Google Street View takes a Venice vacation

Google continues to expand its Street View imagery to new areas, ranging from the Great Barrier Reef to the Grand Canyon and countless locations in between. This time, the intrepid team has invaded the canals of Venice, Italy. The romantic city can now be viewed by armchair travelers everywhere, no gondola required.

The city presented a new challenge for the Google team -- "It was impossible for us to collect images of Venice with a Street View car or trike -- blame the picturesque canals and narrow cobbled walkways -- but our team of backpackers took to the streets to give Google Maps a truly Shakespearean backdrop", says Daniele Rizzetto, Street View Operations Manager.

The company traveled a total of 265 miles on foot, and 114 miles by boat to grab the images from all around Venice. The search giant promises it captured "not only iconic landmarks but several hidden gems, such as the Synagogue of the first Jewish Ghetto, the Devil’s Bridge in Torcello island, a mask to scare the same Devil off the church of Santa Maria Formosa and the place where the typographer Manutius created the Italics font".

Google has also given a view behind the scenes to show a glimpse of how exactly this trek was pulled off. You can check that out in the video below.