ABOVE: This video from Gondolas4all shows how the service works. (If you'd like to donate to the nonprofit project, click the "Donate Today!" ad in the video.)

Venice is a more accessible city than you might guess, despite its more than 400 footbridges--nearly all with steps. If you plan your sightseeing carefully, you can explore much of the city center by wheelchair over level pavement, using the public vaporetti (water buses) to get from one accessible area to the next. (We cover the basics in our "Accessible Venice" article at Veniceforvisitors.com.)

Still, until recently, you were out of luck if you wanted to enjoy one classic Venice sightseeing experience in a wheelchair: taking a gondola ride. Gondolas4all, a project that launched in spring of 2016, has rendered that limitation obsolete with a wheelchair-friendly pier and gondola next to the Piazzale Roma on the edge of Venice's historic center.

The Gondolas4all pier has a mechanical lift that picks up your wheelchair, slides it horizontally over the gondola, and lowers the wheelchair into the boat. And that's it: Once the wheelchair is in the boat, you and your companions enjoy a standard gondola ride.

For more about Gondolas4all, including a booking form, visit:

www.gondolas4all.com

To see a first-person account of a gondola ride in an electric wheelchair with Gondolas4all with a video), go to:

Martyn Sibley: Gondolas4All in Venice

Where to find Gondolas4all:

The Gondolas4all pier is on the Fondamenta Cossetti, just south of the wheelchair-accessible Hotel Santa Chiara on the Rio Novo next to the Piazzale Roma.

Use the Google Map below to find it, and be sure to book your ride ahead of time. (Gondolas4All is in the rectangular notch on the left side of the canal below the words "Rio Novo." If you zoom in, you'll see "Gondolas4all" on the Google Maps 3D view.)

ABOVE: From Venezia Mestre railroad station, it's only a 10- to 15-minute trip into Venice's historic center.er.

We'd never advocate spending only one day in Venice (we'd suggest a week to a month), but we'll concede that one day is better than none. If you're pressed for time, this e-mail that we received from Harri Vainio of Finland may be helpful:

ABOVE: This view of the Campo San Simeon Grande was taken from room 303 of the Hotel Ai Due Fanali (see below). The wooden structure at upper right is an altana, or roof terrace, where hotel guests can have breakfast on warm and sunny days.

One of our favorite squares in Venice is the pretty and peaceful Campo San Simeon Grande--or the Campo San Simeon Profeta, depending on which map you're using.

The Campo San Simeon Grande is tucked away in the sestiere or district of Santa Croce, less than 10 minutes on foot from the Santa Lucia Railroad Station and the Piazzale Roma. It's one of the few squares in Venice that face the Grand Canal.

As a bonus, the small campo has several park benches next to the canal, making it the perfect spot to take a break from sightseeing or to enjoy a picnic with views of passing water buses and other boat traffic.

The square also has three excellent hotels--two directly on the Grand Canal, and the third with views of the canal from most rooms:

• Ca' Nigra Lagoon Resort (four stars), where you can have breakfast or drinks in a large walled garden next to the water.

• Canal Grande (four stars), where many rooms overlook the Grand Canal, the campo, or both.

• Ai Due Fanali (three stars), with most rooms facing the square. (See our illustrated review with step-by-step walking directions to the Campo San Simeon Grande).

We think the Campo San Simeon Grande is a wonderful place to stay if you want to be near the railroad station or the Piazzale Roma, don't mind crossing a couple of bridges, and prefer to avoid the tourist crowds. But even if you don't stay in the campo, be sure to pay it a visit when you're out and about in Venice. 

More photos and a video:

BELOW: Another view of the campo, showing the Hotel Ai Due Fanali (back of square) and the adjoining Church of San Simeon Profeta.

BELOW: The square has not just two, but three different names. This one (shown on a faded wall sign) is in Venetian dialect.

BELOW: This video shows what you might see while sitting on a park bench in the Campo San Simeon Grande: