Grand Canal Revelations: Venice’s Right Bank Vaporetto Audio Tour
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About the Tour
About the Tour
Centuries of commerce, intrigue, and architectural splendor have unfolded along Venice’s Grand Canal’s storied waters. On this waterbus tour, you’ll discover the palaces, markets, and monuments that line the right bank of one of the world’s great streets. Along the way, you’ll hear how merchants, nobles, and everyday Venetians shaped this extraordinary thoroughfare.
The tour starts from the Constitution Bridge. You’ll ride the vaporetto past architectural marvels spanning six centuries, from neoclassical churches like San Simeon Piccolo to Veneto-Byzantine palaces like Fondaco dei Turchi which once served as opulent headquarters for Turkish merchants. Along the way, you’ll hear stories about revenge and palace construction, and the commercial empire that made Venice a European superpower. You’ll see where foreign merchants traded spices and silk, where gondola ferries still shuttle commuters across the water, and where fires once devastated entire neighborhoods.
The tour ends at Customs House Point, where a statue of Fortune watches over one of Venice’s most stunning views.
On this 45-minute journey, you’ll have a chance to:
- Hear the gruesome story of Biasio Cargnio, whose famous meat stew revealed a horrifying secret in 1503
- Learn how Nicolò Balbi lived on a boat for years just to block his former landlord’s sunlight while building Palazzo Balbi
- Discover how the Rialto became the empire’s financial heart, and which Venetian admiral accidentally destroyed the Parthenon
- See the Rialto Market, Venice’s commercial heart since 1097, which is referred to in Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice
- Listen to tales of doges and diplomats, executioners and entrepreneurs, as you pass beneath historic bridges and alongside museums, markets, and mansions
- Pass the allegedly cursed Palazzo Dario, where owners have faced bankruptcy and violent death for over 500 years
- View the magnificent Basilica Santa Maria della Salute, a church built after Venice’s worst plague killed more than one-third of the population in 1630
Enjoy floating along Venice’s legendary main street and discover the fortunes made, lives lost, and legends born along its banks.
Tour Producer
Tour Producer
Erla Zwingle
I am an American freelance journalist and have been living in Venice since 1994, married to a wonderful Venetian man. He taught me how to row in the Venetian way (like the gondoliers, standing up facing forward) and we go out in our own little typical Venetian boat all year long. I've also learned to shop according to the seasons and to prepare many traditional Venetian dishes, some of which have disappeared from day-to-day life. I speak the local dialect, and love to read Venetian history of all topics and centuries. I have written about exceptional Venetian artisans (masks, lace, gondolas, shoes, hand-beaten gold leaf) for Craftsmanship online magazine. I wrote the National Geographic guidebook to Venice, and since 2009 have been writing a blog about real life in an unreal city. I belong to an association called Arzana' dedicated to the conservation of traditional Venetian boats; it's not all serious work -- we and our boats often get called on as extras in films shot in Venice. I have occasionally collaborated as local fixer and interpreter for several documentaries about the city. Venice is complicated, demanding, inconvenient, but also fascinating, surprising, and never dull. Sometimes people ask me why I live here. I don't understand why everybody doesn't live here.
Preview Location
Preview Location
Location 20
San Toma' towards Ca' Rezzonico
Young nobleman Nicolo' Balbi had been renting an apartment somewhere and was a month behind on his rent. His landlord insulted him in the Council Room, so he immediately paid up and moved out. He then... Read More
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Major Landmarks
Major Landmarks
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Constitution Bridge
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Casa del Boia Venice
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Fontego dei Turchi
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Ponte di Rialto
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Aman Venice
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Regione del Veneto Palazzo Balbi
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Ca' Foscari Rio Nuovo
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Peggy Guggenheim Collection
Getting There
Getting There
Route Overview
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Start locationPonte de la Constituzione, 30135 Venezia VE, Italy
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Total distance4km
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Final locationFondamenta Zattere Ai Saloni, 30123 Venezia VE, Italy
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Distance back to start location2km
Directions to Starting Point
The tour begins atop the Constitution Bridge, which connects Piazzale Roma (cars, tram and bus depot) and the train station "Santa Lucia." You can reach either of those places on foot or by vaporetto (waterbus) from anywhere in the city. Access is free, but there are low steps at the beginning of the bridge on both sides that go a third of the way to the top, after which the surface is smooth. If you have mobility issues, it may be more convenient to listen to the introduction at the bottom of the bridge at Piazzale Roma and then continue the tour at #2.
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Tips
Tips
Places to stop along the way
The Rialto market (mercato
) is a wonderful area to explore in the morning until roughly noon (the fish area is closed on Sunday and Monday). It is full of shops, bars and cafes. The Osteria I Compari
offers lots of tempting little Venetian treats (cicheti
), some of them traditional fish snacks (mussels, oysters, octopus...). Open from 7:30 AM to 4:00 PM closed Sunday. Campo de la Pescaria 255/A. It's not cheap, but high quality. Cell phone: +39 329 218 3540. Clothing shop Emilio Ceccato at the foot of the Rialto bridge on the market side sells authentic gondolier clothing -- straw hat, striped woolen sweater or cotton T-shirt, black trousers, and more. Some items for children, too. Address: San Polo 16, Phone: +39-041-319-8826. Open 10:30 AM - 1:30 PM and 2:00 PM - 7:00 PM. Closed Sunday.The top of the Rialto Bridge gives the most spectacular view of the Grand Canal, the perfect backdrop to your selfie. Wonderful at any time or weather, Monday morning is a great time to watch busy barges and other traffic bustling as the week starts. If you have mobility issues, you can make wonderful photos of yourself, and the bridge, and the activity, perfectly well from the waterfront walkways nearby.
Best time of day
The tour is doable all year. Because the vaporetto is public transport, the most important factors to consider are the day and time of day. Weekends are busier than weekdays because many tourists come for just the day. During the week there are morning and evening rush hours
as commuters from the mainland come and go (roughly 8:00 - 10:00 AM and 5:00 - 7:00 PM). Early morning or evening are the best times (though standing outside at night in the summer has a special fascination). During Carnival the crowds can be massive. During the summer visitors are lugging quantities of baggage.
Precautions
Because this is public transport you are certainly free to change where you're sitting if you notice a place you'd like better. And if you discover you'd rather be standing outside, by all means go out --just be sure to leave room for people who need to get past you. Remember that any crowded area of Venice (and especially the vaporetto) attracts pickpockets. Please take this advice seriously to carry only your essential documents and money in ways that you can be sure they are safe. Do not keep all your valuables together. Bring whatever you will need for the rest of your day exploring Venice: A water bottle is advisable, and in the summer a hat and a fan will help you resist the heat. The vaporettos are not air-conditioned.
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