Venice

Private Tour: Venice Gondola Ride with Serenade

Venice, Italy

From $400.63

per group (up to 3)

Select Date and Travelers

up to 24 hours before the experience starts (local time)

35 minutes
Offered in: English

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Overview

Embark on a quintessential Venetian experience with a private, serenaded gondola ride through the famed canals of Venice. Glide past ancient palazzi and magnificent cathedrals on a traditional handcrafted gondola, while musicians serenade you with mood-setting Italian ballads. Gondolas have room for up to four passengers, so it’s the perfect opportunity for romance or an unforgettable family experience.

Glide around the Grand Canal, seeing colorful boats framed by gorgeous Gothic palaces
Sit back and relax as your private gondolier serenades you
Explore the myriad of smaller canals that lead off from the Grand Canal
Enjoy a gondola ride in the day or at night, at a time that suits you best

What's Included

Experienced and licensed local gondolier
Private gondola ride
Serenade

Guide
Hotel pickup and drop-off

Meeting and Pickup

Meeting point

C8MQ+24 Venice, Metropolitan City of Venice, Italy
Alilaguna ticket office is located at San Marco Giardinetti vaporetto stop, in front of Illy Caffè next to the Royal Gardens. Please don't look for Alilaguna office on Google maps. Strictly requested to be at the meeting point 15 minutes before the departure of the tour.

End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

What To Expect

Gondolas have been used to navigate Venice’s watery ways for more than 1,500 years and are still locally handcrafted using time-honored methods. Your romantic journey aboard one of these traditional vessels begins at Campo San Luca in central Venice, where you’ll board a private gondola and meet your friendly gondolier. Choose from an afternoon or evening departure to suit your schedule.

Relax into the comfortable seats as your standing gondolier skillfully navigates the famed Grand Canal. Soak up the passing scenery of Gothic palaces and historic homes as you glide beneath stone bridges and into the quieter canals of Venice’s backstreets. To add to the enchanting atmosphere, an on-board singer and musician (or, in some cases, your gondolier) will serenade you with a selection of Italian ballads. Musicians are usually guitarists or accordion players.

After 35 memorable minutes, say farewell to your gondolier back at the original departure point and continue on your own Venetian adventure with amore in your heart.

Price listed is per person based on four passengers per boat.

Gondola Station - Santa Maria del Giglio (Pass By)

Canal Grande (Pass By)

Peggy Guggenheim Collection (Pass By)

Ponte dell'Accademia (Pass By)

Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute (Pass By)

Palazzo Barbarigo Minotto (Pass By)

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking, unless booked within 12 hours of travel. In this case confirmation will be received as soon as possible, subject to availability
Not wheelchair accessible
Near public transportation
Infants must sit on laps
Infant seats available
Not recommended for travelers with back problems

No heart problems or other serious medical conditions
Most travelers can participate
A minimum of 2 people per booking is required
Each gondola can take 2, 3 people, with a minimum of 2 per gondola
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
This is a private tour/activity. Only your group will participate

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.

Traveler Photos

Featured review

Aleksandra_H

What can I say apart from breathe taking, the ambiance of Venice and the amazing singing was truly memorable. It’s something you should definitely get when visiting Venice, our singer had a beautiful voice both me and my husband really enjoyed it.

Reviews

4.0

189 reviews

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

Reviews by Viator travelers.

We perform checks on reviews

Showing 1-10 of 189 reviews

Memorable experience

Aleksandra_H, Mar 2024

Amazing experience!

Christopher_R, Nov 2023

This was simply amazing! The singer and the accordion player had such incredible talent! It was the highlight of our Venice trip!

Better hope you're not running late...

Terence_B, Nov 2023

We had a day trip planned to Venice from Florence. Our train was delayed leaving Florence by 1 hour. Nothing we could do about it. We reached out along the way, and they said if we didn't get there at the originally scheduled time then we were out of luck. These people wouldn't wait or reschedule. THey said tough luck, no refund, no reschdeule. No refund. Take your 1 star review and choke on it. Hope you enjoyed my money

Not what I had hoped

Jeffrey_C, Oct 2023

Directions to get our tickets were good - we arrived an hour early with our voucher and had them printed out and were told to go to the gondola pier at the appointed time. There is a quaint cafe right by the docks (Illy Cafe) where we had a nice drink before our ride. We went to the line 10 minutes early as there was a lull and were told to return in 10 minutes. By our appointed time, the place was packed with many tour groups who were given priority and we (and others who had tickets) were told to stand to the side to wait … for 20 more minutes. Finally we were instructed to go to our gondola. We had a private 45 minute ride with a musician booked … when we got on our boat and we’re about to leave I asked about our serenader and showed our ticket. I was told to sit down as we needed to leave and that there were no musicians available. We were gone 20 minutes total. The reason I didn’t rate lower and said yes to recommending is that it is a must to do a gondola ride when in Venice. There seemed to be other options that weren’t quite the s***show that this particular gondola pier was. It seemed their goal was to get people on and off as quickly as possible and take the shortest route available. Not the relaxing romantic 45 minute serenaded gondola ride I had hoped for with my wife.

Romantic

Paul_C, Oct 2023

The beautiful voice of Marcello Marcus serenading us thru out the tour was fabulous!! We had a nice group of 3 men taking very good care of us.

Best experience hands down!

