Gondola Rides

If you’re looking for a chance to make a romantic statement and really impress your special someone, Gondola Rides is the best way to do it!
The tour begins on the Esplanade near the Hatch Shell. The company has a cute booth built to look like a small version of the bell tower in Venice’s St. Mark’s Square. It’s located right near where the gondola docks. There are even those painted poles in the water next to the dock just like you see in Venice. The authentic gondolas were actually built in Venice and shipped to Boston. The tour runs along the Esplanade and through the Charles River.
There are a number of tour options starting at around $ 100 and going up from there to over $ 200 for the most luxurious tour available.
I planned my proposal with them in 2012 for my wife who was completely oblivious to all of this! There were even flowers for me in the gondola when we arrived. The gondolier was so friendly, always making sure that we were comfortable. You are encouraged to bring your own wine or champagne as they don’t supply any, but they do supply the ice bucket, glasses, etc. They also had cheese and crackers, strawberries, and Lindt truffles in a picnic basket for us. The gondola itself was very comfortable and there was even a blanket if it got chilly. It was amazing to be in Boston in an authentic gondola listening to the beautiful music.
This tour company will help you plan for marriage proposals and other special occasions. They have had hundreds of proposals during their tours. Our tour was very beautiful, romantic, and everything was executed perfectly!

Nothing says romance than an authentic Venetian gondola with Frank Sinatra playing softly. Bright your bottle of champagne and make memories that evening. It’s sure to win your date over. The people are very courteous and friendly. The voyage along the Charles river was quiet and enjoyable. It’s a must do in Boston for visitors and locals.

For the price you have to pay, they should be flexible with their cancellation policy. I get no refunds but no rescheduling? Can’t tell you how the ride is because a surprise didn’t work out as planned and we didn’t make it.

Horrible experience. Booked this for a special anniversary as a big surprise. Had difficult time getting there, but arrived early. Surprise was on me. No one was there! No show, no call! And I bought the most expensive VIP package. Anniversary was ruined. We could have gone out to dinner or done something else if we knew it was cancelled.
Buyer beware… call the day of and see if anyone will be there. Now I have to call my credit card and get a refund… I hope this is a legitimate business…

Surprised my date with this as an end of a date day event. It was everything that it advertises. We got a little history on the type of ride we were getting. The staff were nice and highlighted the quiet and professionalism that they give all riders. I recommend this Gondola ride.

What can I say. My date surprised me at the end of the night for a ride in a gondola on the Charles. It couldn’t have been more perfect. Gondola, Venice, Italy, the city of romance, Boston skyline, a little mist to begin with, chocolate, strawberries, sparkling cider because I have the Asian glow, and last but not least, I found myself a keeper.
Checked in for an 830pm ride. The man greeted us and led us to the gondola and into it. Very nice man. Described the boat and some of the history of the route we were going. Just very romantic. I’m only all over the place right now because it was so perfect and I can’t formulate a story. Put on some romantic music and basically just let us do our thing. They brought us a basket of candles, Italian waffles, crackers, strawberries and cheese. And a rose. It was great. Kissing under the bridge. Kissing not under the bridge. It was an amazing time.
I would recommend this to anyone feeling a bit romantic and cheesy. I was definitely cheesin’ the entire ride.

Incredible! They were absolutely wonderful — great customer service, incredibly comfortable ride and easy to book online. I booked last minute for an anniversary and we had a phenomenal time. There was passing shower, however, they had us wait comfortably, until the sun came out and gave us extra time. I also highly recommend getting a Message in the Bottle — a wonderful special treat for your honey! This is by far one of the best experiences you can have in Boston — great for birthdays, anniversary’s, etc.

Just suprised my boyfriend with a gondola ride for fathers day. it was great! He Loved It! The staff were really nice and professional. i took the 5pm trip and it was very busy on the charles but still a nice outing. I would recommend going on a less windy day, it makes the ride a lot smoother, but it was nice either way. I would very much recommend this for tourists or if your just spending the day/​night out and want to try something different/​romantic. I wish it was longer than 50 minutes. Very Relaxing! Romantic! Fun! Sight Seeing! Just Awesome!

Boston Gandola is definitely worth experiencing, I booked the most expensive tour which included a whole bunch of things so I will outline them one by one.
Food: They had strawberries, chocolates, cheese and crackers which was great.
Drink: You bring your own and they will put it on ice for you, they even have non-​alcoholic beverages at the kiosk
Music: Live accordian in our package
Gift: Glass set which is really nice and decorative and nicely packaged
Flowers: The bouquet was very good nice big flowers and big size too.
Frame: They take your pic in the beginning of tour and then frame it. The frame is simply made up of card board and opens up like a card. It was really flimsy that was the only things which I did not like.
oh and parking
Make sure to get there earlier there is parking lot at charles next to the park you can park there but allow yourself 15 min. to get to Gandola.
Next in line is staff, everyone we met was amazing, we had a nice sunset time slot and it was beautiful, the Gandola was nice and clean very relaxing, highly romatic I will def. do it again.
But if you want the best bang for your buck I think there Mezza Luna package is probably the best one as its not too expensive and gives you almost everything.
Me and my wife really enjoyed this experience so I really cant complain. 5 star all the way.
Oh and yes I was really confused between Odyssey and this place, but Odyssey tours had alot of negative reviews about bad food and stuff so we just went with this and I am happy with my decision. :)

I was looking for something unique to do with my wife on our one year wedding anniversary. I googled something like «Boston boat rides» and came up with the gondolas. It looked a little cheesy, but we kind of like cheesy! I ended up having to book the cheapest option (sans live accordian player) because that was the only option available. In the end I’m glad we didn’t have another person on the gondola, it wouldn’t have felt as private. We had no problem finding the launching spot and the man who greeted us (maybe the owner?) was very pleasant. We brought our own champagne which they gladly chilled, opened and poured for us. We had a nice nighttime ride with a gondalier named Charlie (I think). We’re locals, but we’d never seen the city from the river, so it was special. Actually not that cheesy, either! I highly recommend it for a special occasion.

I can’t say enough about the gondola ride I took this past weekend. My fiancé surprised me with a sunset ride out on the Charles. We were very warmly greeted by a girl whose name I forget, but she took our bottle of champagne (you have to bring your own beverage) and put it in an ice bucket. When our gondola was read for us we were helped on and I was given a beautiful single rose. The girl poured the champagne for us while Stefano, our authentically-​dressed gondolier, gave us some information about the gondola. They gave us a cute basket with cheese and crackers and chocolates, which went really nicely with the champagne.
The gondola is a very smooth ride. We went along the little riverway along the Esplanade and then out onto the river while Pavorati sang in our ears from the onboard radio. The views were so nice from the middle of the river! We were lucky we had the good weather.
We are locals and I definitely don’t consider this a touristy kind of thing. Although, there were a lot of tourists taking pictures of us as we floated along. There’s something about this experience that just makes you feel special. Guys, if you want to impress your lady you need to do this!

Well, you might have thought that there were only in Venice. But you’d be wrong. There here in Boston also. The gondoliers have arrived. Stationed just near Café Esplanade these gondoliers will sing to you as they paddle you up and down the Charles river, through the little inlets and under the old bridges. It’s really quite a beautiful ride. It’s an expensive way to see the city but I would recommend it for tourists.