Along with St. Mark's Square, it is Venice's main tour, a must-see. Take a gondola or any other vessel. Observe the architecture of the buildings along the Canal. On sunny days, the ride gets even better.

After we finished looking at piazza San Marco, we wanted to return to Venice train station by waterbus. One of the waterbus terminals is in piazza San Marco and the journey to the train station is via this large canal (canal grande). There are many beautiful buildings on the banks of the Grande Canal. Among them is the church of Saint Mary. The Rialto Bridge is also on this canal.

The Grand Canal is more than just the main water route in Venice. It's where most of the 'places to see and things to do' are. If you have return tickets for the airport from the private boat companies like Alilaguna, make sure you exchange your QR code for actual paper tickets. Vouchers are not accepted. The orange line offers a direct service from the Grand Canal to the ground floor of the airport. Do not worry if your tickets to the airport do not work at the station barrier. The lady at the concierge let us in and we were in our merry way. If you do not have pre-purchased tickets, you can pay (cash or cards accepted) as you board. A one way ticket costs €16. We met several travellers who bought tickets from the machine outside the station (ACTV Line 1 being one of them), only to be told that they weren't the right ones. Please check as it's not possible to get refunds from these ticket machines. Always be wary of people walking too close to you. Walk away, turn around and check to see if their accomplice is helping themselves to your wallet etc. We were pickpocketed and it caused us a great deal of inconvenience. Yes, we didn't think it would happen to us too. Be vigilant but don't let this spoil your holiday. Have a great time!

A visit for daughter’s 21st. The canal is a hive of activity from small boats, gondolas and the ‘water bus’. The 24 hour tickets are good value if you want to move around a lot. Once you work out the ‘bus stops’ it really is efficient and a nice way to see the properties that line the canal. One minor nuisance was being told the airport trip was separate from the day ticket - having asked about a boat to the airport we were told it was a €10 trip - however when we got to the boat pontoon we were told it was the wrong ticket and that the €10 only took us to the train/bus station to get bus. So we were €20 down and had to buy different tickets (€16 each) for the Alilaguna. We were not the only ones caught out on our passage and it seemed almost intensional to mislead the water bus ticket as the boat to the airport. Rather spoilt the end to a pleasant trip

Yes, it’s just for tourists, and, yes, it’s pricey, but we really enjoyed seeing Venice from the gondola and hearing about the city from our knowledgeable gondolier. This listing header says the Canal Grande, but the gondola tours are typically in the network of smaller canals, passing under bridges so low the gondolier has to bend in half to get through. Make sure you notice the fixed price published for the short 20 min ride or the longer 40 min ride.

Venice is really as beautiful as it is in the photos... actually even more beautiful. But very crowded! We were glad that we traveled in the off-season. You can take a gondola ride for just 2 euros - traghetti are also used to cross the Grand Canal.

Very cool to see. Walking up to the Rialto bridge is busy after 10am. I actually went at 8am (early riser) and it was great and really quiet. It really does look like a movie set!

One of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. Several restaurants with terraces looking out onto the canal. Also a great view from the terrace in the Guggenheim. Took the vaporetto up and down the canal. Avoid during rush hour, it gets very crowded. A little like travelling on the tube at rush hour.

We went there with two families and stayed at mestre stay city aparthotel on the secondary island. The water town was OK. We went there once during the day and again at night to see the night view. It was OK, nothing amazing. But the nearby cities of Padua and Verona gave us surprises. The apartment hotel we stayed in was also good. This hotel is a chain hotel. Because I have stayed in a hotel in Edinburgh before, I stayed in this chain hotel again this time. It is cleaner and newer than Edinburgh, and the construction may be more complete. We booked on the official website, which is cheaper than booking.com

As soon as I arrived in Venice and saw the canal I knew Venice was going to be amazing and unique. It truly is stunning and unique seeing this canal and all it's bridges in the middle of Venice. I didn't want to spend money on a private boat ride but I took the Vaporatto water bus which is much cheaper and offers stunning views.