Gondola Rides: How Much??

[BeachBum Girl]

One of the top things I'm dying to do is a gondola ride on our anniversary (which we will be in Venice on that day). I know they're supposed to be pricey but we want to know how much should we expect to pay, so we don't get ripped off. I've heard it varies on how many people are riding in the boat and if you want to be serenaded or not.
So, from your personal experience, how much should we set aside for a ride with just me and my DH on a serenade ride?

[itsjb1]

We were 4 people and were quoted 100 Euros for approx 20 minutes and 150 Euros for approx 40 minutes.

[Amy G]

There were 3 of us and we paid 80 euros for about 20 minutes of a slightly narrated tour. We went to a gondola pick-up station that is behind St. Mark's Square, not on the Grand Canal. Here is my suggestion. Ask at the various pick-up areas, but walk away until you get a price you desire. We were first quoted 120 euros, but we were not willing to pay that. After we walked away, we were chased down by two other people, and finally got it to a reasonable fare. :)

[Joanandjoe]

I looked up gondolas on the Venice pages of [url="http://www.virtualtourist.com/"]www.virtualtourist.com[/url]. One poster gave a URL for the official gondola web site. The rates are at [url="http://www.gondolavenezia.it/history_tariffe.asp?Pag=43"]http://www.gondolavenezia.it/history_tariffe.asp?Pag=43[/url] Apparently gondoliers try to charge more, but can be bargained down to the official rates if you're a good bargainer.

[jdrblue]

We were quoted 100 Euro for a ride to our hotel and 130 Euro for the full tour. We took the ride to the hotel which was about 30 minutes. We didn't try to bargain. It was fairly late in the evening. This was May of '04.

[kreemmer]

We were in Venice 8-8 and 8-9 on Star Princess. We offered 70 Euros on back canal away from St. Mark's. This was for 4 of us. We had a 45 minute ride, in the afternoon without a serenade. We tipped 10 Euros too. This was what we had read was the going rate. There was no haggling. This was the first golndola we approached. We enjoyed it immensely.

Kathy

[Rich500]

We paid 100E for 60 minutes in the evening. The price should not change depending on the number of people in the boat. A seneade was double.

Rich

[cruisintwinsmom]

In June we had about 25-30 minute ride for $70 Euros. We were quoted $80 alot. We picked up one on the grand canal. Didn't tip, thought $70E was more than enough! It was fun, glad we did it--there were 4 of us.

[dbh62ark]

One thing that I strongly recommend that you consider, and it's been alluded to on some of the other posts, is your gondola ride route. I have been to Venice 5 times and noted each time some poor souls out in the Grand Canal with the speed boats and vaporetto boats being jostled around in the midst of a lot of noise and chaos. That's not my idea of a serene, romantic, and memorable gondola ride.

When we visited Venice in May, we had a 45 minute ride from the corner of St. Mark's Square (if you have your back to the Basilica, the station is on the other end of the square on the right). There's a line for rides early in the day, and the line shortens as the day wears on. (We stayed on the Riva degli Sciavoni and went through that area several times each day.) In the middle of the day, there's no line, but sometimes there are no gondoliers either. Other than that, this is a very busy station with lots of boats departing frequently. Our ride was through the beautiful side canals and out into the Grand Canal briefly in the Rialto Bridge area. We went at about 7:30 p.m. Our gondolier did not sing, but he did give us some historical information as we passed buildings, and it was just great. I do not recommend the gondola stations by the Hotel Monaco and Grand Canal or near Doge's Palace because that is where I have seen the passengers in the hectic mess.

You can put up to 8 guests in a gondola and split the 80 Euro fare 8 ways. The official rates are a joke. I remember reading that years ago in a Frommers book, and I've seen it in practice.

The gondola ride is a great addition to any Venice stay, so I hope you have a great time.

Donna

[BeachBum Girl]

Thank you for all the great responses!

[dperales]

We were there on July 31. There are gondolas everywhere! Most we asked in the middle of the afternoon said 80E for 30 minutes. We were on a dead end street along the Grand Canal near the Rialto Bridge and turned back toward the bridge and they quoted 80 and we told them that we wanted to go at night. They said it would be 100E at night because their business picks up them. After we walked away, one on the 3 gondoliers followed us and said he would take us for 70E and add another 5-10 minutes which he did. It was wonderful! We went on small canals and ended up back on the Grand Canal. He narrated and the gondolier behind us was singing even though nobody paid extra for it. Our trip was 40 minutes and it was wonderful.

[laurieh]

There were three of us on our Gondola ride, and I think we paid about $55 each for a one hour ride. We booked through our travel agent beforehand. However, there was a girl on our canoe who said she paid around 35 euros by paying when she got there. You may get a better deal by just "showing up" and negotiating a price.