Venice

Private Venice Canal Cruise: 2-Hour Grand Canal and Secret Canals

Name: Private Venice Canal Cruise: 2-Hour Grand Canal and Secret Canals
Brand: Avventure Bellissime
SKU: 2635GRANDCANAL
Price: 449.10 USD
Rating: 4.5 (139 reviews)

Badge of ExcellenceVenice, Italy

Venice Canal Cruise Grand Canal and Secret Canals by Motorboat

From $449.10

Price varies by group size

Select Date and Travelers

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

2 hours
Mobile ticket
Offered in: English

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Overview

Book 48h in advance and Discover Venice’s hidden gems on a 2-hour cruise through the city’s secret canals. Watch scenes of daily Venetian life as you glide through the lesser-known neighborhoods of Cannaregio, Dorsoduro and the Jewish Ghetto. A guide will share insight into the city’s history, architecture and local legends. For a grand finale, head out into the wider waters of the Grand Canal and float beneath the iconic Rialto Bridge. Numbers are limited to nine people on this small-group tour for a more intimate experience.

Explore the waterways of charming Venetian neighborhoods such as Cannaregio, the Jewish Ghetto and Dorsoduro
Discover canals away from the tourist trail, as well as attractions such as the Arsenale and Rialto Bridge
See craftsmen in work at a Dorsoduro gondola workshop and stop for photos at the Jewish Ghetto
Small-group cruise with a maximum of 9 people ensures a personalized experience

What's Included

Professional English-speaking guide
Luxurious motor-launch
Stop at the Jewish Ghetto
Grand Canal ride
Enter via the “Porta dell’Acqua“ into the impressive Arsenal, the historic shipyard of Venice
Stop by a Gondola Shipyard in the charming Dorsoduro district

Gratuities
Hotel pickup and drop-off
Meals

Meeting and Pickup

Meeting point

Giardini Reali
P.za San Marco, 30124 Venezia VE, Italy
Entrance to the Royal Gardens, on the waterfront of St Mark's Square - You'll meet Avventure Bellissime tour coordinator outside the Royal Gardens, in front of the wrought iron Gate holding a sign with the name of the tour and Avventure Bellissime written on it.

End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

What To Expect

See the quieter side of Venice with this small-group canal cruise. Make your way to the departure point near St Mark’s Square to meet your guide and board a comfortable motorboat. Enjoy the quiet charm of Venetian backstreets and observe canal-side scenes of daily life.

Pass through the gates of Porta dell’Acqua to enter Venice’s 12th-century shipyard known as the Arsenale. Learn how this historic naval depot was once among the greatest in Europe during Venice’s reign as a maritime superpower.

Next, glide through the narrow, picturesque canals of the Cannaregio neighborhood and make your way to Venice’s Jewish Ghetto. Disembark here for 15-20 minutes to explore the historic quarters by foot and capture photos of the centuries-old buildings that surround the main square.

Continue on by boat to the neighborhoods of Santa Croce and Dorsoduro, and pass a traditional gondola workshop where craftspeople carefully carve and finish these classic Venetian vessels by hand.

Finally, make your way out into the wider waters of the Grand Canal for a cruise past the opulent squares and churches that line its banks. Float beneath the famous Rialto Bridge before returning to the original departure point near St Mark’s Square.

Piazza San Marco (Pass By)

Canal Grande

1 hour • Admission Ticket Free

Ponte di Rialto (Pass By)

Arsenale di Venezia (Pass By)

Ghetto Ebraico

20 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Cannaregio (Pass By)

San Pietro di Castello (Pass By)

Dorsoduro (Pass By)

Ponte dell'Accademia (Pass By)

Santa Croce (Pass By)

Ponte degli Scalzi (Pass By)

Chiesa di Santa Maria di Nazareth - Chiesa degli Scalzi (Pass By)

Squero di San Trovaso (Pass By)

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking, unless booked within 2 days of travel. In this case confirmation will be received within 48 hours, subject to availability
Not wheelchair accessible
Near public transportation
Most travelers can participate
Tour is not suitable for people in wheelchairs or with walking difficulties as passengers are required to step down onto the boat when boarding. The variation of the level of tides can make the vessel unstable

During high water, the tour will take place, but it might happen we have to partly adapt the tour to the weather conditions
Operates in all weather conditions, please dress appropriately
All passengers pay the same rate irrespectively from their age
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.
This experience requires a minimum number of travelers. If it’s canceled because the minimum isn’t met, you’ll be offered a different date/experience or a full refund.

