Venice Kayak

“À faire en Italie : la liste de François-Étienne” is a different travel series in television, produced by Canadian Evasion TV.

Venice Kayak features prominently in one of the two Venice programmes:

Dans cet épisode, François-Étienne apprend à créer un masque pour le carnaval de Venise, il monte dans la célèbre basilique Saint-Marc pour y admirer ses chevaux et il visite la réputée boutique Venini où l’on vend du verre de Murano. Aussi, il contemple Venise d’un nouveau regard en participant à une expédition de kayak dans ses canaux et il découvre ses secrets les mieux gardés grâce à Ana, la Vénitienne, qui l’initie au visage moins touristique de la ville. Et, bien sûr, il est hors de question pour François-Étienne de quitter Venise sans manger son plat typique, les seiches, et sans passer par la célèbre piazza San Marco!

The kayaking part of the programme is online on Vimeo, from where the video below comes.

The video footage was shot in the summer of 2010, and the other paddlers are Canadian Steve Lutsch and Venetian Loretta Masiero.

Venice Kayak has been mentioned in the September issue of the Ukrainian magazine Companion / Компаньон, thanks to Anna Pavlenko.

The Norwegian magazine Reiser & Ferie has an article about Venice Kayak, written by Helene Lundgreen with photos by Felix Oppenheim.

The article is in Reiser og Ferie, December 2010 issue.

Steve Lutsch has written an article “An Extraordinarily Unique Way to Experience Venice” for Eddy Lines, the member newsletter of Great Lake Paddlers, Southeast Michegan’s Kayak and Canoe Club.

Sometime after 11:00pm we kayak under the Rialto Bridge again. I remember asking myself how many times I had paddled under this wonder, seven – eight? It did not matter anymore. I felt so fortunate for just being here. Venice is wonderful. Choosing to experience it while kayaking afforded the privilege of being part of that tiny minority who come away with a more fulfilling grasp of just how amazingly special this place is.

Eddy Lines – the entire issue 2010-10.

Venice Kayak was mentioned in an article by Graeme Green in TNT Magazine.

Venice by kayak

“Venice is not a beach,” reminds kayaking guide Rene. “These canals are roads,  these boats are traffic.” This makes a journey around the city in kayaks as close to a road trip as you can get in Venice. The Lido, across the water from the main Venice island itself, navigates a busy shipping lane to enter the city through the ‘fish’s tail’ (the city on a map resembles a fish). The peaceful, narrow, often-empty canals wind through parts of Venice most tourist never see; sharing the waterways with cargo ships, gondolas and other local ‘road users’ provides a real slice of daily Venetian life.

The online article is titled “Venice – the other Sin City“.

Here’s a PDF of the printed article.

A Dutch guest to Venice Kayak has sent us a copy of “Reiz& Magazine“, a Dutch travel magazine, which mentions Venice Kayak, with a photo and a link.

The text says (supposedly ):

You can get to know Venice in a gondola with a gondoliere, in a vaporetto or in a sightseeing boat. It is much more fun to go kayaking and you can do this, even when you are not an experienced paddler. During the guided tour you paddle through small canals, under laundry, alongside kitchen windows and other places that are impassable for motorboats, sometimes even for motorboats.

Daytrip, guided tour €100 per person.
Infor/booking: www.venicekayak.com

The photo is taken on April 11th, 2010, by somebody standing on the bridge between the Fondamenta Felze and the Calle Pinelli across the Rio di San Giovanni Laterano in Castello. I don’t remember being photographed then, but it happens all the time when paddling around Venice.

There are a few other photos from the same day:

Here’s the front cover of the issue with the article:

Venise en kayak by Ysabel Viau.

Nous traversons d’abord le célèbre Grand canal en passant, entre autres, sous le non moins célèbre pont Rialto. Nous sillonnons ensuite les plus petits canaux de la ville en négociant notre passage avec les gondoliers un brin irrités de devoir partager la voie déjà étroite. Quelle perspective! On a l’impression d’un coup d’oeil privilégié sur l’architecture romanesque de Venise. À ras l’eau (moins polluée qu’on sont l’imaginer), nous visitons la ville « par derrière » en passant sous les ponts, parfois pliés en ramant à bras nus et en souhaitant la marée basse pour éviter d’y rester coincés.

Venice kayak has been mentioned in the magazine Seasons, distributed to members of the SAS airlines Euro Bonus programme. It is part of a longer article about the secrets of Venice. Text by Helene Lundgreen, photos by Felix Oppenheim.

Pages 42,44,45 from Seasons Sweden, August 2010 as PDF.

Venice Kayak was featured in an article in the Swedish Outside Magazine August 2010 issue:

“Kvällspaddling under Suckarnas Bro” by Helene Lundgreen with photos by Felix Oppenheim.

Kajaken glider sakta fram i det stilla vattnet i en av Venedigs alla kanaler. Allt som hörs är paddelbladet som sakta skär genom vattenytan. Högt ovanför taken lyser fullmånen upp stadens pittoreskt flagnade fasader med sitt svaga sken. Det är så magiskt att man önskar att ögonblicket ska vara för evigt. Kajak måste vara det absolut bästa sättet att uppleva en av världens vackraste städer på.

Article from Outside Sweden as PDF.

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Travelling around Venice by kayak is a great way to beat the tourist hordes by Graeme Green.

As we head further into the city, we share the water with gondolas, water taxis and cargo ships. One boat is unloading goods at a supermarket, another with a crane is doing construction work on a canal-side house. The canals of Venice have been described as the veins of the city – they’re not just pleasant places for tourist cruises, but working waterways, and to be on them is to see daily Venetian life in action. “All goods and materials are moved on water,” Rene tells us. “If you live here and order a fridge, it will come by boat. The canals are the main roads. If you’re on the canals, you’ll see Venetians at work. If you’re on land, you’ll see other tourists.”

(click on images for PDF of the pages)