My Escapes Italy Venice Floating Worlds - Venice, Murano, Burano, Torcello Along the Canal Grande

Along the Canal Grande

Almost everyone (unwillingly) starts their exploration of Venice with the Canal Grande. It's there, you can't miss it and most attractions are near it.
The water channel itself is a major attraction. It's worth stopping by and watching the boats, the gondolas sail on it...

Most of the water traffic passes through here. It's like the main road of Venice!

At times I even saw 4-5 boats (including gondolas) passing each other by in parallel. Traffic is so intense and I reckon one has to be highly skilled to navigate in this labyrinth.

On the map, the Canal Grande appears as a reverse S-shape. It's 3,800 m long and its width varies between 30 and 90 m. Depth being on average 5 m (16.5 ft).

The Canal Grande is not a river, but many foreigners would still refer to it as "the river"!.

Anyway, on its banks there are more than 170 buildings, many of which are from the period between the 13th and 18th centuries. Awesome architecture!

Lots and lots of beautiful palaces are found near the channel, but there are few bridges across it (4 in total and they're at long distances from each other).

On some segments of the Canal Grande, the buildings are built near the water. There's no way to walk near the water, as the streets run behind and between the buildings.

Still, there are a few viewpoints from where you can contemplate... or, you can take a boat trip.

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