Traveler Photos

Reviews

4.5

139 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 139 reviews

Perfect start to Venice.

Cassie_C, Sep 2023

Our first tour of the trip! After landing in Venice all the way from the states, we were so grateful for this relaxing orientation to venice. We got so much information and understand the city better!

Save your money. Don’t book this one!

Patricia_B, May 2023

Tour was in a taxi and not in a wooden boat like the photos. Taxi was old and run down. Tour guide talked badly about “tourists” and the way they shop. His knowledge about the history was limited. We found ourselves correcting him several times. One strange thing was he kept asking us to leave our belongings (purse and backpack) on the taxi when we got off. Felt sketchy. Tour guide left us in the shopping district and not back where we started like it said. It was a 40 minute walk back. We mentioned we wanted to go back and he ignored us. Just awful experience. This was our 4th Viator tour this trip. The others were great.

Response from Host, May 2023

Dear Client, Thank you for your feedback . I spoke with our guide Sergio as from your name I could trace back the booking. I try to answer to all various points you arise: Sergio is a professional guide with degree in art and history and has been one of our guides for about 20 years. Therefore I'm a bit surprised to read that you had to correct him . Also he would never speak badly about tourists as we all live on tourism - he was explaining that since tourism has increased, many venitians have moved out from Venice to live outside of Venice - and this is a true fact. The tour could have easily finished back to where it started ; Sergio understood that you wanted to visit the shopping area and therefore offered you to stop at Rialto, as the main shopping street is between Rialto and St Mark's. In regards to the boat, these are the regular water taxis that are used in Venice to operate these tours and although Sergio confirmed it was not a wooden taxi , we would never operate our tours with run down taxis boats - but if you have pictures of the boat, please share those. We are a professional tour company that have been in business for 24 years and have grown thanks especially to the great dedication and love we have for our business and for trying always our best to deliver quality experiences to our clients. Most of the times we succeed , others we don't,like in all businesses as it is impossible to please everybody, for many variable and subjective reasons as well. Kind Regards Monica

boat ride and Jewish Ghetto stop

Jeff_S, Aug 2022

There were 8 of us on this cruise and the boat used only had seating for 3 to 4 outside the cabin. Those seated inside the cabin really couldn't see what the tour guide was discussing/telling us to look at. A boat without the cabin should have been utilized Also, really not so many secret canals as the tour was titled, they were just canals that most tourists would not see since they were mostly away from the main tourist locations

Response from Host, Aug 2022

Dear Client, Thank you for your feedback. In Venice the only boats allowed down the grand canal and that can be used to tour are the type of boats you were given for touring. We've been operating this tour for many years and our guides advice clients to stay outside in the open air - Generally there is room for 4 people in the back and 4 in the front - Majority of clients enjoy spend part of the time stading and part of the time seated. As for the secret/ hidden canals, our tour features many off the tourist routes canals to give you a different perspective of venice - this is what we intend for secret, seeing places of enchanting Venice most tourist don't see and visit. Yours sincerely, Monica

A trip of a lifetime

Greg_B, Jul 2022

The tour guide was very knowledgeable and spoke wonderful English. She took us to all the main attractions and then some, thank you

Great orientation of Venice by boat!

Ellen_M, May 2022

This was an excellent tour and I wholeheartedly recommend it! Georgia was our guide and she was superb. She gave lots of history and background on the city and the buildings. One of the highlights was our stop at the Jewish ghetto where we spent a significant time learning about how it came about and how it has transformed over the years. This was such a great introduction to our visit to the city! The driver was great and the boat was excellent and smooth. Perfect trip!

Lovely trip

Paul_N, May 2022

Lovely to travel all around Venice in boat with guide. Couldn’t quite hear all commentary from back, but a lovely couple hours

Response from Host, May 2022

Dear Client, Thank you fo your feedback and I'm just a bit concerned, although you are spending good words of praise about our tour, that you could not properly hear the guide. Guides are supplied with a mike during these tours by boat - did you advise your guide about the issues you were having about hearing her speech properly? Anyhow I'm glad you've overall enjoyed the tour. Seeing Venice from the water, it just gives a completely different perspective to our unique city. Kind Regards, Monica

Amazing!

Dustin_B, Aug 2021

The tour was amazing and just what we were looking for. Nice chance to explore outside of city center and check out other areas. Our tour guide was knowledgeable and extremely friendly. Shared tour but ended up being private as noone else was on the boat. 10/10!

