St. Mark's, Doge's Palace & Gondola Ride with Murano and Burano
Description
This full-day Venice tour brings together the city’s greatest hits and lagoon islands in one carefully planned route. Start with timed-entry tickets and guided visits to St. Mark’s Basilica and the Doge’s Palace, where golden mosaics, grand halls, the Golden Staircase, and the Bridge of Sighs reveal the power of the Venetian Republic. Then shift from footpaths to canals with a shared gondola ride before a quick lunch break near St. Mark’s Square. In the afternoon, board a private boat to Murano and Burano, where artisan traditions take center stage through glassblowing and lacemaking demonstrations. With expert guiding in the morning, a tour leader for the islands, and transport arranged between major experiences, this tour covers Venice by land, canal, and lagoon in one seamless experience.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Enter St. Mark’s Basilica with a timed-entry ticket and follow your guide inside one of Venice’s most important churches. See golden mosaics and learn how relics, art, and politics shaped this Byzantine landmark.
Continue into the Doge’s Palace with a timed-entry ticket and guided tour. Walk through grand halls filled with Renaissance art, climb the Golden Staircase, and cross the Bridge of Sighs as your guide explains Venice’s former seat of political power.
Next, board a shared gondola for a 30-minute sightseeing ride through Venice’s canals. Pass under historic bridges and along centuries-old buildings while a professional gondolier operates the boat.
Then, enjoy a quick lunch break near St. Mark’s Square. Lunch is at your own expense, and your guide can offer a local recommendation in the area.
Meet your afternoon tour leader and board a private boat reserved for the group. Cross the Venetian Lagoon toward Murano, with views of the Venice skyline as the city drifts behind you. Arrive on Murano, an island known for its glassmaking heritage. Visit a working studio for a glassblowing demonstration, then enjoy free time to shop for Murano glass or walk through town before your next stop.
Continue by boat to Burano, known for painted houses and lacemaking traditions. Watch a lacemaking demonstration with local artisans, then enjoy free time for photos and exploring the island streets. Ride the private boat back to Venice as your full-day tour winds down. The tour ends near St. Mark’s Square, about two blocks from the Doge’s Palace, at the same place where the Murano and Burano boat departs.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- Please refrain from bringing big back packs or bags, because they are not allowed inside.
- A valid government-issued ID is required for entrance to St. Mark's Basilica. The name on your ticket (entered at check-out) must match the name on your ID, or you may be refused entry.
- Please note that depending on the start time the itinerary order can vary.
- This tour consists of two parts and includes free time for lunch (at your own expense)
Reviews(1,016)
Sandro and Filippo were great guides. Family learned alot about Venice and the Murano and Burano. Fast no lines included admissions to Doge and Church reduced stress with kids and included Gondola ride and Boating to see Murano and Burano was a huge plus..
Claudia was a great guide tour who not only made promises that we will have a great tour but lived up to those promises and also exceeded our expectations. We had a great time. And appreciate the opportunity and new knowledge.
Murano and Burano were wonderful and Serena was a lovely and helpful tour guide. Highly recommend this part of the tour. St. Marks and Doges Palace were nice but it was extremely hot, we weren’t able to get food in between the morning tour and the afternoon tour and Grace was very long winded. I have to admit most of our group “checked out” because we were so hot and tired. It was hard to focus on anything she was telling us. I would recommend you let travelers know that if they are coming from the train station that it literally takes 30 minutes by foot (at a fast pace) to get to the tour start. We had no idea that it took this long so we were late for our tour (which I made the guide aware of via Messenger). The company was very accommodating however in meeting our needs because we were late.
Tour guides were very knowledgeable and made the tour more enjoyable than walking through myself. They even offered to take photos of us at the perfect time.
Felipe was amazing! Very knowledgeable and learned a lot. Very hot in August so be prepared and have water. But our guide didn’t miss a step and took care of everyone.
Our guide, Francesca, was well informed and easy to understand. All of the places we visited were interesting and memorable. Five stars!’n
Great experience. They do all the thinking for you and you can just enjoy.
Loved this tour and getting to see some of the biggest sights in one tour. The gondola ride was fantastic but wish it could have been longer and private.
Wonderful tour guides and super informative - for our morning session we had Marco! He was amazing! Great sense of humor and he knew everything and then some! For the afternoon part of our tour we had Francesca. She was very please to and also was a super informative on both burano and Murano islands as long as on the boat ride there. Was well worth every penny!!! You get so much for your money!
Amazing, breathtaking tour of the stunning city of venice !
