Enchanting Venice - Private Gondola Experience

Venice, Italy

Likely to Sell Out

From $158.32

per group (up to 5)

Select Date and Travelers

up to 24 hours before the experience starts (local time)

25 to 30 minutes
Mobile ticket
Offered in: English

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Overview

For centuries, Venice has been synonymous with its most iconic mode of transport, the water gondola. On this private, luxury-minded tour, you’ll cruise the city’s fabled lagoons in your own specialty boat, partaking in a time-honored tradition. Soak up the elegant atmosphere and discover Venice’s picturesque waterfront—including crumbling palaces and stone bridges—from new perspectives, unseen by pedestrians.

A fully private traditional gondola cruise in Venice
Help keep the city’s maritime heritage alive by floating in the 1,500-year-old traditional vessel
Lean back and enjoy the best views of the Venetian waterfront—from the comfort of your seat
Discover lesser-known parts of the city, away from most of the crowds

What's Included

30 minutes ride on a traditional Venetian gondola

Hotel pickup and drop-off
Transportation to/from attractions
Commentary on board (no guide)

Meeting and Pickup

Meeting point

Gondola - Traghetto Santa Maria del Giglio
Campiello Traghetto, 30124 Venezia VE, Italy
Please reach by yourself the Giglio gondola station in Campo Santa Maria del Giglio, near Hotel Gritti. Make sure to arrive on time. Please show your voucher to the gondoliers.

End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

What To Expect

Canal Grande (Pass By)

Laguna di Venezia (Pass By)

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Not wheelchair accessible
Near public transportation
Infants must sit on laps

Most travelers can participate
On certain dates, most travelers staying outside of Venice who are planning to visit for the day will be required to pay a €5 access fee. For further details (including exemptions) and to learn what days this fee is applicable, please visit: https://cda.ve.it
This is a private tour/activity. Only your group will participate

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.

Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.
This experience requires good weather. If it’s canceled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund.

Traveler Photos

Featured review

GULEN_W

We booked our Gondola ride with Viator. Was extremely easy and straightforward. We got to our pick up point half hour early and yet they let us on. Would highly recommend experiencing this whilst in Venice.

Reviews

4.0

29 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews

Reviews by Viator travelers.

We perform checks on reviews

Showing 1-10 of 29 reviews

Good experience that could have been a bit longer

Joshua_C, Apr 2024

It was a ‘good’ experience and one for the bucket list. Duration was a bit less than expected (arguably closer to 20mins rather than 30mins) and we would have preferred a bit longer for the price paid. But friendly gondolier who kept us safe and dry. The ‘tip’ bucket and verbal encouragement to tip on disembarking is unnecessary/unwelcome.

Beautiful Tour

Ushandan_K, Apr 2024

Lovely boat tour. Peaceful as it was a private tour, however felt it could have been longer (was about 20 min).

Perfect Gondola Ride

Stephanie_V, Apr 2024

A thoroughly enjoyable 30 minutes sailing through the canals of Venice taking in the sights. Absolutely wonderful, thank you.

HORRIBLE!

Jill_H, Mar 2024

This was the worst and most disappointing experience! The ride was only 15 minutes down an ugly canal. The Gondola operator was on his phone talking the entire time! And the cost was outrageous compared to what we could have paid on the site. I am seeking a refund for this HORRIBLE experience.

Response from Host, Mar 2024

Dear Jill, Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback regarding your recent gondola experience with us. We are genuinely sorry to hear that the service did not meet your expectations, and we appreciate the opportunity to address your concerns. Given that the itinerary of the ride is fixed, the total duration, including both embarkation and disembarkation procedures, typically ranges from 25 to 30 minutes. Regarding the gondolier's phone use, although they're not required to provide commentary, we expect professional conduct at all times and will address this issue to improve future experiences. Concerning the pricing, we recognize that purchasing a ride on the spot might seem more cost-effective. However, our prices reflect the added value of guaranteed reservations, seamless planning, and the dedicated support provided by our team and our partners at Viator. We strive to offer competitive rates while ensuring a memorable and hassle-free experience for our guests. Your feedback is invaluable to us as it helps us continually improve our services. We hope to have the opportunity to welcome you again in the future and provide you with an experience that not only meets but exceeds your expectations.

