Whispers of Venice Gondola Ride on the Grand Canal

Venice from the water, on the boat the city was built around. You board at Riva degli Schiavoni, beside St Mark's, and the gondolier takes you up the Grand Canal - the Basilica della Salute, the strange, crooked Ca' Dario, the low white palace that holds the Peggy Guggenheim Collection - then swings into the narrow side canals where the crowds thin out and you hear nothing but the oar. Up to five people share the gondola. Six departures a day, from late morning to the golden hour before sunset.