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Venice Highlight Tour: Explore St. Mark's Square, Doge's Palace, and More in a Day
4.2
138 Ratings
Venezia
Experience the highlights of Venice in a day with a tour of St. Mark’s Square, Doge’s Palace, and more. Explore hidden squares, winding canals, and historical buildings with a qualified guide.
Duration:
3 hours, 30 minutes
Cancellation:
1 day
learn more
Highlights
-
Torre dell’Orologio - Meet your guide in front of the Clock tower (not the bell tower!). Starting in Saint Mark’s square, this atmospheric walking tour will then whisk you away from the crowded streets into the treasure filled pockets of the Castello area.
A qualified guide will walk you through the hidden squares, winding canals and historical buildings providing you with a perfect introduction to the origins, symbols, traditions, architecture, and life in current day Venice.
The tour starts with a historical introduction of St. Marks’s Square, and its architectural delights. -
Castello - Leaving the square, you will be guided into the residential Castello area, allowing you to discover this part of Venice in all of its elegance, through its labyrinth of narrow alleys - “calli”, many bridges, winding canals and wide picturesque squares - “campi”.
Discover campo Santa Maria Formosa and campo San Giovanni & Paolo with its Basilica the place where the doges of Venice were buried.
The former residence of Marco Polo, probably the most famous Venetian merchant, and the Malibran theatre are also part of the itinerary.
At the end of your walking tour, come back with your local guide in Saint Mark’s square passing through the Mercerie, the shopping connection street between Rialto and San Marco. -
Doge’s Palace - The tour then continues with the guided visit inside the Doge’s Palace.
Be intrigued by the fascinating history of La Serenissima and enter with your skip the line ticket into the Doge’s Palace, crossing the Bridge of Sighs and visiting its prisons cells.
The Palace is a magnificent combination of Byzantine, Gothic and Renaissance architecture, in the heart of Venice.
Once the residence of the Doge, the elected ruler of the city, and his counsellors, it became the centre of the Venetian Empire and the seat of the Government.
The Doge’s Palace was opened as a museum in 1923. -
Basilica di San Marco - Follow your guide visiting the Saint Marks Basilica, which majestically symbolizes the lagoon and enshrines the city’s history and Saints relics.
With its awe – inspiring gold mosaics our talented guide will walk you through the church.
The walking tour ends in Saint Mark’s square at 1.00 pm
At this time you will have approx 2 hours free to stroll around the area or to have lunch (not included) -
Gondola Bauer - The last appointment of your package is the gondola ride at 3:00 pm or 5.15 (please verify the availability on your date).
Meet the assistant in front of the Saint Mark’s post office (behind the Correr musuem)
Your shared 30 minutes round trip starts on the Grand Canal and then through the smaller canals.
It is the perfect way to appreciate the beauty, charm and colour of this unique city built on water.
Feel part of an ancient Venetian tradition and experience Venice as the locals have for more than a thousand years. - Museo Correr - At the end of the tour, keep your Doge’s Palace ticket to visit on your own (the same day or the following day) the Museo Correr, Museo Archeologico Nazionale and Monumental Rooms of the Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana in Saint Mark’s square, opposite side of the Saint Mark’s Basilica.
What's Included
- Headsets to hear the guide clearly
- 30-minute shared gondola ride (not guided)
- Entrance fees for the St Mark’s Basilica and the Doge’s Palace
- Correr museum entrance ticket to visit on your own
- 1-hour 30 min external walking tour from St Marks square to Castello area
What's Not Included
- Gratuities
- Hotel pick up and drop off
- Food and drink
- Pala d’oro
- Hidden itineraries in the Doge’s Palace
Additional Information
The ‘Venice in a Day’ tour is an amalgamation of four of our most well-received tours in Venice, providing an exemplary way to utilize your time in the city.
The tour commences at Saint Mark’s square and follows an engaging walking tour that will take you away from the bustling roads into the gem-filled enclaves of the Castello region.
A knowledgeable guide will accompany you through the secretive plazas, meandering waterways, and historic edifices, offering a comprehensive orientation to the history, emblems, rituals, architecture, and contemporary life in Venice.
