Venice Gondola Tours Venetian Hotel

Venice gondola rides are one of the main attractions in this beautiful historic city. Visitors to Venice, Italy can enjoy picturesque views of the city while traveling by Venice gondola through the canals. Buildings with incredible architecture and arched bridges rise from the water, seeming to float magically on the green surface.

A vision such as this can be found nowhere else in the world.
Venice gondolas are traditional hand-built wooden boats, steered and propelled by a single paddle. A gondola can cost 20,000 Euros but is functional for only about 20 years. The gondolier stands on the pointed aft end of the boat as he navigates the Venice gondola through the canals. Music and singing can accompany some Venice gondola trips for an extra fee. Various Venice gondola tours will point out special sights and points of interest to the riders.
Venice gondola tours tend to be expensive, so negotiating for both price and length of a ride is necessary. The city of Venice sets an official price for gondola rides but depending on demand these rates are often ignored by gondoliers. Gondola trips are more expensive at night and if a tourist wants singing and/or music the price goes up even more. A gondolier must make most of his income in a year in just a few short months of heavy tourism, which is one reason why gondola tours are so expensive. The cost of living for a Venice is very high, as the city is located in a wealthy area of Italy. Any time a visitor is walking by the waiting boats they are likely to hear the gondoliers advertising Venice gondola trips; the gondoliers work hard long hours to make a living.
If Venice gondola tours are too expensive, tourists can experience brief but exciting gondola trips by taking a traghetto across the Gran Canal. A traghetto is a public gondola ferry that costs only 50 Euro. This is the quickest way to cross the Gran Canal and if a passenger stands for the crossing as locals do, it is an experience unique to Venice.
Stik Travel Tour Operator offers Venice Welcome tours, including tours by Venice gondola. If a traveler does not want to haggle price but still wants to experience Venice through the canals, they can make arrangements to take one of these Venice gondola tours online. It costs 40 Euros for a 40-minute Gondola Serenade tour, which includes music and songs while floating along the romantic Venetian canals. If a tourist would like dinner included with the 40-minute picturesque serenade, the Gondola Serenade and Dinner tour is perfect. This Venice Gondola trip starts from and returns to Santa Maria del Giglio Square where a typical Venetian restaurant serves a two-course dinner at the end of the Venice gondola ride. The cost of this tour and dinner is 80 Euros.
If a longer, more in-depth tour is desired the City Sightseeing by Gondola and on Foot tour is a good option. The tour starts at St. Marks Square. After walking through the historic calli (streets) and campielli (squares), tourists travel through the Gran Canal by Venice gondola. The gondolas stop so tourists can explore the Frari, a gothic church which boasts paintings and sculpture by Bellini, Tiziano and Canova. Then the gondolas continue down the inner canals and Gran Canal until the tour ends at Rialto.
Venice gondola rides are an exciting and picturesque experience. The high cost of a gondola tour supports locals trying to make a living and the elaborate and famous canal system is a great way to see beautiful Italian architecture. Whether a tourist chooses a short ride on a traghetto or a longer and more expensive Venice gondola tour, it is sure to be a memorable occasion.

Sources:
Imboden, Durant. "Gallivanting by Gondola" Venice for Visitors. 2007.  15 July 2007. http://europeforvisitors.com/venice/articles/galli vanting_by_gondola.htm
"Hotel Reservations." Venice Welcome. 2007. Stiktravel srl.15 July 2007. http://www.venicewelcome.com/servizi/tour-ing/veni cewalktours.htm
"Venice Gondola Ride." You Tube: Broadcast Yourself.  2007. You Tube, LLC. 15 July 2007.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjrZ8dbPK4Y