Venice Walking Tour
Your “Venice from cruise port” tour starts with a private walking tour.
Walking through the narrow streets of Venice, you can breathe the atmosphere of an Italian city symbol of the 18h century still highly vital. Piazza San Marco is the living room of Venice, a meeting place for tourists and Venetians. Upon request, the guide will organize a half-hour Venice gondola ride. The fare for half an hour for the gondola is € 80.00. Payment directly to the gondolier.
St. Mark’s Basilica visit
Despite the total lack of architectural unity, the beauty of the Basilica is unique and enveloping. The Byzantine influence is immediately evident and not only for the magnificent mosaics that decorate the facade and the entrance. You will visit the Basilica of San Marco’s interior with your private guide, who will tell you the story of the Saint and the Church. Some dates vary from year to year, in which the Basilica is closed to visits. In these cases, your Venice guide will explain it from the outside, and the guide will replace the visit by exploring other suggestive places in the city.
St. Mark’s Square: Doge’s Palace (exterior) and Bridge of Sighs
The top things to see in Venice are in St. Mark’s Square!
Next to the Basilica of St. Mark, there is the Ducal Palace, once the Doge’s residence, the ancient Serenissima Republic governor. Its facade’s oriental style is the perfect casket to house masterpieces by Tintoretto and Veronese’s likes. You will admire the characteristic Bridge of Sighs, the access ramp for the condemned who sighed while admiring the view for the last time before being imprisoned in prisons. The Doge’s Palace’s visit is possible on request and will be included in the tour, inevitably sacrificing at least one hour of the walk. Alternatively, we can arrange a dedicated 2-hour visit for another day.
The Bell Tower and the Clock Tower (from outside)
The Bell Tower, 324 feet, is the exact copy of the tower that collapsed suddenly in 1902. It is a symbol of Venice together with Saint Mark Basilica. It was the platform for Galileo to test his telescope.
At the top of the Clock Tower, two bronze “Moors” strike the hours, with the 15th-century mechanism.
Venice off the beaten path
Your guide will be happy to bring you to a site little known by tourists and beloved by the Venetians.
The Contarini-Bovolo staircase is a harmonious ensemble of the Renaissance, Gothic, and Venetian-Byzantine styles. Commissioned by Pietro Contarini in 1400 to flaunt the importance of its name, the Venetians added the nickname “del Bovolo.” The snail, whose shape it recalls, thus translates into Venetian. For those who wish it is possible to go up. We prefer to leave the optional climb; you will decide on-site whether to walk the 80 steps of the 26-meter high tower (the ticket costs 7 euros from 12 years upwards, to be paid locally). From the top, you can enjoy a spectacular view over Venice’s rooftops, but also from below, it is a spectacle worth seeing.
Lunch
Between noon and 01:00 pm, you will enjoy a typical lunch in a selected restaurant (included).
Private boat tour to the most famous Venice Islands
Sailing in a private boat, you will move away from the spectacular Grand Canal to enter the lagoon, and you will reach three of the more than 100 islands, where the inhabitants of the mainland sought refuge from the Barbarian invasions. The guide, accompanying you to the restaurant, will show you where you will meet your private driver for the islands’ tour.
Torcello
On the small island of Torcello, Hemingway lived, dreamed, and found inspiration. Charlie Chaplin, Lady Diana, Queen Elizabeth, and other celebrities have chosen this island for its peaceful and serene atmosphere. The Basilica of Santa Maria Assunta with Venetian-Byzantine style mosaics has become the symbol of the island.
Burano
Picturesque island with brightly colored houses that brighten the canals. Characteristic is the church of San Martino with the leaning bell tower. The inhabitants’ hospitality is well known and reflects this island’s soul, also famous for its lace-making.
Murano
The island is famous throughout the world for its long tradition of processing this material. Here you will have the chance to watch a glassmaker blow into a tube to create whatever he wants, even one of the fantastic Venetian chandeliers. Also worth seeing is the church of Santa Maria and San Donato, in Romanesque style, with its floor embellished with colored mosaics. According to legend, the church would house the bones of the dragon killed by the Saint.
