Venice - Gondola ride

our gondola ride along the Grand Canal

Our gondola ride:
We approached a gondolier near the Rialto Bridge for the price of getting a gondola ride.  We didn't bargain or anything, he asked for 80 Euros for approximately 30-40 minutes, but it ended up to be only ~25 minutes.  It was around 12pm, the gondolier said it would be the best time for the gondola ride because everyone went for lunch and there would be less traffic.  We agreed on the price and got on to the gondola.  I just searched online that the standard price should be 80 Euros for 40 minutes, I guess we got ripped off.  But then the Gondolier was right, there was less traffic during lunch time, because it was super crowded in the afternoon (shown below).

Traffic jam in the afternoon, but I guess that way you would enjoy a longer gondola ride.

      

Some canals are very narrow; just when the traffic sign showed "No entry", I thought the gondola would not fit in there.  In fact, it fit right in :)  The buildings looked old, but they looked nice though.  It was a super hot day, the gondola ride was very refreshing.  

The Gondolier spoke very good English, and he told us a lot of history about the different buildings.  He pointed to us where James bond's Casino Royale was filmed, the scene where the building collapsed and sunk in Venice.  He also told us a lot of interesting things; he was a pretty good tour guide.

Our gondolier :)

Becoming a gondolier?

Being a Gondolier is one of the oldest and most respected job in Venice.  It's limited to only 400-500 licenses.  The income should be very decent as it is pretty much guaranteed to have tourists paying for the overpriced but unique experience.  80 Euro for 25 minutes? Imagine how much you could make in a day, in a month....in a year.  However it is very difficult to become a Venetian gondolier from an outsider, especially when one is not born within the gondoliers' families.

Some facts about Gondolas:

- "A gondola is like a luxury car.  Although black is the official color, many are ornately decorated and have comfortable seats and blankets." - (reference: goitaly.about.com/)

- A gondola is flat and made of wood.  All of the venetian gondolas should be standard size: 11 meters long, weights 600kg and are hand built in special workshops.

- Gondolas hold six people and can be shared without affecting the fee, so you can save money by splitting the cost

- Gondoliers must be officially licensed.  They must wear black pants, a striped shirt and closed dark shoes.

 

Alternative option?

Another cheaper option to ride across the Grand Canal is to take the traghetto: Traghetto is an empty gondola used to ferry passengers back and forth across the canal. - (goitaly.about.com/)