The Grand Canal is Venice’s famous S-shaped thoroughfare. On any given day you can hear the splashing of the oars of the gondolas that slowly traverse the city just as they have done for centuries. A trip in a gondola is almost unavoidable because there are very few sidewalks along the canal, and the backs of the Floating City’s buildings drop straight into the water. A more modern and faster way to see the Grand Canal, and the main tourist attractions alongside it, is by vaporetto (water bus). For a simple crossing, take a traghetto, a ferry on which you remain standing for the duration of the short trip.