The Grand Canal (Canal Grande) is Venice's central artery — roughly 3.8 km long, S-shaped, cutting the historic island in two from the train station at one end to the Bacino di San Marco at the other.
The best way to see it
Vaporetto Line 1 is the essential ride — it stops at every landing along both banks, takes about 45 minutes end to end, and costs no more than a standard transport ticket. This is one of the world's great cheap thrills: an unhurried glide past Byzantine, Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque palaces, most of which have been here for six centuries or more.
What you'll pass
Starting from Piazzale Roma or Ferrovia heading toward San Marco:
- Ca' d'Oro — one of the finest examples of Venetian Gothic architecture.
- Rialto Bridge — the canal's visual midpoint, still the only stone crossing for centuries.
- Ca' Rezzonico — a grand 18th-century palazzo, home to the Museo del Settecento Veneziano.
- Peggy Guggenheim Collection — the low-slung "unfinished palace" that stands out among towering facades.
- Santa Maria della Salute — the domed baroque church at the canal's mouth, built after the 1630 plague.
The three crossings
For most of its length the Grand Canal is only crossable at three points: the Rialto Bridge, the Accademia Bridge and the Scalzi Bridge. Plus several traghetto crossing points — gondola ferries that take passengers across for a couple of euros.
Practical notes
The canal is extremely busy with water traffic. If photographing from a vaporetto, the front few seats give the clearest forward view but fill fastest.