Tours, sightseeing tours, activities & things to do | Viator.comVenice Gondola Ride and Serenade with Dinner at Hostaria Ai Coristi Restaurant
based on 55 reviews of Venice Gondola Ride and Serenade with Dinner at Hostaria Ai Coristi Restaurant
Read what other Viator.com travelers think about the Venice Gondola Ride and Serenade with Dinner at Hostaria Ai Coristi Restaurant. What they loved, what they liked and what they think could be improved, it's all here to help you make the most of your next trip.
We really enjoyed it. The Gondolier was very jolly. I had read other reviews and made sure that I printed out two of the vouchers. That was a must! We needed it for the restaurant, and although we had confirmed with Viator the day before that, the reservation had been confirmed by the restaurant and there was a quick little period of worry when they told us we had only booked for two instead of the four I had paid for. They left us standing around, but then seated us and we enjoyed the meal and the rest of the evening. Read the small print; there is only one serenader, and he is on the first Gondola. If you are not in the first one there is only one opportunity for all the Gondolas to stop on the canal and listen to his fantastic voice. It's no exaggeration that we had a great time on the canals of Venice and we would recommend it.
Reviewed by: Anonymous, Netherlands, June 2007
My experience with Viator was very pleasant. The help online was very useful, the gondola ride was a wonderful experience, and the dinner at Haig's Bar was delicious.
Reviewed by: Anonymous, United States, May 2007
Loved the Gondola Serenade! It was like a dream! A must do if you are in Venice. Unfortunately the restaurant left a lot to be desired, stated 4 course dinner on receipt, restaurant agreed but when we ordered we were told no only 2 courses and then dessert and we were embarrassed in front of everyone! Not a nice ending to a beautiful trip!
Reviewed by: Deborah G, Belgium, May 2007
We had a great time.
Reviewed by: Wendy M, United States, April 2007
The gondola ride and dinner were both excellent. My only complaint would be the glitch in the smooth transition between the tour and dinner. After the tour, obtaining the voucher needed for dinner from the gondola operator was a less than seamless process. I wish I had printed two vouchers to have one for each activity. The tour itself was breathtakingly beautiful and the restaurant wonderful.
Reviewed by: Anonymous, United States, November 2006
This package was a great experience! The dinner after the gondola ride was incredible. It was some of the best food we had in Italy. The only downside is that this is not a private ride. You have six people in each gondola, and you might not be sitting right next to the person you are with (but you will be in the same gondola). Still, floating down the Grand Canal while being serenaded at sunset makes for wonderful memories. Definitely a must-do.
Reviewed by: Brian E, United States, September 2006
We really loved the gondola serenade, but I think we lucked out because people were randomly getting into the gondolas and we just happened to board the one that had the accordion player and singer. All the other gondolas followed alongside us.
Reviewed by: Anonymous, United States, August 2006
The gondola ride was excellent. The dinner was fair, dessert was excellent!
Reviewed by: Hal B, United States, August 2006
This was money well spent. The 7:30pm ride afforded us a beautiful sunset while still being able to see the homes and canals. Don't expect your own gondolier to serenade. They usually have one singer/musician that is shared among several boats. The canals are narrow and the singer's voice carries fine. The dinner at Ristoraunte Giglio was very good. Not the usual tour fare. Our gondolier was rude but we chose to ignore him and focus on the beautiful city and canals.
Reviewed by: Marie G, United States, August 2006
Nice trip, worth doing.
Reviewed by: Gaynor C, United Kingdom, August 2006
Gondola ride was nice, and the meal was decent but overpriced.
Reviewed by: Anonymous, United States, June 2008
One of the things that attracted me to this trip was the fact that according to previous reviews the restaurant allowed visitors full access to their menu. This is not true, the menu is a tourist menu with very few choices. The food was good but the service shoddy. The waiter took our desert order, then ten minutes later he put his coat on and left the premises. I had to ask the manager for the order which he knew nothing about. The bread was delivered midway through the second course. The gondola ride was as special to us as we expected.
Reviewed by: George M, United Kingdom, May 2008
Rather than an individual serenade, we went with a group of gondolas with only one with music and singing. At the end of this we were dumped and wished farewell. We had to photocopy the voucher for dinner and then had to find the restaurant with no one knowing where to go. After asking several locals and forty five minutes of confusion, we found the restaurant. They had the nerve to charge a cover charge, charge a service charge, charge for drinks, and increase the quoted prices. I was quoted thirteen Euro for a drink and charged seventeen.
Reviewed by: Caleb W, Australia, May 2008
The gondola ride was excellent but the experience at the restaurant dragged the overall score down. The menu presented to us was not the same as the set menu for that evening, the choices were reduced, the food was just about ok and the service was not good at all. We felt like we were an inconvenience, it was not a pleasant dining experience. I would recommend the gondola ride, that was excellent and finding your own restaurant.
Reviewed by: Stephen L, United Kingdom, May 2008
Our gondola ride & serenade was fabulous! It had rained off and on that morning and afternoon. But by 4pm the sun was back and our 6:30 ride was perfect. The singer was wonderful. He uses a microphone so everyone in the 5 gondolas in our parade had no trouble hearing the music. Our ride was about 40 minutes. Then the fun was over. We were not given any directions to the restaurant and had to ask several times how to get there. We were surprised that NONE of the others on our serenade ride came for the dinner. When we finally entered the restaurant we were seated and given a white paper menu in a plastic sleeve and told to choose from those items. Every other diner had regular menus and we felt like bargain basement tourists. NO PASTA on our menu! We had only two choices for each course. othing but the salad appealed to us. No steaks either, as other reviewers had raved about. So my suggestion - just do the gondola ride and SKIP the dinner.
Reviewed by: Donna D, United States, May 2008
