Skip the Line: Venice Walking Tour with St Mark's Basilica

Venice, Italy

This two-hour walking tour is an absolute must if you're a first-time visitor to Venice! You'll visit St. Mark's Basilica in St Mark's Square and other famous highlights, and discover the 'real Venice' as you enter a labyrinth of narrow passageways and alleys. Plus, you'll skip the long lines at St. Mark's Basilica- don't waste time waiting in lines when you're on vacation!

Your comprehensive two-hour walking tour highlights all the important monuments, from San Marco Square to the Rialto Bridge. You'll learn the history behind the famous landmarks, plus visit the famed basilica of St. Mark's without having to stand in long queues.

Then, you'll discover the 'real Venice', a magical city of meandering canals crossed by delicate bridges. Through the sights and informative commentary provided by your guide, you'll learn how illustrious Venetians such as Marco Polo made Venice such a vibrant and influential power. You'll see Marco Polo's House and hear tales of this legendary globe-trotting Venetian.

You'll also discover the Venice of today, and hear what it is like to live in the most beautiful city in the world. The tour conveniently concludes at the Rialto Bridge.

Skip the Line! Book your Original Venice Walking Tour ahead of time to take advantage of jumping the queue at St. Marks Basilica. Don't waste time waiting in lines on vacation! Please note: Occasionally the basilica will be closed to the public (without notice) because of religious festivities or high water.

USD $28.09

Traveler Reviews

Review by: Jennifer H	April 2012
Great tour! Our guide Maria was knowledgeable and kept up a great history speech throughout.

Review by: N P P	April 2012
First class your guide has perfect English - 8 minutes inside was just perfect and then guided tour through streets brilliant - what ever you pay her double it!

Review by: Elizabeth R	April 2012
brilliant tour, our guide was fantastic, so knowledgeable and enthusiastic and interesting really good and no queues!!

Review by: David H	April 2012
The organisation and equipment were good, the leader was very good asnd knew a lot, but the group was too big. You need to limit groups to 15, I think ours was over 20, that's very demanding on a leader and doesn't really allow for any individual questions. But we would encourage anyone making their first visit to take this your.

Review by: Diane E	April 2012
This is a nice tour to do on one of your first days in Venice, to get acquainted with the surroundings. None of the stops are in depth, but they give you a taste of different areas and places you might want to come back and spend more time in. Our guide, Francesco, was from Venice, friendly, and provided a lot of information.

Review by: Linda G	April 2012
For some reason we didn't skip the line, which was a major factor in choosing this tour. We spent very little time inside St Marks, and we were not able to appreciate the grandeur of the church. The walking tour was nothing special, we saw things that anyone could see on their own. The whole thing was very disappointing.

Review by: micvii	March 2012
FANTASTIC!!

Review by: Andrew B	March 2012
A really good introduction to Venice. I always like to do a general tour to get my barings and it certainly did that. Gave a good historical background too which helped to put things into context and highlighted some areas to go back to and spend more time in.

Review by: luchen39	March 2012
This was pretty good however seems like price for value was misaligned. Tour guide was from venice and very knowledable and gave great information about art, culture and history. I would recommend this tour despite thinking it is a bit over priced.

Review by: A. Alexander A	March 2012
Excellent, my only negative comment is that the time spent in St Mark's Basilica was far too short, I would think it was no more than five minutes. The guide was very knowledgable on all aspects of Venice and friendly with it.

Review by: Jose S	March 2012
We had a great tour and enjoyed the information - Jose, Houston

Review by: Damian W	March 2012
Tour was not what i was expecting, i have been to venice before and didn't learn anything new, we were taken to back streets of venice and were shown some different types of buildings, felt quite rushed and not so great value for money, only in the church for about 10minutes.

Review by: Philip	March 2012
An extremely informative and enjoyable walking tour. Our guide was friendly, spoke excellent English and was attentive to the needs of the group. All in all an excellent trip that was very good value for money. Highly recommended.

Review by: Kate F	February 2012
interesting and very informative guide

Review by: Marisol A	January 2012
Excellent tour and guide.

Review by: Marjorie M	December 2011
This was fantastic. If we get back to Venice I'd tsake this tour again!

Review by: happyness777	December 2011
Great Tour even though it was raining and St Mark's' Square was flooded. Our guide was very knowledgeable and open for any questions we had. I would recommend this tour.

Review by: Lynne E	December 2011
The tour was good as it turned out, BUT we lost our first tour guide coming out of the Basilica. We frantically looked for her everywhere...SHE DID NOT HOLD UP HER PIECE OF PAPER FOR US TO LOCATE HER. I was almost in tears when a second "Viator" tour turned up and took us under wing. However the first guide spoke clear English while the second one who took us on was very difficult to understand. I would say 3 1/2._br/_ Lynne

Review by: Marjorie H	November 2011
Myself and my wife took the tour. We saw many things that we would not have normally seen. We also learned quite a bit about Venice.

Review by: Sherri	November 2011
Great tour with a very knowledgable guide!

Review by: James B	November 2011
Tour was nice to skip the line during high season but our guide needed the handheld radios for us to hear. We absolutely heard nothing that she said. She couldn't use the microphone in the church so the headsets are definitely necessary. It was nice to see the church but that was it.

Review by: Joseph C	November 2011
This was another terrific tour booked through Viator. The meeting place was well located, the personnel we dealt with was professional and interested in making sure everyone had a positive experience. _br/_ Our guide, Stephania I believe, was very knowledgable and personable. She gave us a wealth of information about the basilica, the Doge's palace, Venician history, and the various neighborhoods and squares we walked through. _br/_ My wife and I were very impressed with the people Viator contacted with during our trip to Italy.

