Venice Tour: Doge’s Palace, Basilica & Gondola Ride

Embark on a 3-hour guided tour of Venice’s Golden Basilica, Doge’s Palace, and a romantic gondola ride. Explore historical landmarks, admire stunning artworks, and discover the city’s rich history.

Duration: 3 hours
Cancellation: 24 hours
Highlights
  • Basilica di San Marco - Embark on an incredible guided tour of the historic and renowned Golden Basilica. Marvel at the breathtaking gold mosaics and intricate marble inlays of the floors, all while comfortably seated as our guide reveals the biblical scenes, history, and unique features of this ancient basilica.
  • Doge’s Palace - Take a…
What's Included
  • Shared 30-minute gondola ride
  • Guided tour of the Doge’s Palace and Saint Mark’s Basilica
  • Skip-the-line ticket to St. Mark’s Basilica
  • Access to Museums in Saint Mark’s Square (Correr Museum, Archeological Museum, and Marciana Library)
  • Skip-the-line ticket to Doge’s Palace
  • The Gondola Yard Gallery
  • 20-minute gondola introductory experience
What's Not Included
  • Hotel pick-up
  • Food and drinks
  • Guided tour of Museo Correr, Museo Nazionale Archologico, and Biblioteca Marciana
Additional Information

Embark on a captivating journey through Venice’s rich history and art with this engaging 3-hour tour!
Accompanied by a knowledgeable guide, explore the breathtaking Doge’s Palace and the splendid Saint Mark’s Basilica, both nestled in the vibrant Piazza San Marco. Admire the exquisite artwork and delve into the fascinating history of the Venetian…

Location
Venice Tours
Calle San Gallo
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 passing under the archways, cross the little bridge and go straight on to “Campo San Gallo”, Venice Tours Office is located in the campo (small square).
Cancellation Policy

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

Customer Ratings
4.7
(948 Ratings)
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1 star
Adam
Oct 11, 2024
Great tour and great value. - Gaia was amazing. She could speak 3 different languages with ease. Also our tour guide in the Basilica and Doge Palace whose name was Lucia was so intelligent and could answer any questions that we asked her. It was a great value: San Marco, Doge’s palace, Correr museum, Gondola ride.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Victoria_g
Oct 10, 2024
Well worth the investment! - The gondola ride was most magical. Our tour guides were punctual, professional and lovely to listen to!
Review provided by Viator
Camillo_d
Oct 10, 2024
The Best. And worth it! - The tour of the historic buildings was spectacular and our tour guide Ellen was unbelivable. Just loved her knowledge and enthusism.
Review provided by Viator
839shanaer
Oct 7, 2024
Gondola Ride in Venice - Eli was an amazing tour guide- very knowledgeable and charasmatic👌🏾 The gondala ride was a pleasant experience, would definitely recommend.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Hongjoonc2024
Oct 7, 2024
Friendly and bright Guide and pleasant gondola - Good for being kind and bright. If someone asks, they'll say Recommendation. With people of various races. We're riding Gondola.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Natalia
Oct 7, 2024
Understandable. -Good. Exciting - It was very nice. We had a short walk to the gondola and got some very exciting information about the city and the history along the way. Our Gide spoke very understandable English that children could understand. It was very nice.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
411acef
Oct 7, 2024
Chill and Professional Gondolier - Good views and comfortable seats. The Gondolier was professional and answered any questions i had, he also assured us that we would not end up in the water when we shook a bit 😅. Everything ran smoothly.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
William_z
Oct 10, 2024
Another black eye for Viator. - High tide made walking around St Mark's difficult but this happens frequently. As a result, we raced through the palace and prison. Didn't see the history gallery at all just to make it to the gondola ride. No previous mention of sharing the gondola but we were paired with strangers. Too much $$ for what we got. Viator should be more forthcoming with exact details prior to purchase!
Review provided by Viator
Toneloc71
Oct 11, 2024
Overpriced, unprofessional. abbreviated tour, rude staff - Disappointing. Knew I might be a long day when we arrived at the tour guide office only to find the manager yelling at his customers for taking selfies in front of the office to celebrate their trip. First part of our tour was ok but only included around 35-40 minutes inside the Basilica. No terrace access (which was not mentioned in ‘what’s not included’, see details in photo below). No time to walk around the altar area like everyone else did. We did not skip the line, waited for over 10 minutes outside. Same with the Doge Palace, a very brief visit that did not include but a few rooms, very rushed, and again no skip the line, the wait here was about 12 minutes. The second part for the gondola ride and Venice walking tour was awful. We showed up 20 minutes early, and when they passed out the audio headset, no one told us to use a certain channel. The tour guide Fredricka did not ask each person if they could hear. We did not know she had started speaking until we arrived at the gondola dock. Walking through very narrow streets in a single file, there was no possible way we could have known until it was too late, without her doing her job and asking each person if their audio devices worked. (The first tour guide, Valentina, did exactly that). fredricka was also rude, defensive, condescending, and made faces at my wife when told her we weren’t informed which channel to use for the audio guide when we finally arrived at the gondola loading. Completely unnecessary and frankly very immature and petty. We went back to the office to inform them of the issue and the same angry manager person was also rude, ambivalent, and completely dismissive. He even said ‘what do you want me to do about it’. Really? How about an apology at a minimum. Unprofessional. Just really disappointing and unnecessary. I would never recommend this tour. Particularly given the ridiculous price, $289.00 for 2 people. You’re much better off buying advance tickets, and using the walking tour audio guide provided by the venues, which the tour operators suggested we do when we complained about the abbreviated visits. Don’t waste your money on these people. One final note, Valentina was very nice and informative. Her front office managers and fellow guides are letting her down. She should find a more supportive, professional team to work with who values and appreciates their business as much as she clearly did.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
834lyndae
Oct 8, 2024
Very Disappointed!!! - The area of the tour meeting place was flooded so we had to reroute to get there and arrived at 2pm when the tour started, but the tour guide would not let us join bc we weren’t 5 minutes early. They then told us to go wait at a place to join the second half of the tour and we waited there for an hour and the tour guide never came to get us. When we requested a partial refund from Viator, it was denied.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
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up to 15 guests
1 Adult
December 2024
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