Response from Host, Aug 2021

Dear Dustin, Thank you so much for your 5-star review! We are very happy the tour was amazing and we will certainly provide your comments to the guide. This tour was booked as a private experience so it was arranged only for you with no other people joining. Thank you for touring with us! Kind regards, Aleksandra Sales Manager @ Avventure Bellissime

Interesting canals tour with a very good guide

Kirsten_K, Oct 2019

We have been to Venice several times before. This time we wanted to get an a bit different view to the city and booked this tour (small group!) and we really saw things and got views we did not have before. Our guide Cristina was very knowledgeable, spoke good English, provided much information and shared many interesting stories. And just in the right dose - not too many details but enough to learn something new and at the same time not get overwhelmed with data you will forget the next minute anyway. We really got the impression that Cristina is passionate about this city and enjoys presenting it. And we enjoyed listening to her and watching some of the wonders that Venice has to offer.

Grand Canal Tour - Very Informative

Compass462006, Sep 2019

Very enjoyable and informative. Excellent tour for start of visit. Gave a 4 only because taxi did not accommodate outdoor viewing for all guests at same time.

Interesting experience

Dorislee_D, Aug 2019

Christina B. was an exceptional guide, she answered many questions about Venice and it’s history. She was knowledgeable about her beautiful city and she made is comfortable and entertained. There was only 6 of us on the tour so it was a nice size for that tour.

Great time on the water!

elifromohio, Jul 2019

Kristina our guide was very engaging and informative. Beautiful views of the city from many angles. Would recommend to anyone and everyone!

Fantastic Views of Venice Via the Canals

Juantia_B, Jun 2018

This was a wonderful tour. Christiana was very knowledgeable about the history of Venice and the neighborhoods along the canal. We were able to see sites that you can't see on gondola rides. I also particularly enjoyed walking through the Jewish Ghetto and viewing the monuments. Christiana was very personable and professional.

Excellent tour - extremely interesting...

Anna_S, Mar 2018

Excellent tour - extremely interesting - loved seeing the different types of boats used.

The tour guide was very...

VivianAnise_M, Feb 2018

The tour guide was very knowledgeable on the history and even many fun facts. With this tour, you really feel like you have been able to experience Venice in a unique way. Definitely recommend this tour.

Our tour was changed to one hour, but...

Ftnirish, Dec 2017

Our tour was changed to one hour, but we were notified well in advance. Our guide, Christina, was excellent, even in very cold conditions. Highly recommend.

The cruise was great. I really liked...

Sally E, Nov 2017

The cruise was great. I really liked that it was a small group. Our guide was wonderful. She brought the history and magic of Venice to life.

My husband and I loved this small group...

Brandon, Oct 2017

My husband and I loved this small group tour. Our tour guide was great and very knowledgeable! Would definitely recommend this tour!

This was a fabulous way to see Venice...

Nicholas S, Oct 2017

This was a fabulous way to see Venice by boat. It was the size of and same type of boat as the water taxis. The guide was very informative. It was a small group. He covered most of the Grand Canal, got off briefly in the Jewish Getto, and saw some of the less touristy back canals. Really an awesome tour, well worth it!

Good value. I wish we could have gone...

Colin K, Oct 2017

Good value. I wish we could have gone all the way down the Grand Canal

Was looking forward to this tour and...

Janice R, Oct 2017

Was looking forward to this tour and was very disappointed after finishing it. First of all the motor boat was too crowded - 8 passengers plus the guide. They put 4 of us in the back and 4 plus the guide in the front of the boat. It was a beautiful day and all the passengers in the back stood to enjoy the views. If you decided to sit outside you couldn't see anything around the people that were standing so you also had to stand. because 4 people were way too many and you couldn't move or even turn around to take pictures without pressing next to the people around you. The tour down the canal from the starting point was a waste of my precious time I had to enjoy Venice - not much to see other than St. Marks Square. Once the boat turned into the small canals the trip was very nice although as I said before, way too crowded. The stop at the Jewish Quarter was interesting but a little too long. Eventually the boat went into the Grand Canal but not far enough up the canal to enjoy all the Palaces, which is why you do the Canal. Personally I feel less time heading toward the Docks, and more time through the less traveled canals arriving at the Grand Canal farther up so tourists could see the best area of the canal. Of course there was plenty of room to sit inside the motor boat - naturally everyone wanted an outside view - especially to take pictures!! - Did not enjoy the trip due to the crowded boat.

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