HOME :: Travel-and-Leisure / Hotels-Accommodations Venice Hotels on Grand Canal By Teodora Atanasova Article Word Count: 361 [View Summary] Comment

There are a number of star Venice hotels that cater to the needs of vacationers looking for comfort and luxury during their stay. But before we explore the Venice hotels on Grand Canal let us learn a little bit more about the Grand Canal itself. The Grand Canal is the main corridor for boats and other small vessels used for commuting within the city of Venice. Water buses are operated through these water corridors which form the main public transport for the city. There are also private water taxis operated by private owners that tourists and locals can use to get from one part of the city to another. But the most popular and sought after means of transport for tourists who like to travel through the canals of Venice is the gondola.

The gondola is basically a row boat which has been used traditionally for centuries as the main form of transportation though the maze of waterways and canals that flow through Venice. While the gondolas are still used as a means of public transport, their main role is providing rides for tourists from across Europe and around the world that come to Venice mainly to enjoy these rides along the canals in the city. The gondolas also take part in special Regattas that are conducted periodically. The canal is quite shallow and is around 5 meters deep almost throughout its length. It starts at Saint Mark Basin and ends in the lagoon near the main central railway station at Santa Lucia.

Visitors traveling along the canal can feast their eyes on the architectural beauty of the buildings spanning from the 13th to the 18th centuries that line the canal on both sides. Some of the famous buildings include Ca' d'Oro, the Palazzi Barbaro, Ca' Foscari, Palazzo Dario, Ca' Rezzonico, Palazzo Barbarigo and various others. Over the entire length of the canals, only four bridges can be seen built over it. In fact till the 1800s, the Rialto was the only bridge built over the canals. The Venice hotels on Grand Canal provide a truly incredible experience for guests that can almost never be found anywhere else in the world.