The next segment of the tour leads you to a guided exploration inside the Doge’s Palace and the Saint Marks Basilica.
The walking portion of the tour culminates at Saint Mark’s square at 1:00 pm.
You’ll then have approximately 2 hours leisure time to explore the vicinity or to enjoy lunch (not provided).
The final appointment on your agenda is the 30-minute signature gondola ride at 3:00 pm or 5.15 pm (check availability on your selected date).
- Please arrive at each meeting point 15 minutes before the departure of the tour
- Large bags and rucksacks are NOT allowed inside the Basilica or Doge’s Palace
- Knees and shoulders MUST be covered inside the Basilica
- On occasion, Saint Mark’s Basilica may be closed due to public holidays, religious ceremonies, private events or high water and the local service provider is not always informed in advance
- For children document required
- All the late arrivals or no show are NO REFUND!
- 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
TU.RI.VE. Meeting Point
Calle larga de l'Ascension
15 min before in Calle larga de l’Ascension - 30124 next to the post office San Marco (opposite side of the Saint Marks Basilica). Look for the yellow sign "Meeting point" on the wooden kiosk.
Walking tour from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm
Gondola ride at 3:00 pm
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Customer Ratings
4.2
(138 Ratings)
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Fionnak2021
Jun 3, 2023
Ideal tour to see Venice - Such a good tour! If you are limited on time in Venice, this is the tour for you. Slip the line at the dove's Palace and St Mark's Basillica plus a wander around the hidden parts.of Venice. Our guide Roberta was knowledgeable and funny, as well as really interesting and passionate about her city. All topped off with a fab gondola ride. Well worth the money and highly recommended!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Dewanis
May 29, 2023
Venice is the 'City of Architecture & Romance' - it’s only after visiting Venice, one realises as to why it is called as 'City of Architecture & Romance'. Built on more than 100 small islands in a lagoon in the Adriatic Sea, it has no roads, just lanes, canals – including the Grand Canal thorough-out, with No noise of Cars & Mainly Ferry & Gandolas as source of Travel!
Just a Peaceful Romantic Atmosphere all along.......
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Lisa_c
Sep 6, 2022
Venice is beautiful. No words can describe her timeless beauty. - Venice is 1000 years old in the 21 century. Very unique. Timeless beauty . Wonderful memories. Safe travels.
Review provided by Viator
Mersesidered
Feb 27, 2020
Amazing Full Day Tour - Really amazing full day in Venice. We started the day with a gondola ride after that we had a guided visit of the Saint Mark's Church and Doge's Palace and in the afternoon a sightseeing tour of Venice. It was simply amazing.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
George
Oct 29, 2019
Very knowledgeable Tour Guide - Great tour guide. Extremely knowledgeable, and polite!
The sights were amazing!!
Highly recommended.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Ricks678
Oct 5, 2022
Learned so much. - Our guide was ver knowledgeable and shared a lot of information. The pace was fast and covered a lot of ground. Would have been better with a few rest stops during the first 3.5 hours.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
699kusho
Dec 4, 2019
Touristic - Very beautiful city and.nice atmosphere unfortunately under water but we hope to be safe this miracle of the small world.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Resort262045
Jul 7, 2024
Disappointing - The itinerary was great but there were not enough breaks. The guide was knowledgeable but unfriendly. The organizers were unorganized. Most of them knew nothing about the gondola ride. We were supposed to get lunch recommendations. We did not get any. I would not do this tour with you again.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Timothy_d
Aug 8, 2021
Not as good as expected, but still worth it - We did get to see a lot of Venice and got tickets to the two big items, but the skip the line wasn’t so much skip the line as other tours; the places didn’t seem to care about the tour queue. Also, our guide was not very energetic or engaging, so even though the the places to see were impressive, it felt like a high school class tour with Ferris’ teacher.
Review provided by Viator
Tucci642019
Nov 2, 2019
Basic Venice - This tour did show the basics when touring Venice. Because we could only do Sunday made for a very long day - gondola at 11 and then wait until 2 to continue the rest of the package. There were too many people in the group for the St Marks and Palace tour - could not see what guide was referring to as we were at the back of the pack. The gondola and canal tours were very good!!
Review provided by Viator