Great Experience

GULEN_W, Nov 2023

You need to experience the gondola ride in Venice! But it is too crowded to be enjoyable now.

JetJouett_W, Sep 2023

Everyone needs to ride in a gondola in Venice at least once! Very relaxing and interesting. This time our gondola guy was not at all friendly or interesting, it was very crowded and I think everyone had had enough at this point. I would recommend but be prepared to get a tired, uninteresting gondola guy! Last time I went it was very cool and i had a great, friendly gondola guy!

Relaxing

Josh_H, Sep 2023

Very relaxing and our driver was awesome. He took us on a good loop and it ended in the grand canal.

We had the best time. ...

Dagyanamai_I, Jul 2023

We had the best time. Fell in Love with Burano. We were so impressed with Murano artist. The best part was our tour guide she provided us with so much information was very kind and patient with us. I highly recommend this tour specially with the same tour guide and also with the water taxi transportation provided.

Overpriced and Unorganized

Melissa_C, Jul 2023

I would not recommend booking this gondola excursion ahead of time. It was very chaotic and unorganized. I paid almost double what they were currently charging. We had to wait almost 30 minutes from our original start time. Once we were on the gondola, our gondolier did not say a word to us but spoke with all of the other gondoliers the entire time. It was not worth the money and there was nothing special about this excursion. I would recommend booking the gondola when you get to Venice and pay 1/2 the price.

Not organized.

S_S, Jun 2023

Next time I’ll just book a gondola tour when I get there. We had a fair amount of problems with our Viator tours in Venice. The providers had no record of our sign up and because they were so busy they were very annoyed despite showing them the confirmation. We had this problem on another Viator tour in Venice as well.

Nice tour

Alina_A, Jun 2023

The Gondola ride was long enough to see everything and went to most bridges. The only thing was that the gondola guide didn't sing. I recommend this tour.

Nothing special gondola ride

Celia_B, Jun 2023

Very disappointed. Not much different to queuing for the ride along with everyone else. I booked this ride as a special private ride and expected more . I could have paid a lot less and had just the same ride .

Below Expectations

Aaron_H, May 2023

Average experience Guide not personable Gondola left 20 mins after scheduled time! We were there 15 mins for checkin Host checkin was very rude

Would not recommend - overpriced and you don't get what you pay for

maribreyt, May 2023

This gondola ride was barely 20 minutes. The gondolier barely spoke to us. For the price we paid, we should be getting a refund because it was nowhere near what was described. Would not recommend.

Great experience but expensive

Olivier_D, Apr 2023

The whole experience was great. However, the regular price is 80€ and considering we paid 138€, which means almost 60€ more than the regular price to be sure to have the time slot we reserved for, seems to be too much. We had the Gondola tour in the beginning of April and there were plenty of availabilities on the spot in the evening (Campo San Moisè). It's maybe worth the price for peak periods (summer time).

Wonderful

Jeanne_S, Jan 2023

This was a must to do in Venice. Was very relaxing for my husband and son. Really couldn’t understand the tour guide much but was quite ok.

Great time

Abraham_P, Mar 2022

Great tour experience thanks to the music and singer on board of the gondola while traveling the canals.

Nice boat ride

Brian_P, Feb 2022

Your 1st time in Venice, you need to do a Gondola ride. I enjoyed myself, and the boatman took us into the main channel. That was fun.

Great Experience

Ralph_G, May 2021

Our gondolier was great! I wish I could remember his name! He was very friendly and took a lot of pictures for us. Most of the trip, we were in the smaller canals, which was very quiet and relaxing. Right near the end we went out into the Grand Canal. It was nice to experience, but the smaller canals were more pleasant.

Amazing experience

Jacqueline_H, Jul 2019

This was a really nice Gondola ride. The experience was very special. My boyfriend really enjoyed his surprise. We had no issues, the entire process with our vouchers was smooth.