Venice in One Day: All-Inclusive Sightseeing Tour & Gondola Ride

Venice, Italy

Fabulous Venice Doge Palace Golden Basilica glass demonstration and gondola ride

8 hours (approx.)
Mobile ticket
Offered in: English

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Overview

Soak up the best of Venice by land and by water in one convenient half-day package. Tour inside the splendid Doge’s Palace and St. Mark’s Basilica with a guide, discover the ancient art of glassblowing with a live demonstration, and glide through the city’s famous canals on a romantic gondola ride. Later, continue exploring at your own pace with an included ticket to the Procuratie museums of St. Mark’s Square and a self-guided tour using a special smartphone app to navigate through the city’s maze-like heart.

Learn the secrets behind St. Mark's Basilica and the Doge's Palace
Watch a live glassblowing demonstration in an old factory showroom
See Venice from the water on a classic gondola ride
Explore the city's most historic quarter with the help of an app and audio guide

What's Included

English-speaking guide
St. Mark's Basilica skip-the-line entry ticket
Doge's Palace skip-the-line entry ticket
St. Mark's Basilica and Doge's Palace guided tour
Bridge of Sighs access
Doge's Palace Prisons access
Correr Museum, Archeological Museum, and Marciana Library access
Venice walking tour
Roundtrip to Murano Island (semi-private water taxi)
Murano Glass Factory skip-the-line access
Glass-blowing demonstration
Murano Island walking tour
Audio receivers for groups of 10 or more
Gondola tradition introduction
Shared gondola ride

Hotel pickup
Food and drinks
Guided tour of Correr Museum, Archeological Museum, and Marciana Library
Entry fees not specified in the inclusions

Meeting and Pickup

Meeting point

Venice Tours Srl Close to St.Mark’s Square, Calle S. Gallo, 1093/b, 30124 Venezia VE, Italy
Having the Basilica of San Marco behind you, stay on the right side of the square and go under the arches. Find Olivetti Museum, turn right, pass under the archways, cross the little bridge and go straight to “Campo San Gallo”. Venice Tours Office is in the square.

Start time

09:00 AM

End point

St. Mark's Square
Piazza San Marco, 30124 Venezia VE, Italy

What To Expect

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Not wheelchair accessible
Near public transportation
Most travelers can participate
Tour does not operate in case of exceptional high tide or in case of unplanned religious functions (in these cases it can be postponed to the day after otherwise it will be refunded)
Each gondola can host maximum 5 people; the seat aboard cannot be chosen but will be assigned by the gondolier depending of guests weight.
The Gondola Ride does not operate in case of exceptionally bad weather, high/low tide or local gondoliers strike (in these cases it can be postponed the days after otherwise it will be refunded)
On Sundays, feast days and in case of unplanned religious celebrations the Basilica tour foresees the visit with direct access to the Terrace and to St. Mark's Museum situated on the first floor. Due to the Holy Mass taking place at the ground floor, in those festivity days it is possible to admire the mosaics partially from the first floor.

Due to the security reason, luggage and bags are not allowed inside the Basilica
On certain dates, most travelers staying outside of Venice who are planning to visit for the day will be required to pay a €5 access fee. For further details (including exemptions) and to learn what days this fee is applicable, please visit: https://cda.ve.it
For the visit to St. Mark's Basilica, suitable clothing is required (no shorts)
During some days of high turnout or for other unforeseen reasons, the waiting time to access St. Mark's Basilica might be longer than expected
The Marciana Library is closed on Saturdays and Sundays
The tour might not operate or the itinerary may change in cases of wind or bad weather
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 15 travelers

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.

Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.
Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.

Reviews

3.0

13 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews

Reviews by Viator travelers.

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Showing 1-8 of 13 reviews

Clueless and not helpful

Dyce_M, Jun 2022

They couldn't find our reservation. Clueless look on staff. Tried to send us to another office. 2 different starting points. Said we could "catch up". Called tour operator. They claimed we were late. We weren't. They said we could do half. Couldn't do half because we had to do OUR OWN tour of Doge's Palace. It will be a case of he said, she said. We'll see what Viator does.

Great tour, confirm start and meetup times before tour!

