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Venice Hidden Gems: Gondola & Walking Tour
4.1
129 Ratings
Venezia
Uncover the hidden treasures of Venice on this off-the-beaten-track walking tour and gondola ride. Explore lesser-known sites, discover local gems, and escape the crowds for a more relaxed experience.
Uncover the hidden treasures of Venice on this off-the-beaten-track walking tour and gondola ride. Explore lesser-known sites, discover local gems, and escape the crowds for a more relaxed experience.
Duration:
2 hours, 30 minutes
Cancellation:
24 hours
Highlights
- Piazza San Marco - A morning walking tour to find out the real Venetian soul! The expert guide will explain you properly the main monuments of Saint Mark’s Square and take you around the unknown romantic Venice.
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Casa di Marco Polo - Building believed to be the home of the famous explorer, marked by a white plaque and now used as a theater.
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- Piazza San Marco - A morning walking tour to find out the real Venetian soul! The expert guide will explain you properly the main monuments of Saint Mark’s Square and take you around the unknown romantic Venice.
- Casa di Marco Polo - Building believed to be the home of the famous explorer, marked by a white plaque and now used as a theater.
- Ponte di Rialto - Discover the Rialto Bridge, the first urban center of Venice, with a highly qualified guide.
- San Giorgio Maggiore - At the end you will fall in love with St. Mark’s Basin and its S.Giorgio Island, but above all, you will love with the stunning view of the Bell tower and Palazzo Ducale.
- Ponte dei Sospiri - Unique view on the most romantic Venetian bridge, the bridge of Sighs
What's Included
- 30 minutes shared gondola ride
- Shared guided walking tour with commentary by a qualified and experienced guide
- Audio Commentary on gondola
- Multilingual assistance for embarking
- Gondola Gallery: how gondolas are made, with tools and a cross-section
- Introductory walking tour to the gondola experience
- 30 minutes shared gondola ride
- Shared guided walking tour with commentary by a qualified and experienced guide
- Audio Commentary on gondola
- Multilingual assistance for embarking
- Gondola Gallery: how gondolas are made, with tools and a cross-section
- Introductory walking tour to the gondola experience
What's Not Included
- Hotel pickup & Drop Off
- Food and Drinks
- Entrances Fees
- Hotel pickup & Drop Off
- Food and Drinks
- Entrances Fees
Additional Information
Already visited the main attractions? Prepare to uncover Venice’s hidden treasures on this unique guided walking tour, which also features a thirty-minute gondola ride.
Gain exclusive insider and local insights on places like the famous La Fenice Theatre and Marco Polo’s House, while discovering hidden gems and narrow canals.
• Enjoy a behind-the-scenes…
Already visited the main attractions? Prepare to uncover Venice’s hidden treasures on this unique guided walking tour, which also features a thirty-minute gondola ride.
Gain exclusive insider and local insights on places like the famous La Fenice Theatre and Marco Polo’s House, while discovering hidden gems and narrow canals.
• Enjoy a behind-the-scenes guided tour of Venice’s lesser-known locations, complete with a gondola ride
• Experience two of Venice’s most iconic activities in one comprehensive excursion
• Explore the legendary art heritage as your guide highlights special points of interest
Explore the Gondola Gallery — learn the secrets of Venice’s iconic boat through original tools, a detailed cross-section, and the craftsmanship that has defined gondolas for centuries. Then, embark on a timeless virtual journey aboard a gondola, gliding through Venice’s iconic canals as history and tradition come alive around you.
- The seat aboard cannot be chosen but will be assigned by the gondolier depending on guest’s weight
- Tour does not operate in case of exceptional high tide (in this case it can be postponed to the day after otherwise it will be refunded).
- The itinerary may change in the event of wind or bad weather.
- Each gondola can guest maximum 5 people
- Please be at the meeting point 5 minutes before the departure time
- The tour could be bilingual
- 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
Location
Venice Tours
Calle San Gallo
Venice Tours is in Campo San Gallo, beside San Marco Square. 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”.
