Venice Walking Tour and Gondola Ride

Venice, Italy

3 hours
Mobile ticket
Offered in: English

Overview

The ideal introduction for first-time visitors, this classic walking tour combines the blockbuster sights of history-packed Venice with a relaxing gondola ride. Listen to legends and stories from the city’s Renaissance heyday as you travel down cobblestoned streets and over picturesque footbridges. Tours cover Saint Mark’s Square, Doge’s Palace, and the legendary Calle Varisco.

A classic Venice walking tour with gondola ride
Partake in the city’s cherished 1,500-year-old tradition, the city's iconic gondola system
History in action: listen to in-depth stories and commentary from your own private group guide
Discover lesser-known street and back alleys, packed with Venice’s hidden treasures

What's Included

Guided tour
Traditional Gondola ride
Small group limited to maximum of 14 people

Food and drinks
Personal purchases
Tip

Meeting and Pickup

Meeting point

Stazione di Venezia Santa Lucia
30121 Venice, Metropolitan City of Venice, Italy
The guide will wait for you in front of Flying Tiger shop located inside the train station

End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

What To Expect

Canal Grande

10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Piazza San Marco

30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Campanile di San Marco

30 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

Torre dell'Orologio

10 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

Ponte dei Sospiri

30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Ponte di Rialto

30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Doge's Palace

30 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

Teatro La Fenice

10 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

Laguna di Venezia (Pass By)

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Not wheelchair accessible
Stroller accessible
Near public transportation
Most travelers can participate

A minimum of 2 people per booking is required
It is recommended to wear comfortable shoes
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 tour/activity will have a maximum of 8 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.

Traveler Photos

Featured review

Trail229708

Julian was excellent. He was very engaged and knowledgeable. He spoke well and took us around Venice to the places we wanted to see.He made sure we got to the gondola and came back to get us and finish our tour. He assisted in getting us on water taxi and to the people mover as he lived nearby. The weather was perfect. Gondola ride was just prior to sunset and a great time for us to be on the gondola. Julian took pictures for us and then emailed them to us. Very nice touch. Would recommend Julian for the tour.

Reviews

3.5

12 reviews

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

Reviews by Viator travelers.

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Showing 1-9 of 12 reviews

Be back soon

Gary_D, Apr 2023

Loved walking all over the sights were wonderful , Venice is a nice place to visit , st Marcos square the 800 year old church

It Should be Renamed the Running Tour

George_B, Oct 2022

I have a feeling that this review will never see the light of day. In the two weeks we've been in Italy this was our worst tour. From the start of this tour, we were almost running to stay up with the guide. Very little explanation of what we were seeing and the only times we stopped were when we told him we were stopping for pictures. After the hour forced march that we endured we were exhausted by the time we got to the gondola part of the tour. That tour was comprised of 40 minutes of standing in one spot while the guide yammered at us for forty minutes with most being spoken in Spanish. We speak English. The the gondola ride was 20 minutes. The ride was enjoyable, but the gondoliers were constantly yelling at each other talking. Nothing about what we were seeing. We were so discussed and disheartened about the tour we told our guide when we got back that we were done and asked him to return us back to the train station where we had started from. When he started walking, he didn't take the direct route (I showed on google maps), he went West from our location, where we ended up next to the bay. I didn't say anything because I thought he knew an easier way back. After walking along the bay for a while he turned back into the city, and we ended up crossing about ten bridges going toward the train station. Google maps showed that we were kind of meandering through the city. we finely got to a point where I recognized a dome on one of the churches. I told our guide I had things from there and he could go. He didn't seem real happy and asked me what we wanted him to do. I told him I didn't care, and I could find the train station from there. I did tip him because I thought it would be a good way to get rid of him

Suggest moving the meeting location to maximize tour

Gail_C, Aug 2022

2 hour walking tour of Venice with gondola ride. Spent first hour walking from the meeting place to the gondola. Hard to talk/hear as we had to keep moving amidst the crowds. Would have been better to set the meeting point closer to the gondola ride to maximize time to see places and hear. Liked the gondola ride.

ZIMA in Venice 2022

Miguel_V, Jun 2022

Guide going too fast. No stops in between. Gondola ride was not available. I dropped off the tour in S Marcos. No rest brakes.

Overall a good experience.

Alfredo_G, Oct 2021

The tour guide took his time with us and made it a more pleasant experience that's the 4 stars. The gondolas we did not get the singing one and the microphone started to interfere and did not get most of the information for this one 3 stars.

Great

Lori_D, Mar 2020

We walked all over Venice and got to see a Banksy which was very important to a person in our group. We met Julian at the train station...make sure you get a store or someplace to meet in the e-mail the day before. He walked us to our gonodola ride. Our gondolier was not very nice but this is not Julian's fault. We told him and I believe he will pass on the information to his tour group. Even though we were there during the outbreak, we had a great time and really learned a lot about Venice.

Response from Host, Mar 2020

Thank you for the 5stars review! Julian is relly happy to get such a positive feedback, and we're glad to hear that you enjoyed your time in the beautiful Venice, also getting to see a piece of art that was so important to one of you. We're sorry about the experience with the gondolier but luckily it didn't take away from the beauty of Venice and its Grand Canal. Hope to see you again in one of our tours!

Exvellent tour guide

Trail229708, Oct 2019

Response from Host, Nov 2019

Thank you very much for your review! We're happy to hear that you enjoyed the beautiful Venice in a nice weather and that our guide Julian made this wonderful experience even more enjoyable. Hope you made some great memories!

Wonderful trip to VENICE

Albert T, Apr 2019

My tour group would like to extend our gratitude to your team with specific mention to Elisabeth being a wonderful tour guide. She was very knowledgeable of Venice and the surrounding areas. Ensuring we all understood the rich and cultural history Venice has to offer. Not to mention she went over and beyond her time to complete the tour. Much appreciated and we will highly recommend your services to our family and friends in Sydney Australia.

Response from Host, Dec 2019

Thank you a lot for your beautiful review and thank you for your gratitude. We are very happy to have provided you a good service! Look forward to organize a new tour for your family and friends!

Didn’t even receive a tour.

Michael_H, Apr 2019

This was a horrible experience. My mom and I weren’t told where to meet and weren’t able to get a hold of the guide or company and by the time we did, we missed the gondola ride and was given a poor explanation of everything in Venice during the walking “tour.”

Response from Host, Dec 2019

We are sorry about your bad experience. We always contact our customers the day before their tour to confirm all the meeting details to be sure that everything is well organized. Venice is a city with a long and insteresting history, our guides provide the most important information to introduce the city to our customers.