Venicela serenissima

You might think riding a gondola in Venice is for tourists, and you’d be right—but if you don’t do it at least once, you’ll also be missing out. Only by boarding one of these slender vessels and plying the still canals will you understand why they called Venice "La Serenissima" (the most serene). A standard 45-minute gondola ride could set you back $100. If budget is a concern, there’s a workaround: Take a traghetto ferry for about half a euro; it just goes from one side of the Grand Canal to the other and takes less than five minutes, but you will get a taste of the water.