Venice Walking Tour and Gondola Ride

Venice, Italy

Enjoy a walking tour of the city to discover its treasures nestled amid charming squares, bridges and narrow streets and then hop aboard a classic Venetian gondola boat. After exploring the Grand Canal and the smaller canals around the neighborhood of Fenice, soak up the charms of the romantic city while wandering through through picturesque cobblestone alleyways and squares. Your knowledgeable guide will point out all the highlights of Venice from the area between Piazza San Marco (St Mark’s Square) to Rialto Bridge.

The tour is composed of two parts and allows you to discover the lesser-known places of Venice and to try a means of transport found only in the city!
Starting with a walking tour of the city, you will explore the area around Piazza San Marco and Rialto Bridge. Learn about the top attractions and stop for photos in front of Venice's cultural centerpieces such as Teatro la Fenice, Scala del Bovolo and Rialto Bridge.
Your guide will determine the exact itinerary, depending on the day.

After your walking tour get ready to hop aboard a classic gondola boat (for up to 6 people) and enjoy a 35-minute ride through the famous Grand Canal (Salute area) as well as the smaller canals around the neighborhood of Fenice. As you glide along the Grand Canal, marvel at the glamorous bank-side palaces and churches and hear tales about how it became Venice's most important thoroughfare. The gondola ride ends by disembarking at Vallaresso Station in Dogana.

Please note: Venice walking tour does not include entry to the monuments

USD $52.00

Traveler Reviews

Review by:   Abdullah B,    July 2018
Amazing! Highly recommended.

Review by:   Sundy F,    July 2018
We really enjoyed the walking tour with our guide. She was very friendly and even though we were in Venice last year, she taught us a lot of things we didn't learn on the last trip. It was a crowded Saturday afternoon, but the way she took us on the back streets and alleys, we never felt frustrated. It was a great way to see Venice and the gondola ride was a fun way to end the tour.

Review by:   Hilmer C,    June 2018
It was a nice tour. The walking part kind of short, even though that the guide was good. I liked the walking tour was not in the must common tour areas. _br/_ The line for gondola tour was crowded and long. No explanations during the tour. Why?

Review by:   Niro S,    June 2018
Amazing tour! highly recommended!

Review by:   Kerry EW,    June 2018
Great fun. The guide was interesting and funny. It was great to see something different and the group gondola ride was a cheap option to enjoy this must do activity when in Venice. As we were with the group we also had priority hop on to the gondolas so didnt have to line up with the crowds who had been waiting for some time. Great value for money and well organised.

Review by:   sproulrv,    June 2018
Good way to get an initial impression of Venice, but nothing special.

Review by:   Monique S,    June 2018
The mic/ear piece method wasn't very clear. Might need an update.

Review by:   Jenny S,    June 2018
At this point we were tired of walking from other adventures but the gondola ride was good , short but good.

Review by:   Amy S,    May 2018
Our guide was great, and I was definitely happy to have headsets. Bring your own headphones with you! They provide them, but I was glad to have my better ones. Our guide was funny, honest, and did a great job of educating us on the city. She didn't take us through the big touristy spots, which I was grateful for. We did those on our own. The wait for the gondola ride was long... As you're walking from the tourism office to the gondola point after the tour, hustle to the front of the group! We were chilling in the back, and ended up waiting a long time to get on the gondola. The first groups were already back by the time we got on a boat.

Review by:   msmartalash,    May 2018
I really liked it. The walking tour guide was excellent.... and the Gondola ride was nice.

Review by:   Bridget F,    May 2018
Gondolas can feel very touristy so I wouldn't plan that as the highlight of a trip to Venice. This tour was perfect because it was mostly a walking tour with great historic information, with a little gondola ride at the end so you can say you've experienced that!

Review by:   Winfield Mark S,    April 2018
The experience is nothing like the movies. The traffic is so crammed with gondola's that you are practically touching the boat in front of you. Didn't expect a romantic gondola ride as there were five of us but it was more like herding cattle. I get it that they need to make a living but a jammed waterway was not anything special.

Review by:   Susan J,    April 2018
This was really fun! We did it on our first day in Venice so we would know the lay of the land. It didn't keep us from being totally lost much of the time but that's part of the charm of Venice. Our guide was very knowledgable and even though we had a large group, he walked at a good pace. He also gave us a transmitter and headphones and he spoke into a walkie talkie so you could hear what he was saying even if you were in the back of the line. His knowledge of Venice was thorough. We then arrived at the gondolas and were called by group to get on and went for a nice ride. Our gondolier was very interesting, third generation. We loved it and have some fun pictures. I recommend this tour as one not to miss!