Review by: Nicholas M	November 2011
Excellent guide and very informative tour and this was solely made by having a genuine Venetian person conducting it

Review by: Sally C	November 2011
The tour guide's English was exceptional. She really brought Venice to life with a very informative but also entertaining potted history. She always waited for people to catch up and chose sensible, quiet places before speaking. A great way to start our holiday and well worth the money.

Review by: Lois Ann	November 2011
Disappointed St Mark's was closed to public, not fault of Viator. Guide very informative and tour was great. Areas we would not have walked through.

Review by: Dubresa	November 2011
It was really good to get the explanation about the city and its buildings._br/_ They have a headset so you don't miss a word of what they are saying. _br/_ We missed the Basilica as it was closed, which is a shame as it means you would have to queue to get in. To make it better they at least explained the Basilica from outside

Review by: lacydailey	November 2011
I should start by saying that the day of our tour was cold, windy, and pouring down rain. It was raining and blowing so hard that umbrellas were useless. Therefore, my husband and I were disappointed that the tour guide still wanted to proceed with the normal tour despite the fact that it was a torrential down pour. We tried to go along with it, but couldn't hear anything because it was raining so hard. I know Viator has NOTHING to do with the fact that it was raining. However, I think it is unreasonable to make people walk around in the freezing, pouring rain. I asked if the tour guide could go to to St. Mark's first because of the weather and he said no. Like I said, we tried to play along but ended up walking back to our warm, dry hotel because we couldn't hear anything and were getting beyond soaked.

Review by: martin C	November 2011
Walking tour was impeded by Venice Marathon which was running on the same day. Having to print off ticket was difficult as we are travelling and not carrying a printer with us. Surely proof of id would have been sufficient?

Review by: Mel	November 2011
The guide was excellent. She shared a lot of information, was very knowlegable. It is well worth the cost.

Review by: Ken S	October 2011
Lots to see on this tour

Review by: Jo	October 2011
Guide was too far ahead in the Basilica so those further back could not hear her or see what she was pointing out. It was very crowded in the Basilica but it would have been nice to spend at least 5 minutes more there.

Review by: simone c	October 2011
The street was good but Sr Mark's Basilica was very disappointing as we just went round in a circle of the bottom of the Church and that was all we saw??

Review by: JANET W	October 2011
We would have enjoyed this if we could have heard the guide!! There were real problems with the earphones we were given. Nobody could hear the guide properly even when they changed some of the equipment. There were some people in the group that wanted to move on and didn't want to waste time trying to resolve the problem so we were left disappointed.

Review by: Chris	October 2011
Excellent trip

Review by: THOMAS J P	October 2011
Enjoyed the walking tour. Not having to wait in line was good. A good tour to begin your visit to Venice.

Review by: Stephen J	October 2011
Very informative, easy pace and the guide was very knowledgeable

Review by: Robin M	October 2011
Our guide was excellent and knowledgeable. I asked her additional questions about the architecture of St Mark's Basilica and she was happy to oblige. Even in early October the streets were insanely crowded but she managed to keep us together and speak loud enough for us all to hear. We were maybe 20 people. I was concerned that the tour would be long and boring with emphasis on dates and historical information but the guide made it relevant with interesting anecdotes._br/_ Robin from Montreal, Canada

Review by: Suzanne J	October 2011
Not the best tour every taken but if you want to avoid lineing up to get into the Basilica is the only way to go. Were far too many people around to be able to hear the guide and to make it worse her microphone wasnt working properly. She was very informative and once we got away from the main areas it was better.

Review by: Blondie	October 2011
We met in a very convenient spot. Our guide was extremely knowlegable and took her time to answer questions well. She also had a good sense of humor and made the tour fun.

Review by: Kirstinl	October 2011
Excellent, I felt like l was stepping back in time to an ancient world one can only imagine and not live in the 20th century!_br/_ Well done to our guide.

Review by: David C	October 2011
This walking tour of Venice is fantastic, you get to see all the main locations of the city as well as many hidden gems!

Review by: Barrie M, Australia	July 2010
Fabulous , informative and value for money.

Review by: Anonymous, United States of America	July 2010
Excellent tour and very informative and you also skip the long lines to enter this busy Basilica.

Review by: Anonymous, United States of America	July 2010
This tour was very good for background information on Venice. The guide pointed out many things included in the architecture that was very significant to early Venitians that we would have never noticed without taking the tour. It was also a great way to miss the line for St. Mark's.

Review by: Mary J, United States of America	June 2010
Very informative, gave some great historical info that you wouldn't get on your own.

Review by: Scott W, United States of America	June 2010
Loved this tour! When we got to Venice we had a lot of questions which our guide answered during the tour. We didn't have much time in the basillica, but it was so crowded that we probably wouldn't have spent more time there if we went on our own.

Review by: Sandra T, United States of America	June 2010
Louisella was wonderful. She has an absolute passion about her home and it is obvious when she is conducting a tour of her homeland Sandy

Review by: Claire L, United Kingdom	June 2010
In high season, skipping the queue to the Basilica is a must as it was very long. Well worth seeing. Our guide was extremely knowlegeable and made Venice come alive with history. The the group was small and manageble, with everyone being able to hear and ask questions.

Review by: Joan B, United Kingdom	May 2010
Group of 20, guide had microphone so heard every word. Very interesting explanation of some of the history of Venice and the symbolism of the construction of St Marks.

Review by: Ron C, United States of America	May 2010
Very informative. Great Value.