Venice Highlights: St Mark's Basilica, Doge's Palace and Gondola Ride in a Day

Experience the best of Venice in a day with a tour that includes St Mark’s Basilica, Doge’s Palace, a gondola ride, and hidden gems. Don’t miss out!

Duration: 6 hours
Cancellation: 1 day learn more
Highlights
  • Piazza San Marco - Meet our Guide
    Your Venice in a Day Tour begins in St. Mark’s Square, Venice’s central public plaza. Your guide will teach you the history of this iconic piazza, home to St. Mark’s Basilica.
  • Basilica di San Marco - Known as “The Church of Gold”, St. Mark’s Basilica’s elaborate design features gold mosaics and marble slabs. Skip the line and learn about the basilica’s storied history during a guided tour of the stunning Basilica.
  • Ponte di Rialto - Rialto Bridge & Neighborhood
    After your visit to the basilica your journey continues into the hidden back alleyways of Venice, guided by a knowledgeable local.

You’ll Immerse yourself in the history and legends surrounding the iconic Rialto Bridge, a magnificent architectural gem that spans the Grand Canal. As you cross this historic bridge, you’ll venture into the bustling Rialto neighborhood, brimming with charm and character.

Learn fascinating anecdotes and tales about the bridge’s significance while taking in the enchanting ambiance of this popular district.

  • Grand Canal - 30 Minute Gondola Ride
    When experiencing Venice, you absolutely must ride a gondola. We’ve included this experience in our Venice in a Day tour. As the first part of the tour concludes, your tour guide will bring you to a trusted Venice gondolier who will take you on a scenic cruise down Venice’s beautiful canals (max 5 per vessel). After experiencing this bucket list moment, you’ll break for lunch.

  • Venice - Enjoy some free time for lunch.
    Following your enchanting Gondola Ride, take a moment to bask in the magic of this unforgettable experience. Allow the memories of gliding through the Venetian canals to synchronize within you as you enjoy a leisurely period of free time for a delightful lunch.

  • Doge’s Palace - Guided Tour of the Doge’s Palace
    After lunch, explore the fascinating Doge’s Palace, or “Duke’s Palace.” This Palace used to be the home of Venice’s public administration. At the same time, it operated as a prison, where some of Venice’s criminals saw their last days.
    Explore the fascinating artwork of the Doge’s Palace, and get a glimpse of the famous Bridge of Sighs, the bridge that connects Doge’s Palace to its prison.

Even though your tour will conclude after visiting the Doges Palace, your guide will be happy to advise on how to get back to your accommodation, or perhaps advice where to enjoy some local food & a spritz!

What's Included
  • 30-Minute Venetian Gondola Ride
  • Visit the Famous Rialto Bridge & Market
  • Skip the Line Entry & Guided Tour of the Doge’s Palace
  • Professional Art Historian Guide
  • Small Group Size of Maximum 19
  • Skip the Line Entry & Guided Tour of St. Mark’s Basilica
What's Not Included
  • Hotel Pick Up / Drop Off
  • Food & Beverages
  • Gratuities
Additional Information

This full day expedition is your ideal choice if you want to experience the highlights of Venice. For those who are in Venice for just a short period, smartly exploring the major attractions in a single day makes sense. This allows you to use the rest of your time appreciating Venice while enjoying Prosecco by its canals. Your journey will comprise stops at St Mark’s Basilica and Square, the Rialto Bridge, Doge’s Palace, inclusive of Casanova’s prison cell, and a 30-minute gondola ride. You’ll also discover plenty of unsung wonders along the route. We ensure a scheduled lunch break as part of the tour - in Italy, we would never keep you starved!

  • Since we will be entering a church, please make sure that your shoulders and knees are covered. Also, please refrain from bringing big back packs or bags, because they are not always allowed inside.
  • 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
  • We regret that we are unable to accommodate guests with wheelchairs or any walking impairments that require special assistance on our group tours. We are also unable to accommodate strollers or baby carriages.
Location
St. Mark's Square
Please Arrive 10 Minutes Early. Your guide will meet you between the two big columns in St. Mark’s Square (columns of San Marco & San Teodoro) located on the south side of the square, near the canal. A representative will be there holding a sign with ''The Tour Guy'' on it.
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
4.6
(348 Ratings)
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Phil_g
Aug 2, 2024
What an incredible tour guide - Our guide was absolutely exceptional. Navigated us through the crowds with grace and purpose, whilst keeping our entire family entertained. The kids loved the gondola break in the middle particularly but we all were captivated by the incredible knowledge of our guide who seemed to know literally everything about everything. Thank you!
Review provided by Viator
Jeffrey_c
Jul 30, 2024
Had a great time our host... - Had a great time our host was very good and informative. Only complaint if you’re hard of hearing the ear piece provided is not very good. I wish the hearing devices were better. If you wear hearing aids you miss a lot.
Review provided by Viator
Reckless64
Jul 30, 2024
Great tour - Marco was very knowledge guide and kept the tour light and fun. I would highly recommend it as it does give you the perfect amount of information for the amount of time you have.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Raul_c
Jul 24, 2024
Beautiful Venezia - If you are one that likes to learn about history and can appreciate historic sites, then this tour is for you. Alessandra, the tour guide, was very knowledgeable and engaging. Doge Palace, St. Mark's Bassilica are just beautiful places plus, when you add up the gondola ride and the Rialto Brige visit, then you have a fantastic venezian tour!
Review provided by Viator
Heather_a
Jul 23, 2024
Perfect tour - The basilica was gorgeous and the history of everything so interesting. Thank you for the information
Review provided by Viator
Raymond_b
Jul 14, 2024
Beautiful tour! Learned a great deal about Venice - Excellent tour given the size of our group. We visited all the major stops and our guide took her time and discussed the history and background of each area. Highly recommend this tour
Review provided by Viator
Diana_m
Jul 13, 2024
Excellent background information. - We loved the historic information provided about the Doge Palace & St. Mark’s. It made it so interesting!
Review provided by Viator
Naklacson
Jul 13, 2024
That’s Amore❤️ - Our tour guide Roberta from The Tour Guy, she was Amazing, from start to finish, she gave us the most detailed explanation of every place she took us, St. Mark’s Basilica, Doge’s Palace, Rialto Bridge, hidden alleyways, some suggestions where to eat and others Kudos to her, I appreciate the history of Venice more.Venezia you truly exceeded my expectations, Highly recommended 10/10👍🏼
Review provided by Viator
Davin_c
Jul 13, 2024
Venice in one perfect day - The tour was better than advertised! Saw the back streets of Venice as well as everything else. Niko is absolutely fantastic - so knowledgeable about Venice and art and history. He made the tour perfect. We only had 1 day in Venice but we felt like we had seen everything we wanted to see PLUS things that we didn’t even think about. So so glad we did this!!
Review provided by Viator
Lisa_s
Jul 13, 2024
Wonderful tour guide.... - Wonderful tour guide. Nico was very knowledgeable, passionate, and engaging. Such an interesting and enjoyable tour.
Review provided by Viator
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up to 15 guests
1 Adult
September 2024
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