Gondola Ride and St Mark's Basilica Tour with Pala d'Oro Upgrade
Description
Experience the best of Venice, starting from its golden heart. Begin with a guided tour of St. Mark’s Basilica, where you’ll marvel at the 8,000 square meters of shimmering Byzantine mosaics and learn the fascinating history of this architectural masterpiece. After exploring the cathedral's wonders, transition to the water for a shared 30-minute traditional gondola ride. You’ll glide along a stretch of the Grand Canal to admire the Basilica della Salute, before drifting into the charming side canals to see the iconic Teatro La Fenice from a unique perspective.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Meet the tour Guide in Calle Larga Ascensione in front of the Post Office (Poste Italiane)
Experience the best of St. Mark’s Basilica in one hour. This guided tour focuses on the must-see highlights of one of Venice’s most important landmarks: - The Golden Mosaics: witness the glow of one of the world's largest collections of gold leaf art. - Byzantine Architecture: discover the unique fusion of Eastern and Western styles. - Relics & Legends: learn the thrilling story of how St. Mark’s remains were brought to Venice.
Enjoy a 30-minute gondola ride through charming side canals, passing the world-famous Teatro La Fenice.
Gliding along a scenic stretch of the Grand Canal, you’ll admire the Basilica della Salute. This Baroque masterpiece, designed by Longhena, is famous for its unique architecture that offers a different, fascinating perspective from every angle as you pass by.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Specialized infant seats are available
- Not recommended for travelers with spinal injuries
- Not recommended for travelers with poor cardiovascular health
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- If you choose the tour departing at 10:45 am, there will be a break of approximately 3 hours between the visit to the St. Mark's Basilica and the gondola ride (Basilica 10:45 - 11:45; Gondola 15:00 - 15:30).
- If you choose the tour departing at 9:15 am, there will be a break of approximately 1 hour between the visit to the St. Mark's Basilica and the gondola ride (Gondola 9:15 - 9:45; Basilica 10:45 - 11:45).
- Please provide the full names of all travelers when booking. Failure to present a voucher with all travelers’ full names at the ticket office prior to entry may result in denied entry to the attraction.
- Each traveler must present a valid passport or ID document that matches the name provided at the time of booking for successful entry to St.Mark’s Basilica.
- In cases of religious ceremonies, exceptionally high tides or other special occasions, access to St. Mark's Basilica may not be permitted.
- To visit St Mark's Basilica it is necessary to dress appropriately (no shorts, vests or tops) and backpacks are not allowed for safety reasons.
- This is a collective tour, which means there might be other participants going on the tour with you.
- Please note that, due to the particular morphological structure of Venice and the logistic problems resulting from it, we cannot guarantee that the whole tour is accessible to people with limited mobility. This means that people with walking difficulties and wheelchair users could not be able to access some parts of the itinerary.
- The gondola ride might be suspended in case of bad weather. In such cases, you are required to go to the tour departure point in order to know whether the tour takes place or not and any alternative ways to use the service.
- Please make sure to arrive on time so you don't miss out! We are unfortunately unable to offer refunds or credits for late arrivals or no-shows.
- On certain dates, most travelers staying outside of Venice who are planning to visit for the day will be required to pay +an access fee. For further details (including exemptions) and to learn what days this fee is applicable, please visit: https://cda.ve.it/en.
- Entrance fees reserved for tour operators and guides: €12.00 for St. Mark’s Basilica and €24.00 for the Basilica plus Pala d’Oro (Golden Altarpiece).
Reviews(63)
In the beginning, it was very unorganized. We arrived at the meeting spot, received our radios for communication with the tour guide and the tour guide just proceeded to walk off. No follow me, no keep up, no nothing. Also, share in the notes a little clearer that having knees covered is a must depending on who you are. They also need to ensure it’s clear upon booking when they say “break” that includes a couple of hours between the Basilica and the Gondola ride. The guy afterwards asked are we doing the 3pm or 5:15 ride, we weren’t aware there were options and planned to do it all in one setting. Overall, the ride was decent 15-20 mins on the gondola was enough and all provided.
It’s says it’s 3 hours long however the tour of the Basilica was just over an hour and the gondola ride was 25min and not very scenic. Could have been so much more. An overpriced tour! Sadly wouldn’t recommend this activity. Only positive thing was that customer service helped us rebook part of the tour for the following day.
It was great! The length of the ride was perfect. Well organized too. We would have enjoyed a little singing by the gondolier driver.
Gandula experience was not enjoyable. It was so uncomfortable riding while the other 2 people sat comfortable. We were a party of 3 and sat on chairs. Totally not worth it. They so t make it fun at all. It was also crowded. The church guide was very knowledgeable but He just left us in the church. It’s over and then we had to wait a while for the gondola tour. Not sure I would recommend this tour. It’s all about the business not about a quality experience.
Indifferent guide, who made public a physical discomfort of one of us in a manner that was unprofessional and embarrassing. We decided to withdraw from the tour since the guide was maintaining a speed that was too fast for us. The gondola ride started almost 45 minutes after the scheduled time. The manager did not care to inform the guests the reasons for the delay. Depressing guest management practices.
Honestly go do it! It's an experience that's worth the price. It cost us about €80. We did it for the experience "when in venice vibe" but it was 100% worth it. The guys who guide the gondolas are amazingly insightful. They will answer all questions, take pictures and just make the whole experience very enjoyable.
St. Marks tour was not good. Tour guides English was not easily understood and your earphones are very low quality which made the experience difficult. Gondola ride was acceptable.
Tour guide was good, Mark, but the meeting point and crowds were difficult to maneuver. The tour company seemed disorganized, radios had several issues and the gondola ride was less than 15 minutes around the block. Wouldn’t book again.
My wife and I arrived in Venice around 9.30am via train. With assistance from some locals we eventually found the designated area for meeting the tour. For early October the whole area was manically busy with an excessive number of other tour groups. Prior to the meeting time we hurriedly moved around these crowds for 15 minutes looking for our guide, who was meant to be dressed in a particular coloured outfit and be holding a listed flag. We never found this guide, to our extreme disappointment & sadness at missing our much awaited tour.
We got to the tour and the guide was knowledgeable but the sound was super scratchy and a lot of feedback so it was hard to understand anything. Then we were told to go back to the meeting point for the gondola ride. The kiosk was all boarded up. When I called support they called someone who said they forgot to tell us the gondola ride portion wouldn’t be for another 3 hours. Nowhere in the tour description did it say the gondola ride was that much later in the day. We weren’t able to make it for the gondola ride because of this. Waiting to see if my partial refund request was approved.
