Hotels near Grand Canal

The Grand Canal (Canal Grande) is Venice's main artery - a 3.8-km, S-shaped waterway 30-90 metres wide that splits the historic centre between the sestieri. Roughly 170 buildings face it, most dating from the 13th to 18th centuries: the Gothic Ca' d'Oro, the Renaissance Palazzo Grimani, the Baroque Ca' Pesaro, and the Byzantine Fondaco dei Turchi where Turkish merchants traded silk for spice. Just four bridges cross it - the Rialto, Accademia, Scalzi, and the modern 2008 Calatrava bridge at Piazzale Roma.

The single best way to see the canal is also the cheapest. Take Vaporetto Line 1 from Piazzale Roma to San Marco - it stops 14 times along the route in 45 minutes, costs EUR 9.50 with a single ticket, and takes you under every bridge with a palace-by-palace view from water level. Sit at the rear in the open-air seats. The slow night version is better still: lights spill out of the palaces' first-floor halls, where Venetian families still live above the boarded-up water gates.

Pro Tip: Take Line 1 the full route in late afternoon, then ride it again the same evening after dark for two completely different experiences - the all-day vaporetto pass means each ride is included.