Small Group Venice Grand Canal Panoramic Tour
Description
Embark on a captivating one-hour motorboat tour along the Grand Canal with a small group, accompanied by a multilingual host. Known as "the most beautiful street in the world," the Grand Canal stretches over 3 km in length and varies between 20 and 70 meters in width. It divides the city in two and serves as the main waterway for Venetian transportation, including private boats, vaporetti (water buses), water taxis, and gondolas. Select your preferred departure time from four available options when booking.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Navigate on board an elegant water taxi the famos s-shaped canal, the Grand Canal
St. Mark's Square has always been the most important Square in Venice and it has been defined as "the most beautiful drawing room of Europe".
The Doge's Palace is one of the finest example of Venetian Gothic style. It was the residence of the Doge, and the political and judicial heart of the city.
The island of San Giorgio Maggiore is located right in front of St. Mark's Square. On the island there is a 6th-century Benedictine church designed by Andrea Palladio.
The Church of the Redeemer was designed by the architect Andrea Palladio and built as a votive church to thank God for the deliverance of the city from a major outbreak of the plague.
The Ca' Pesaro is a Baroque marble palace facing the Grand Canal built by the Venetian architect, Baldassarre Longhena, who also designed the church of the Salute and Ca' Rezzonico, for the noble and wealthy Pesaro family.
At the beginning of the Grand Canal, the "barefoot bridge" connects the Railway station to the rest of the city.
It is a particularly notable example of the 18th century Venetian baroque and rococo architecture and interior decoration, and displays paintings by the leading Venetian painters of the period, including Francesco Guardi and Giambattista Tiepolo. Nowadays it hosts a public museum dedicated to 18th-century Venice (Museo del Settecento Veneziano).
Designed in the 16th century, Ca' Vendramin Calergi now hosts the casino of Venice.
The Ca' d'Oro or Palazzo Santa Sofia is a palace on the Grand Canal . One of the oldest palace in the city, its name means "golden house" due to the gilt and polychrome external decorations which once adorned its walls.
Pass under one of the most iconic symbol of Venice: the Rialto Bridge.
The Accademia Bridge is the only wooden bridge in Venice.
The Peggy Guggenheim collection is housed in the Palazzo Venier dei Leoni, an 18th-century palace, which was the home of the American heiress Peggy Guggenheim for three decades.
In the 17th century Venice experienced an unusually devastating outbreak of the plague. As a votive offering for the city's deliverance from the pestilence, the Republic of Venice vowed to build and dedicate a church to Our Lady of Health (or of Deliverance, Italian: Salute).
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Service animals allowed
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Infants are required to sit on an adult’s lap
- Specialized infant seats are available
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- Operated by a multi-lingual guide
- If you're planning a day trip to Venice and staying outside the city, please note that an access fee will be required on certain dates. For more information, including details about exemptions and the specific dates when the fee applies, please visit (https://cda.ve.it).
Reviews(79)
The boat was 30 minutes late, the boat was not properly tied to the pier so dangerous to get on, the first 5 people took up the only space for taking pictures since the windows were dirty, and the guide did not encourage them to share the space. The cruise was only 45 minutes instead of a hour due to late boat. Totally a waste of time.
This was an excellent tour! Our guide was knowledgeable about Venice and shared interesting facts about the city. We enjoyed the tour!
Nice boat ride but the commentator was not very friendly. He seemed board and only spoke on the way there, not the way back. He spent that time on his phone. Was extremely had to hear and understand him.
Tour very nice and well organized. The guide, a young lady, was very professional and friendly. But only about 45 minutes instead of an hour. The boat was moving fast. You could have slowed down a little to watch things in peace.
Unpresentable. We took the tour of the islands of Murano- Torcello- Burano. The guide gave excellent explanations but the time they give to go around each island is insufficient. Bad luck meant that from the last island, Bursno, the ship left the moment we reached it. They saw us arrive and left without waiting. We were speechless, see how they came out the moment you set foot on the jetty! I do not recommend this type of guide at all.
Waste of time and money! Guide was very unprofessional without any knowledge about anything! Very poor experience for not so little money
Small group tour with guide on part of the grand canal. Easy to find. Easy to book. Lovely start to Venice.
Would not recommend. This tour is literally a guide who hires a water taxi to take you from the start point (near the square) to the bridge near the train station and back. A water taxi can fit approximately 6 people outside (2 in the back, 4 in the front). If your tour has more than 6 people, then the remaining people will be in the center of the taxi - a stuffy interior with small windows that you can barely see out of. Perhaps some people are grouped with others that will rotate seats - the others on our tour did not. The tour guide spoke for maybe 5-10 minutes of the hour tour. For the fact that this cost $50 a person, I feel as though a couple or a small group could simply hire their own taxi and have a better experience. For our particular tour, a second guide got on board our taxi. The guide and the extra guide sat in the front outside seats - meaning only 2 people could sit outside and the rest of the paying tour members sat in the interior (in 90 degree heat) where you couldn't see. This was the case for the first 15 minutes of the 60 minute tour - until we stopped to drop off the bonus guide. That's right - we gave another guide a free ride down the canal, giving them the best seat.
We were very disappointed in this tour. There were too many people for the vessel so that some people had to sit inside. It’s very difficult to enjoy your scenic tour when you can’t see the sights. The two tour operators took two of the few available outdoor seats preventing the paying customers from seeing anything.
What a great way to experience another side of Venice! Our tour guide was friendly, knowledgeable and happy. Small group meant small group, only 9 in total on our tour. The time of day was perfect (18.30pm) and the tour was an hour which was just enough time to experience the Grand Canal in all its spendor.
