- The Observer,
- Sunday May 26 2002
Hugely expensive and rather naff gondola trips around Venice are now, rightly, the preserve of either the drunk or those eager tourists who have a video camera constantly on the whirr. A trip costs about £40 an hour or much more for a romantic rendition of 'O Sole Mio'.
The sensible alternative is the traghetto. These are ad hoc shuttles that run from one bank to another at seven signed points along the Grand Canal. You may have to stand up at rush hour, but they are genuine, historic gondolas and they only cost around 22p.
Vaporettos, the water buses that chug along the chief arteries of the city, cost £3.20 for a return trip and go everywhere, but they have a distinctly utilitarian vibe.
