Venice tourist blames Google Maps after falling into canal

Victoria Guzenda shared a video of herself walking towards a waterway before falling into the water

Published October 14, 2025 • Last updated 8 hours ago • 2 minutes read

A woman walks down the steps near a canal in Venice, Italy, before falling into the water. Photo by @wika.we.wroclawiu /Instagram

A Polish woman on holiday in Italy wanted to tell her friends an autumn, er, tall tale – in case they missed it on Instagram.

Victoria Guzenda general video of how she held the phone as she walked down a few steps to the canal before falling into the water.

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“When Google Maps says, 'Go straight'… but you're in Venice,” the tourist captioned a clip of her journey and fall. Guzenda then treats the bloody scratches on her legs and adds, “Be careful!” to the video.

Onlookers questioned the woman, who was left bloodied and half-wet.

“Oooh, what did she think would happen when she walked down the stone steps into the water?” – one person asked.

A second commenter noted: “Maybe we should stop blindly following the GPS and look around us and use our brains.”

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And one user noted that the tourist just wanted a cute video and “obviously wanted to stop at the last step and ended up falling.”

However, others claimed that the woman knew what she was doing and simply wanted “attention” by creating content for the social media platform.

Instagram users noted that their feeds were filled with videos of people falling into Venice's waterways.

One Venice tourism site, Venice Tour Leadernoted that Google Maps “doesn't work very well in Venice,” given the city's unique address system, not to mention the physical challenges (dead ends, narrow passages, bridge accessibility, changing water levels) that can confuse GPS systems.

IS THE OLD APPROACH BETTER?

The website suggested going old school with paper maps and using basic landmarks for navigation, as well as yellow city directional signs.

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Last month, two tourists were caught swimming in the Grand Canal and were fined 450 euros each and banned from entering the city after gondoliers reported them to authorities. CNN reported.

Venice is a protected area UNESCO World Heritage Sitemaking swimming, kayaking and canoeing illegal in the city.

According to the City of Venice official websiteBathing, diving and swimming in the canals is prohibited “to preserve the cleanliness of the city and the landscape, as well as for reasons of safety and public hygiene.”