|
TraghettoLooking for a cheap (if quick) gondola ride? Take a traghetto across the Grand Canal.
ABOVE: A traghetto, or gondola parada, ferries passengers across the Grand Canal from the Rialto Fish Market to the Santa Sofia boat pier. Until 1854, the Ponte di Rialto was the only bridge across the Grand Canal in Venice. Even now, there are only four bridges along the canal's 2.5-mile (3.5 km) length. If you need to cross the canal and you aren't near a bridge, you have two choices:
Traghetto (plural: traghetti) means "ferry" in Italian. On Venice's Grand Canal, traghetti are the passenger boats that cross the canal at seven points between the railroad station and St. Mark's Basin.
A traghetto, also called a gondola parada, carries up to 10 passengers (compared to five for a privately-hired gondola da nolo). The boats eschew bow decoration, brocaded chairs, and other luxury trimmings. They are rowed by two oarsmen: one who stands behind the passengers like a traditional gondolier, the other closer to the bow. Most traghetti have been operated by the same families for generations. As recently as the 1950s, there were some 30 of these gondola ferry routes. Today, there are officially seven, although you'll be lucky if you find one or two operating at any given time. Two of the most reliable are: Pescaria (Rialto fish market) - Santa Sofia (near Ca' d'Oro):
San Tomà - Sant'Angelo:
Other official routes include:
(Please note that these additional routes may operate sporadically--if at all--and you shouldn't waste much time looking for them when the Pescaria - Santa Sofia and San Tomà - Sant' Angelo traghetti are so much more consistent.)
How to ride a traghetto
ABOVE: A sign at a traghetto pier shows the two-tiered pricing scheme that went into effect in 2013.
Other practical advice
Related videosTraghetto Santa Sofia: Traghetto at the Venice Fish Market: MAP CREDITS: Walking maps by Anders Imboden, using base data from the Comune di Venezia and Regione Veneto under license IODL-2.0. |
| Venice for Visitors - Home | | Europe for Visitors - Home | | E-mail, disclosures, audience | Copyright © 1996-2022 Durant & Cheryl Imboden. |