Private Tour from Florence: Venice Full Day Tour by Train
Description
Discover the most beautiful places in Venice in just one day during this magnificent private trip from Florence. Travel in comfort on a high-speed train and hit all the major attractions, from Piazza San Marco to the Grand Canal, with a private guide at hand to give you a rich historical account of the city and the world's most beloved lagoon. Step off the train and into a world like no other. This walking tour of Venice is designed for travelers arriving from Florence, offering the perfect introduction to the city’s timeless beauty, rich history, and one-of-a-kind charm—all in just a few hours. Meet your expert local guide at the meeting point inside Venice Santa Lucia Train Station, then set off on foot to explore Venice’s most iconic landmarks and hidden corners. As you wander through winding alleyways and over charming canals, your guide will reveal the layers of Venice's history, from its Byzantine roots to its role in art, trade, and architecture.
Tour Options
Itinerary
After a 2.5 hours train ride from Florence, start your tour in Venice! Grand Canal, the largest canal in Venice, built in Venetian-Gothic style. Venice’s canals, which cross the city like streets, are one of the most notable feature of Venice. The largest is the Grand Canal, which divides the city in two, with its four kilometers in length. You will also have the chance to see the Sanctuary of St.Lucy.
Campanile di San Giorgio dei Greci, or the 'leaning clocktower', was designed by Simone Sorella and completed in 1592. It apparently started tilting from the beginning of its construction. Like its adjoining church, the bell tower was built by and for the Greek community in Venice, primarily sailors and merchants.
The widest street in Venice. The entire route, which is made up of wide streets connected by bridges, was created during the 19th century to create rapid pedestrian access between Rialto and the railway station, demolishing the buildings that would otherwise delimit a long tortuous path between narrow streets .
The Rialto bridge is the oldest of the four bridges spanning the Grand Canal in Venice. It is famous for both its architecture and its history. For years it was the hub of Venice's economy.
St. Mark's square is the principal public square in Venice and is one of the most fascinating squares in the world, so much so that Napoleon Bonaparte defined it as "the most beautiful hall in Europe". Near the square there is the Patriarchal Cathedral Basilica of Saint Mark, commonly known as St Mark's Basilica, is the cathedral church of the Patriarchate of Venice. The interior of the domes, the vaults, and the upper walls were slowly covered with gold-ground mosaics depicting saints, prophets, and biblical scenes.
Called the Bridge of Sighs by locals, this emblematic monument of Venice was built in the 1600s and connects the Doge's Palace with the historic prison on the other side of the canal. It was given this name because tradition has it that, at the time of the Serenissima, the prisoners, crossing it, sighed at the prospect of seeing the outside world for the last time.
The Church of San Zaccaria is a 15th-century former monastic church in central Venice. It is a large edifice, located in the Campo San Zaccaria. The present church was built between 1458 and 1515. The facade is a harmonious Venetian mixture of late-Gothic and Renaissance styles.
The Ponte dell'Accademia is one of only four bridges to span the Grand Canal in Venice. It crosses near the southern end of the canal, and is named for the Accademia di Belle Arti di Venezia.
The squero of San Trovaso is one of the oldest and most famous Venetian squeros. The squero is the classic shipyard where small-sized boats such as gondolas are repaired. Have a peek at how a gondola is made or repaired!
Reach the beautiful Campo San Pantalon to admire the beautiful painting by Banksy commonly referred to as "the shipwrecked/migrant child".
Campo Santa Margherita is a city square in the sestiere of Dorsoduro of Venice. It is located near university buildings and serves as a gathering place for students at the end of the day.
Piazzale Roma is a square at the entrance of the city, at the end of the Ponte della Libertà. Piazzale Roma and nearby Tronchetto island are the only places in Venice's insular urban core accessible to ground motor vehicles, such as automobiles and buses. At the end of the tour, take the train back to Florence (2.5 hours).
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Infants are required to sit on an adult’s lap
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- The day before the tour we will send a mail and Whatsapp message with train ticket and all information.
- Travel time is included to the total duration
- Important: train ticket will be purchased 48 hours in advance. In case of cancellation up to 48 hours prior departure theticket costs will be fully charged.
- Tour operates in all weather conditions
Reviews(8)
Our guide, Droğan, was fabulous! He took us throughout all of Venice at a great pace that never felt hurried but was packed with historical, cultural and even current information. The architecture was beautiful and the canals were amazing in their construction and historical purposes. Loved this trip from beginning to end!!
Thank you so much for your nice review!