Review by:   gswamy.rkumar,    April 2018
Walking tour was great! Our guide was very friendly and explained all the interesting facts about Venice. We have to get in line with 50 or more people for the Gondola ride but it moved fairly fast.

Review by:   Ashley D,    April 2018
This was an excellent way to start the trip and covered a lot more of the waterways than i expected. Relaxing way to view the place.

Review by:   David F,    April 2018
The walking tour was very well done. We enjoyed the entire tour. We would recommend it!

Review by:   Craig W,    April 2018
The meeting location was very difficult to find. The person behind the counter was quite rude and un-friendly. The guide took us to some very nice spots during the tour, but constantly repeated herself. Prior to the gondola ride, after the long walk, again the person behind the counter was rude when I asked to have a moment to use the facilities. She told me no and the group left without me! I felt like I deserved better treatment considering I was the customer. I did meet up with the group and got my Gondola ride. That was the best part of the tour!

Review by:   Donna P,    April 2018
Excellent guide! She was very nice and provided so much interesting information and history of Venice. Our group was very pleased with this tour and we would highly recommend this company!

Review by:   John B,    April 2018
Enjoyed every minute of it, learnt and saw a lot more than aimlessly wandering around particularly the lesser visited areas. Good value.

Review by:   KB L,    April 2018
Great way to be introduced on the history of Venice and visiting nooks and corners of Venice.

Review by:   ajrscience,    April 2018
Basic tour . Very small area covered.

Review by:   mcpatty,    April 2018
Enjoyed the tour guide for the walking tour and her knowledge of the history of Venice, but didn't like the overcrowded and unorganized wait for the gondola ride. The 2nd half of the tour we had a different guide who didn't communicate at all with us and we almost left because the crowd was overwhelming, but she finally called our name then told us we only had reservations for 1 not 2 when we obviously had tickets for 2... then she decided to let us both take the gondola ride. Would not recommend booking both walking tour and gondola ride together.

Review by:   S D,    April 2018
Walking tour amazing, Gondola ride was disorganised

Review by:   Tanya L,    April 2018
This was a great way to tour Venice and learn the towns history AND end the tour with a picturesque gondola ride. I enjoyed it.

Review by:   Elizabeth P,    April 2018
This tour was very informative about how Venice was built and just the right length. We especially enjoyed the gondola ride and even got to hear another gondolier singing and with accordion accompaniment. Very good!

Review by:   Sue F,    December 2017
Fantastic Tour. Elana was a wonderful guide, full of information and enthusiasm. We arrived in Venice and this was the first thing we did. The perfect way to get a feel for the city. Would highly recommend. The Gondolier was on his mobile phone for most of the ride, a little disappointing but took nothing away from the tour!

Review by:   Maria S,    December 2017
Francesca was very knowledgeable about Venice and even more so as an archeologist. I highly recommend the tour. The Gondola ride was magical.

Review by:   S F,    December 2017
very good value for money and our guide was extremely entertaining. The technology used is also impressive which made the whole experience a bliss. thank you!

Review by:   jratel,    December 2017
Our guide, Freddie, was a passionate Venetian with amazing knowledge of local history. We enjoyed walking through back lanes and listening to her stories. The tour ended with a gondola ride taking in the scenic canals. A well priced fantastic tour.

Review by:   sandseme,    November 2017
Great walk through the passage ways. Our guide was very informative. The gondola ride was perfectly timed in the early evening with lights reflecting on the canals. Wonderful tour!

Review by:   Wendys Travel,    November 2017
I did this tour on my first day in Vrnicevwhich I would recommend. Listened so much about Venice on this tour

Review by:   Trevor D,    November 2017
The guide's English was not as good as we have previously experienced on other tours and was difficult to understand at times. What surprised us more than anything was that the walking tour did not take in St Mark's Square or the Doges Palace which, let's face it, are the top visitor attractions of Venice. Very disappointing!_br/_ Enjoyed the Gondola ride though.

Review by:   Happy,    November 2017
Romantic!! Exhilarating!! Venezia!!! I need say NO more!!!

Review by:   Dwayne E,    November 2017
Marco was a delightful guide and I loved his quiet aside comments as he walked us along the back streets and alleyways. The tour definitely took us to areas we had never seen before, but in areas we had visited earlier, we found out facts we would never have learned without the tour. Good value there! The pace during the tour was perfect for those of us who had walking limitations. The trip over to the gondola's however was done at too fast a pace after Marc handed us over to the young lady who was waiting at the office. Tell her she has to look back every once and a while to assess the slower walkers. We made it, but not without some stressfull moments wondering if we would get lost behind her. Thanks to those in the tour who kept checking back and making sure we stayed with the group! The gondola ride was perfect.

Review by:   Margaret I,    November 2017
great guide, lovely tour

Review by:   LaToya L,    November 2017
Great Tour!

