Venice Tour: Skip-Line St Mark’s & Gondola Ride
Description
A first-timer to Venice, or don’t know where to begin your explorations? Over the course of this tour, experience many of the city’s top highlights. See the Rialto Bridge, fish market, historic mansions, and a quirky bookshop on a city walk before admiring the shimmering gold mosaics inside St. Mark’s Basilica. Plus enjoy a relaxing gondola ride and explore areas of the city that many tour groups miss. If you're short on time or want an introduction to Venice in just 2.5 hours, select the Welcome to Venice Express option at time of booking. Note: This option does not include a gondola ride.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Meet near the Rialto Bridge and learn why it was initially considered a very bad idea to build it. Take a quick look at the Rialto Fish Market to learn about the long fishing history of the city and its famous cuisine. Get a couple of restaurant recommendations from your local guide!
Continue your walking tour to discover some of the city’s hidden gems. You'll learn what it is like to live on the island today as you meander through hidden alleyways. See a remarkable statue by Verocchio on the Campo San Giovanni and Paolo, where you will also see a variety of typical Venetian architectural styles.
Pause to admire a unique mansion that belonged to a powerful Venetian family.
You'll learn what it is like to live on the island today as you meander through hidden alleyways, stopping along the way at a quirky Venetian bookstore with a stunning canal view and friendly resident cats. Your guide will wait outside, allowing you few minutes inside to explore on your own.
With pre-reserved entry, you’ll bypass the often long lines and head inside this extraordinary church. Your expert guide will bring the basilica to life—revealing how its unique blend of eastern and western design came to be, uncovering the dramatic story of how St. Mark’s relics arrived in Venice, and helping you appreciate the shimmering gold mosaics that make this place unlike anywhere else in the world.
Your guide will then leave you to enjoy a 30-minute (approximately) gondola ride with a professional gondolier. Limited to only 5 people per gondola, this experience will be both intimate and relaxing. Punt through the quieter canals of Venice as you relax and enjoy the city at its best! Note: the Welcome to Venice Express option does not include a gondola ride.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- Unfortunately due to the nature of this tour it is not suitable for guests with mobility impairments or with wheelchairs, or strollers.
- The Rialto Fish Market is closed on Sundays.
- This is a walking tour. Guests should be able to walk at a moderate pace without difficulty.
- Large bags, trolleys and backpacks cannot be accommodated on this tour.
- During times of high tides, flooding, or heavy rain, the gondola ride may be substituted for another experience.
- The full names of all participants must be provided at the time of booking and must match the names on the ID/Passport. Name changes are not permitted.
- Please note that a photo ID is required to visit the St. Marks Basilica. Failure to bring an ID can result in the security staff refusing your entrance to the monument.
- St. Mark’s Basilica can be subject to closures due to particular liturgical celebrations, especially during major religious holidays such as Easter or Christmas. In the event that the Basilica is closed, explanations will be provided from the outside.
- Please note: This tour offers multiple options. Take a moment to choose the one that best suits your interests.
Reviews(513)
The tour was excellent. Philipo was our guide and he was very knowledgeable about the history of Venice. And he took us to some spots that were not on the tour that were very interesting. The highlight was the gondola ride. I would definitely recommend this tour in Venice.
The guide was amazing! She shared a lot about the sites, but also a lot of local knowledge and history too which was a great touch. We only had one other person in our little tour group so it felt very intimate and tailored! I am embarrassed that I cannot remember the guide’s name but it began with an I! Would return just for her, a real local Venetian.
Very good experience. The guide was very polite and profesionnal.
We had a great guide! On time and very informative.
Tulia was an amazing tour guide, a good conversationalist and very knowledgeable. She understood what our needs were when they arose. She also made sure we got to our destination as well, at the end of our tour. Thank you to her so much for an enjoyable experience. 😊
Tulia was an amazing guide. So kind and knowledgeable. Would 1000% recommend this tour to anyone looking to learn about Venice
Tulia was very informative and a pleasure. She was accommodating while also keeping to the agenda.
Paola our guide was very knowledgeable and friendly. Creating a great experience for our family which end with a beautiful gondola ride.
our guide is very nice and knowledgeable, and speaks very fluent english. walked us to some spots we won’t find by ourselves
this was so fun! it was a very short but sweet tour that allowed us to see some of the beautiful churches, plazas, ride a gondola, and explore the area. I really appreciated how our guide talked through the tour and educated us on everything in detail. My family really enjoyed this tour and I would recommend.
