Explore the canals of Venice with Google Street View
One of Italy's most beautiful cities is now available to explore on foot or on water using Google Street View.
- Webby Award honoree, 2x Gold Telly Award winner
Having previously charted the terrain of hard-to-reach areas such as the Grand Canyon and Great Barrier Reef, Google has added another notch to its belt.
Thanks to the Google Trekker, places that are inaccessible by cars can be captured and mapped in Street View. The Trekker's latest conquest is Venice, the home to such famous sights as St Mark's Square, Rialto Bridge and the Doge's Palace.
In order to capture the water city in all its glory, Google sent the Trekker out on foot, on gondolas and on Venice's famed water taxi service, the vaporetto. Even though Venice is renowned for its maze-like layout, the Street View implementation means you're never too far from a map to work out exactly where you are.
The Trekker is a 15 kilogram backpack that houses a spherical camera unit at the top. The sphere contains 15 cameras that capture 360-degree panoramas of locations, all controlled through an Android smartphone.
In all, the Trekker travelled 426km on foot and 183km on water, covering many of the 117 islands, including the colourful Burano.
Start exploring Venice through the eyes of Street View by clicking here.