Review by:   La'Chelle,    November 2017
Not to be missed! Federica was a most charming and entertaining guide and we learned a lot about the charms of Venice. The headphones were clear and we could hear every word perfectly. If you like to laugh and learn and see the sights all at the same time then this tour is for you. Learn about the leaning tower of Venice and the wonderful Phoenix theatre, amongst others. We even learned some Italian and how to be a polite tourist! Then a superb gondola ride at the end of everything. A lovely afternoon, would do this tour again.

Review by:   linda w,    November 2017
This was a great tour to get off the beaten path of Venice and all the people. Our guide spoke English very well with a such a beautiful Italian accent that made him so easy to listen to. Can't remember his name but he was very easy on the eyes too! He had great stories to go along with the facts. Sometimes all those facts can get a little boring so adding in the flavor of his stories helped to keep interest. As for the Gondola ride, reminded me of a factory line. The gondola's are all parked and waiting to load the sheep! The gondoliers seemed very uninterested in their passengers. No singing or interacting with us. More interested in talking to each other but you do get the spirit of a gondola ride at a much reduced price.

Review by:   Debbie W,    November 2017
This was much better than the Venice food walking tour as we could actually hear this lady due to the head sets she provided_br/_ also she walked at a leisurely pace and told us interesting facts about Venice_br/_ Good if you want a history lesson and the Gondola ride was great

Review by:   Nancy D,    November 2017
This tour was essential to our discovering Venice. The guide was excellent. We travel often and are quite comfortable discovering new countries and cities, but Venice is unique and can be overwhelming because of the maze of streets that dead end unless you are lucky enough to find a bridge, not to mention the number of tourists swarming everywhere. This tour helped give us our bearings so we could relax and enjoy the city.

Review by:   Wendy S,    November 2017
Great trip with very knowledgable information and a comedian as a guide. Well I dont know if he was a comedian but he was very funny and friendly. This trip was well worth the money as you got to see a lot of Venice and with the added bonus of a Gondola ride

Review by:   Geordie S,    November 2017
Good value for the money as gondola rates are high. Favorite European city to date!

Review by:   David P,    November 2017
We didnt feel the tour guide promoted a love for Venice. The gondola ride was nice.

Review by:   Eric E,    November 2017
The gondola ride was the highlight. The walking tour doesn't really cover highlights of the city. It focuses on back roads and everyday life rather than 'must see' sites. We saw a cool stone spiral staircase, the front of the opera house, a supermarket, a garden, some wells, an abandoned church, a leaning tower from a distance, and one spot on the grand canal. This tour might have been an interesting diversion if we'd had more time in the city and had already seen the big stuff - kind of a different side of the city. However, we only had time for one tour - and this one wasn't what we'd hoped. If we hadn't explored on our own, I probably would have been disappointed with the city.

Review by:   Catherine R,    October 2017
The tour was good, the gondola ride was great! Great value when you see how much the rides cost alone! The guide tended to repeat herself. Not sure if that was to reinforce or whether she lost track of what she had said

Review by:   Lrieger,    October 2017
Great Tour with a 1/2hr gondola ride and was very close to St Marco Square. This was our 2 time in Venice and it's nice to know a little about the architecture and how Venice was formed. Reasonably priced as well. Spend a little time in St Marco square for the music. Note that food is expensive in the square as well. Head away from square for places that don't charge you to sit down to eat or drink.

Review by:   Sheldon G,    October 2017
My wife and I took the Venice Walking Tour and Gondola Ride on October 16th. The tour guide was excellent. She explained the history of Venice and the little-known stories that only a native of Venice would know. We met wonderful people from all over the world, and the 2-1/2 hours flew by quickly. The gondola ride was the highlight, and being a bucket list item of mine, was the perfect end to a perfect tour. Venice is a magical, one-of-a-kind city which should not be missed. My wife walks with a cane and we had no trouble keeping up with the rest of the group, so people with walking disabilities shouldn't be afraid to take this tour. My advice to people is to NOT visit on a weekend day. Our first day in Venice was a Sunday, and it was packed with visitors. We returned on Monday for our tour, and there were very few people in the city, allowing us to walk more freely, visit more shops and restaurants and fully enjoy Venice.

Review by:   gwen g,    October 2017
This tour was nice and our guide was informative and interesting . It’s hard to walk around there in a group though so that is why I gave it three stars

Review by:   Angela O,    October 2017
This was my second time doing this same tour in 3 years and I was lucky enough to have Frederica as a guide again. She is so knowledgeable and warm!

Review by:   Peter John B,    October 2017
Guide kept talking about the dampness of the buildings! Otherwise, lovely walking around the old streets of Venice._br/_ Gondola Ride - was very rushed!

All Traveler Reviews...