We paid $552 USD for this tour. Totally NOT worth it! Do not book this tour. I always give the most honest and complete reviews, with the benefit of the doubt for anyone providing tours. This tour has this tour guide, Alessandra, set up for failure. Venice is WAYYYY too crowded for the 3-hour itinerary arranged. We are only in our 40s and there is no way if you are of any age and/or disability, that you could do this tour. Regardless of that, you LITERALLY feel like you are chasing after your guide, unable to hear what they are saying, and dodging overwhelming crowds!! The twelve hour day is more of a train-ride and meaningless tour of Venice. We did, converse with our guide because we wanted to do the 45 minute gondola ride… and she was flexible with our requests. Thank God we did the Gondola because it was the best experience of the day (an addt’l e 150). Unfortunately, we did not have even a good experience with this tour. Our recommendation… book your own train ticket, investigate what interests you in Venice and do it at your own pace and leisure! Avoid the tour!
Hello, we are sorry to read about this review as everything is clearly listed in the product description (how much time is spent on train and how much time is spent in each visited attraction). It is true that Venice can be very crowded, however this is a well known fact and does not depend on us.
Where do you start? Itinerary that we received initially included many sights that we didn’t see. When We showed her the itinerary. She asked where we got it from and did not realize it came from the company. Whenever we asked our guide if we could see several of the listed sights, guide Alessandra said they were too far away or that we didn’t have time. She walked far too rapidly and offered no spontaneous information about any of the sites or places we were passing. She spoke very quietly and could not be heard except by one person in our group of four. When asked questions about specific sites, she often had no knowledge our apparent desire to get the information for us. She was very quiet. She walked too fast. Didn’t know anything didn’t know the itinerary. We actually left 45 minutes before the tour ended because she was of no value and explored some of the areas on our own. This tour was over priced and not an enjoyable experience. Our request for a partial refund was denied. All in all, the experience was painful and overpriced.
Hello, we are sorry to read about this review and, as we told you, will investigate the matter further with the tour guide as she usually gets good reviews. However we never received a formal request for a partial refund.
I’m glad I booked this private tour. I would have not navigated the streets of Venice myself. It’s easy to get lost there. Our guide Dogan sure knows his way around Venice. It was very hard to find an available gondola but Dogan made it possible that we have a gondola ride. Highly recommended tour for anyone staying in Florence.
Thank you for your nice review, we will be sure to tell Dogan and hope to see you again in Italy!
Our tour guide, Su, was amazing! She communicated before the tour, met us at the exact spot designated and gave such an awesome tour. We had a great time and she let us explore stores we wanted as well. We learned so much and saw beautiful Venice in such a fun way. I hope you get Su for your tour guide!
Thank you so much for your review, we're happy you had a great time and we will be sure to tell Su Aydin!
they sent me all the information and train tickets, everything was clear and simple, the guide was waiting for us at the Venice station, it was easy to find her, the guide was very professional and told us many things about the city of Venice.
Thank you for your review! We will be sure to tell the tour guide and we hope to see you again in Italy!
It was a wonderful day, the guide showed us many places, the guide was very friendly and professional . Venice is a beautiful city. recommended tour.
Thank you for your review! We will be sure to tell the guide and we hope to see you again in Italy!
Totally disappointed with this scam tour of Venice. It was clearly not worth at all the price paid! Just walk walk walk around. We could have done that by ourselves too. The tour operator did not have the courtesy to at least buy tickets to the Gondola and the Bell tower for the money charged for the tour. The guide did not have the radio and ear phones for us. We could barely hear what she was talking about the history. The description says estimated 12 hours for a full day tour. But we hardly there for 4 hours! And out of that 1 hour was or lunch. The tour operator booked tickets for us from Florence. We were expecting early morning travel and returning late evening. But they booked tickets such thoughtlessly that we arrived at 11 am and were put on return train at 4 pm back. And in 2nd class coach. How in the world can one see anything in less than 4 hours? The tour guide kept on saying you don't have enough time for anything we wanted to find out about. Utter waste of money. This is not the ~$890.00 we paid for. This should be worth much very very less. Completely bogus and duped. The tour operator mislead us and did not keep what was promised in the tour details.
Hello, we are sorry to read this review as it contains many misleading information. It is true that gondola ride and Bell Tower tickets are not included, the train tickets are second class and the tour guide does not provide earphones, but all of this is clearly stated in the product description, that you should have read before buying it. The tour guide took you to all the places listed in the product description: we understand that you wanted to visit other places too, but we were not misleading on the information about the tour description, as we clearly list all the places that you are going to see.