Amy_J, Sep 2023

Favorite experience in Italy! Blew us away with accordion player and singer. We were the envy of everyone on the canal!

Beyond expectations

Margaret_C, Sep 2023

I am sad to say I don’t know any of the names of our singer, Gandalf operator or accordion player. I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect night. So worth the extra money spent to hear the talents of these artists!

Highlight of our trip

Daniel_G, Aug 2023

This was the absolute best gondola ride of our trip. The guitar player was fabulous and the singer was wonderful! We did three different gondola experiences while in Venice and this was by far the best…so romantic and relaxing!

Horrific

Anneliese_B, Jul 2023

Horrific experience completely destroyed what otherwise was enjoyable once we fought to get the services we paid for. We weren’t the only parties standing at the assigned spot and being told our tickets were not valid the time slot we prepaid was not avaiable , Nicole was horriable didn’t care we had to chase her down the pier as she walked away from us multiple times saying it was a Vitar problem. Our tour guide in Venice said this wasn’t the first time she heard this Vitar can not deliver on items they promise and many people loose their money and experience. After a long day in the sun we really didn’t need to be chasing the tour company around Venice , beyond rude no explanation and overall the worst experience. Do not book with Vitar you stand a good chance of not getting the services you paid for

A potentially brilliant event ruined because of the trauma in delivery. Not a recognised trip option in Venice.

Wendy_C, Jul 2023

This event option is not recognised by the gondola company and they were not expecting us. Fortunately, one of their managers took control and asked us to return in 25 minutes during which time she managed to rustle up a singer and a guitarist, both of whom were very good and keen to please. The gondolier on the other hand was surly and did not communicate. With a great deal of trauma and time we finally got what we had requested and paid for. Sad as this is not a cheap event and one we had been looking forward to.

Venice Serenade

Tom_R, Jul 2023

The singer and accordion player elevated the experience in unexpected ways. For a short time we were stars of the Venice canals! Amazing.

Highlight of the trip

Mary_M, Mar 2023

This was our first trip to Italy and to Venice. There are many opportunities to arrange a gondola ride after you arrive, but we saw only one other gondola with music serenade during our three-day stay in Venice. People were stopping on bridges or from other gondola rides to stare or record the musicians on our gondola. It was worth the extra expense! The only drawback is finding the booth to check in for this experience. One kind Viator operator not affiliated with this company told us to look for the blue seagull symbol next to the name Alilaguna. I provided a picture for reference. This was my favorite tour of our eight days in Italy. Hands down.

Romantic Gondola ride

Albert_A, Feb 2023

It was a nice stroll around the canals. Good singer. Next time I would rather do more of a day or closer to sunset then the time I booked it. It was dark through the canals, so could really see that clear.

Ciao Valencia

Russel_M, Oct 2022

Was a great singer and musician. They said you would receive Prosecco and we didn’t though which was dissapointing.

Highlight of our trip to Venice

Jonathan_C, Aug 2022

Lovely experience. Due to a last minute medical issue we had to cancel on the day but they were really accommodating and changed us to the next day at the same time. We felt very special as we entertained the passers by and the restaurants along the canals. Around 30 mins - one of the highlights of our trip.l!!

Spoiled mood in Venice

Vineel_S, Jul 2022

We were given a run around of location. Finally the prior ride location put us with other couple who paid less than fourth of what we paid

Exactly like in the movies

Mindy_H, Jul 2022

The gondola ride was everything I hoped for and more. The accordion player was excellent, and the singer was clearly a real local dude who enjoyed what he was doing. Our gondolier even got involved and sang a bit (also he was hilarious). People on the streets and in other gondolas were whipping out their phones to record us as we meandered along the canals. I'm SO glad I picked the musical gondola ride. It made my parents' year. I would be remiss not to mention Vanda, the tour company agent who collected us at the meetup point. She was SUPER attentive and friendly. She helped us quickly find a bathroom in the last minutes before the ride (when most of the public bathrooms had already closed - so be careful about that if you book an evening gondola ride). Thanks Vanda!

Help

Lilly_N, Jul 2022

Still waiting for my refund. This was the worse experience during my whole trip. We paid $500 for a 20 minute ride that was not pleasant at all. Before check in we kept getting redirected and the ride was not fun at all. After this gondola ride we were not happy so we went on another random gondola ride for $100 for 45 minutes and that ride took us around explaining history on the buildings and the gondola was super friendly. Wish I didn’t book through this app first and just waited. You can find better gondolas everywhere in Venice. After emailing and requesting for a refund we never heard back. Extremely upset. Please refund me.

Once in a lifetime experience!

Julia_B, Jun 2022

I bought this gondola ride as a 35th birthday present for my boyfriend. It was a lovely experience! Claudia met us by St Marks Basilica and walked us over to the departure point. It was great to have someone accompany us, and Claudia was so sweet! The gondola and the musicians were ready when we arrived. There was the gondolier, an accordion player, and a singer. The accordion player was great and the singer had such a great energy and voice! This experience is definitely much pricier than other gondola rides, but in the 2 days we were in Venice, we were literally the only people that we saw with a serenade. Everyone else was recording us! Overall a great once in a lifetime experience!

Unforgettable Highlight of Venice

desireesacdalan, May 2022

It was one of the most romantic experiences, a private serenade with music with the one you love. This is a must with your spouse, so be romantic and make this once in a lifetime experience happen. They will fall in love with you all over again and be bonded to you for life.

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