DK Travel : Venice : Grand Canal

Grand Canal

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Venice’s majestic “highway”, the Canal Grande, is only one of the 177 canals flowing through the city, but at some 4 km (2.5 miles) in length, 30–70 m (98–230 ft) in width and averaging 4.5 m (15 ft) in depth, it certainly earns its name. Snaking its way through the city with a double curve, its banks are lined with exquisite palaces, while on its waters colourful flotillas of gondolas, ferries, taxi launches, high-speed police boats and barges groaning under loads of fresh produce, provide endless fascination. In 1818, when the water was cleaner, Lord Byron swam all the way down the Grand Canal from the Lido.
For more Venice bridges (see Bridges)

Top 10 Sights

1. Fondaco dei Turchi

With an exotic air and distinctive round arches, this Veneto-Byzantine building (1225) was the Turkish trade centre for 200 years. It is now the Natural History Museum (see Museo di Storia Naturale).
2. Ca’ Pesaro

This colossal Baroque palace, decorated with diamond-point ashlar work, was the final creation of architect Long-hena. Home to the city’s modern art collections, it is beautifully floodlit at night (see Ca’ Pesaro Galleria d’Arte Moderna).
3. Rialto Bridge

3. Rialto Bridge

One of the city’s most familiar views, the striking 28-m (92-ft) span, 8-m (26-ft) high Istrian stone Ponte di Rialto dates from 1588.
4. Riva del Vin

A sunny quayside with a string of open-air restaurants, this is one of the few accessible banks of the Grand Canal. Barrels of wine (vino ) used to be off-loaded here, hence the name.
5. Ca’ Rezzonico

The finest feature of this imposing palace is its grandiose staircase. Today it is a museum of 18th-century Venice.
6. Accademia Bridge

The lovely wooden Ponte dell’Accademia, built in 1932 by the engineer Miozzi, was intended as a temporary measure until a more substantial structure was designed, but it is now a permanent fixture. It affords stunning views of the Grand Canal.
7. Ca’ Dario

With an ornamental Renaissance façade studded with multicoloured stone medallions, this lopsided palace is supposedly cursed due to a number of misfortunes that have overtaken its various owners.
8. Santa Maria della Salute

Longhena’s 17th-century masterpiece of sculpted whorls beneath a towering dome, this church commemorates the end of a devastating plague in the city (see Santa Maria della Salute).
9. Punta della Dogana

The figure of Fortune stands atop the erstwhile customs house, doubling as a weather vane. This is where the Grand Canal joins St Mark’s Basin and the lagoon.
10. Harry’s Bar

Legendary watering hole of Ernest Hemingway, this is also where the Bellini apéritif was invented (see Bellini). Opened in 1931 by Arrigo Cipriani, it was named after the American who funded the enterprise.

Practical Information

Grab the front seats on vaporetto line No. 1 for the trip of a lifetime. To beat the crowds, either start out from Piazzale Roma heading towards San Marco late afternoon or evening, or take the reverse direction in the morning. The Grand Canal runs from Piazzale Roma, the bus terminal and car park area, to Piazza San Marco. It is navigable courtesy of ferries Nos. 1 (all stops) and 82 (main stops only).