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Customer Ratings
4.1
(129 Ratings)
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Kelly_w
Dec 5, 2024
The one thing not to be missed…. - Great experience! We had a wonderful guide. Very knowledgeable and brought the tour to life with facts, funny stories and tidbits. The gondola ride at the end was perfect❣️
Review provided by Viator
Caroline_b
Nov 17, 2024
Great walking tour discovering hidden parts - Great tour of the more unusual bits of Venice. Saw some lovely areas which were off the main tourist routes. Our guide was lovely, very clear commentary and very knowledgeable. I learnt a lot about the history of Venice and some fun facts too. The gondola ride happens later, about an hour is between the two. It was very well organised, there was a short talk about the gondolas and the gondoliers and then a lovely quiet ride through the smaller canals. You can download an audio commentary for the gondola ride but we did not take the path of the tour and the peace was welcome after the crowds and bustle of San Marco square. Definitely one for adults, we covered a lot of ground.
Review provided by Viator
Maritza_m
Nov 12, 2024
Venezia walking tour - Excellent! Very fun facts and nice walking pace I would recommend this tour to see the more quiet and where Venetian people live
Review provided by Viator
Critter1841
Oct 16, 2024
Fun in Venice - Hidden fairness covered a lot of territory. A two hour walking tour a break and then a half hour gondola ride. It was a really good.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jenn_s
Oct 2, 2024
Long waits but informative walking tour - Very interesting bits of history on this small group walking tour. We were grouped up with other walking tours for the gondola ride, and had a long wait in line for the gondola. Our gondolier did not speak with us at all, so that part was quite disappointing, but overall a great tour if you are willing to hurry up and wait for large parts of it.
Review provided by Viator
Scott_t
Sep 26, 2024
Couple from Houston - We enjoyed our guide and learned a lot on our tour. We had difficulty at time understanding her English. We enjoyed the gondola ride, but this guide didn't provide any additional information.
Review provided by Viator
Paula_g
Oct 18, 2024
Average Experience - While our guide was very knowledgeable and spoke excellent English, we booked a “guide in English” and our group was dual language. So literally 50% of the tour was spoken in Italian. Also, we had to return to the original meeting site, where we waited to switch guides (Teo was much more dynamic then the original guide, so he gets 5 ⭐️!) and radio equipment to walk to the gondola dock. However, returning to their office and dual languages limited the sites we visited. Dual languages required us to wait at each point of interest for the information to be repeated in Italian. The gondola ride was fun but our gondolier turned around and repeated the same canal route on the return rather than others in our group who went “around the block” and saw additional canals. About 2/3 of our ride was by the Carabinieri offices - so not much to see. Plus our gondolier got very angry after the high water splashed and soaked my husband’s foot and he inadvertently tracked the wetness into the gondola. We would not repeat this tour.
Review provided by Viator
Ira_g
Nov 15, 2024
Not A Good Experience - The most memorable part of this tour was unfortunately that we couldnt find the meeting place due to the directions provided in the tour description. The tour stated by the Venice Tours Office near San Marcos Square. We couldn't find San Marcos Square after hours of searching. There needs to be directions to San Marcos Square, not just from San Marcos Square. By the time we reached the agency office the tour was over. We did however manage to take the Gondola ride, which was very nice. The Venice Tours representative advised that we should pursue a refund from Viator because of the poor directions, which we will do. She indicated that upon being contacted by Viator she will authorize the refund. Venice is very complicated and difficult to navigate due to the many canals, lack of street signs and need for water taxis. It was a very taxing, tiring and frustrating experience.
Review provided by Viator
Weiguo_q
Nov 24, 2024
Poor customer service - Honestly, I didn’t get chance to enjoy this tour and quite disappointed with your service. We were severe sick unexpectedly the night before the tour morning. It was less 24 hours to notify. But how do we control our medical condition? Otherwise nothing is called “Emergency”. I had several conversations with support team, got no refund even partial refund. So disappointed.
Review provided by Viator
Wander05769374085
Sep 23, 2024
Disorganized - Started out great, good directions to get the little plaza. After that, it was horrible. The walking tour still happened, and there was a gondola ride, outside of that we did not find much in the way of "hidden" features of Venice. The gondola ride was extremely rushed and it felt like a race to see who could drop off the tourists the fastest. The walking tour felt like we walked back down all the main tourist streets we took to get there from the train station. The guides' microphone kept getting blocked out by people walking past and talking. Disorganization was the main problem with this trip. Nothing was stated until after the trip started that the gondola ride was almost 2 hours after the walking tour completed. We had to miss a tour we scheduled after the walking tour was supposed to end to be able to go on the gondola ride.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