Nicolas_W, Apr 2022

As others have mentioned the transition between tours is not great. The Doge's palace + church tour meeting location and time are well advertised, but we only found out the other meeting times by contacting the tour operator directly. The glass blowing begins at 1pm at the same spot you meet for the palace + church tour at 10:45. The Gondola tour also meets at the same spot, but at 4pm. The doge's palace and basilica tour were great: Guide was experienced and knew the highlights, and you skip the huge majority of the lines. The tour itself felt a bit rushed, there was no time to spend on your own in either location and our bathroom breaks were disrupted because the lines were too long to wait (which was a problem with the kids).

Response from Host, Apr 2022

Thanks for the review. Please consider that on product page it's clearly written the meeting point for each experience. At your disposal for further information. Regards.

Interesting sights, not a great guide for palace and cathedral. Loved the gondola.

Nome, Mar 2022

The Palace and cathedral were magnificent. The tour guide was not very good. Couldn’t hear most of the time even tho the radios provided were a nice touch. She didn’t speak into her microphone most of the time. Other groups barged through our group or joined the group. Not a very good at keeping the group together. We returned for the glass blowing and no one showed up. This was a different company from the palace and cathedral part of the tour. We waited for the gondola trip and we’re very happy with the trip. The guide was very helpful and very organized. So, would I recommend this to anyone else? Not sure.

Response from Host, Mar 2022

Dear Guest, we are sorry for your review, please consider that the guide explains our clients interesting curiosities about the Doge's Palace and the Basilica. Regarding the glassblowing tour, the guide always accompanies the clients to the activity location and assists them in case of information. Regards.

Train delay made us miss the tour

Joseph_S, Sep 2021

The newsstand was not helpful when we arrived late. Had to buy new we event tickets on our own. WE overnighter after but 3 days maybe required

Response from Host, Oct 2021

Dear Joseph, thank you for your message, I would like to inform you anyway that considering that the tour is shared and guide left the meeting point in time. We had unsold places since you were late. At disposal

Packaged tour ticked of most of the ‘must sees and dos’ in Venice

Laura_B, Feb 2020

We had a short 2 day stay in Venice and this packaged tour ticked of most of the ‘must sees and dos’ when you visit the baffingly beautiful city. The tour guide around the palace and basilica was wonderful. Really informative and interesting. Never would have learned so much walking around on our own. We think we went to a different glassblowing demonstration than the one advertised (we just followed a guy who was there at the end of the tour and it was in a different location). It was okay, a way to kill time but an obvious sales opportunity for them. And the gondola, if you want romance - pay extra for a private one. If you want to save money, take a gander of the gorgeous waterways and say you’ve done it, this’ll do the trick. Overall great experience, felt our limited time was well spent.

Response from Host, Feb 2020

Dear, Than for the lovely regie. Best regards

Loved the Gondola Ride!

Frank_G, Aug 2019

We enjoyed this tour. We saw lots of places, the Basilica church and the Doge Palace. The Jeweled Art in the church was amazing. Enjoyed the Bridge of Sighs and dungeon. The Gondola Ride was our favorite. Thank You!

Response from Host, Aug 2019

Thank you for your kind review Best regards

DON’T USE THIS COMPANY!!

blaineman5, Jul 2019

DON’T USE THIS COMPANY!! Couldn’t hear the guide and when I asked about the gondola part of the tour she told me to go ask a colleague in the square that she had no idea. When I looked for a tour representative they had disappeared after the tours started. The customer service number I called had no idea and your resv# can’t be pulled up.

Response from Host, Jul 2019

Dear, We are very sorry for the review but maybe you talked with other agency staff because ours always knows perfectly the meeting point and, in addition the representatives have big signs with the name of the tour and remain at the points about 20 minutes, so, I guess you arrive a little bit late. And every day we meet hundreds of people for tours like these Your comment about the customer service sounds strange because it assistants daily all our clients in order to give the best satisfaction. Best regards

Es war eine Super Führung Doge Palace Goldene Basilika

Roam12432911617, Jun 2019

Es war eine Super Führung im Doge Palace und Goldene Basilika Es wäre gut wenn man alles gebucht hat das man auf dem ganzen Weg betreut wurde. So kamen wir bis in die Glasvorführung, von dort an den Standort Gondelfahrt mussten wir selber gehen. Es war niemand vor Ort, mussten anrufen vom Hotel und ein anderer Termin abmachen. Die Gondelfahrt war ok

Likely to Sell Out