Traghetti: A Gondola Ride for €2.00!
A gondola ride for €2.00. All Venetians and commuters know all about this, most tourists don’t: you can get on a gondola and cross the Canal Grande for just €2.00 (September 2012).
Across the Grand Canal – Standing Up!
If you just want to experience having a gondola trip, you can go to one of the seven (or eight) "traghetti" (ferries) working in Venice that will carry you from one side of the Grand Canal to the other: they’re very popular with the Venetians. However, you’ve got to really know your stuff to be able to combine traghetto crossings, vaporetto crossings and intricate routes through the back streets and campi to reach your destination quickly and without getting lost!
The Seven (or Eight?) Traghetti Crossings
There seems to be some question as to whether there are seven or eight traghetto crossings, but here are the eight I’ve heard of:
- between Ferrovia (the S. Lucia station) and Fondamenta S.Simeon Piccolo
- between S.Marcuola and Fontego dei Turchi
- between S.Sofia (Ca’d’Oro) and Rialto fish market
- between riva del Carbon and riva del Vin a Rialto
- between S.Tomà and S.Angelo
- between S.Samuele and S.Barnaba
- between S.Maria del Giglio and calle del Traghetto in Dorsoduro
- between la punta della Dogana de Mar and S.Marco – calle Vallaresso
The gondolas used here are slightly different to the others and are called "parada". And by the way, the Venetians ride the traghetti standing up…
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