyover and the San Giuliano junction) obliged the city to increase its services and the resources used. The "Azienda del Consorzio Trasporti Veneziano" (A.C.T.V.) - the Venice Public Transport Company - was founded and began operating on 1 October 1978.

Travelling by vaporetto is very easy. In every map of the city you can buy the lines (and therefore routes) of the vaporetto are shown. Besides that we saw maps depicting the directions all boats were heading at the boat stops. Finally we can tell that once you're inside the vaporetto there are also maps of the slops that particular boat you're on is making. It can't be easier!

We used the famous line number one a lot. One reason for this was the fact that our B&B was close to the Ponte di Rialto (Rialto Bridge) and therefore near the vaporetto stop right there. But another reason was that the vaporetto is an easy way to admire all the amazing mansions, olsd palazzo's (Palaces) and other beautiful buildings that overlook the Canal Grande.

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Phone: 041/27.22.111
Website: http://www.actv.it/english/navigazione.php?pagina=tariffe_vaporetto
Other Contact: Fax: 041/52.07.135

'Mode': AROUND
Category: Ship/Boat
Getting TO/AROUND: This is probably one of the huge advantages of the internet. At home we surfed to the ACTV homepage (see below) and could read all about the sorts of tickets that were available and how to get a hold of it. We decided to buy a ACTV ticket for public transport for one week for about €30.- per person. But we were not able to do it via the internet as we read that we needed to order such a ticket at least 48 hours in advance, and we were only 12 hours in advance ...

It wasn't a huge problem as we found out in Venice that we were able to buy the ticket at the ticket booths at the docks, main boat stations and one of the many authorized sellers like tabacconists', newspaper stores and some cafés. But do remeber to stamp the ticket in the yellow machine before getting on the vaporetto. Tickets are not sold on board of boats and some tourists learned that the hard way. If you find yourself on board without a ticket, inform the ACTV crew immediately so as to avoid paying a fine and receiving some hars words!

Tickets available:
* One way ticket;
* Return ticket;
* 24-hours ticket;
* 72-hours-ticket;
* One week ticket.

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Phone: 041/27.22.111
Website: http://www.actv.it/english/navigazione.php?pagina=tariffe_vaporetto
Other Contact: Fax: 041/52.07.135

'Mode': AROUND
Category: Ship/Boat
Getting TO/AROUND: Currently the ACTV owns 120 waterborne vessels, every year carrying approximately 180 million passengers and producing 500,000 navigation "movement hours". We were also part of their statistics as we used the vaporetto quite often. Especially to get to the islands in the lagoon. We ended up at the glassmaking island of Murano, the island of Burano with its painted houses, the long stretching island of Lido with the awe inspiring Excelsior Hotel and finally the historical Isola di San Giorgio Maggiore with its overwhelming chiesa (church).

There are 20 vaporetto lines, but do keep in mind that some of these lines only operate during the summer time. Like we told earlier ... do buy an ACTV ticket in advance. This card is designed to save money and time, because we could avoid the queu in front of the ticket offices. For only €22.- per person we made it past all those places! And we seldom had to wait more than a few minutes for one to come along.

The lines we used:
* Number 1: Explore the Canal Grande;
* Number 6: To get to Murano and Burano;
* Number 11: To get to Lido;
* Number 82: To get to Isola di Giorgio Maggiore.

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Phone: 041/27.22.111
Website: http://www.actv.it/english/navigazione.php?pagina=tariffe_vaporetto
Other Contact: Fax: 041/52.07.135

'Mode': TO
Category: Airplane
Getting TO/AROUND: Still under construction ...

Address:
Via Noalese, 31100 Treviso, Italy.

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Phone: +39(0)422 315 111
Website: www.trevisoairport.it/
Other Contact: Email: info@tv.veniceairport.it

'Mode': TO
Category: Airplane
Getting TO/AROUND: Still under construction ...

Address:
Via Noalese, 31100 Treviso, Italy.

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Phone: +39(0)422 315 111
Website: www.trevisoairport.it/
Other Contact: Email: info@tv.veniceairport.it

'Mode': TO
Category: Airplane
Getting TO/AROUND: Still under construction ...

Address:
Via Noalese, 31100 Treviso, Italy.

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Phone: +39(0)422 315 111
Website: www.trevisoairport.it/
Other Contact: Email: info@tv.veniceairport.it

'Mode': TO
Category: Bus
Getting TO/AROUND: Still under construction ...

Address:
Via Noalese, 31100 Treviso, Italy.

Tel:
Aeroporto di Treviso :0422.315381
Venezia (P.le Roma) :0421.383671
Mestre (F.S.) :0421.383673
S. Donà di Piave :0421.5944

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Website: http://www.atvo.it/
Other Contact: Email:infomov@atvo.it