Skip The Line: Best Of Venice Private Tour Including San Marco Doges' Palace And Gondola Ride

In Denise we had a most womderful tour guide. The Doge Palace was the highlight of the tour. The gondola ride was a great way to end the day

A last minute snag with our credit card forced us to move up to a private tour. Our group of six was very happy with our private guide, Brankica. We learned much about the history and lore of the Doge and St Mark’s cathedral. She was efficient and focused in her presentations and very proud of her city. Our visit to the Rialto bridge and surrounding area and the gondola ride were also accompanied by great local insight. What a fun way to scoop up knowledge and great memories of Venice. Spending the additional money for a private tour is very well worth it particularly if you’re lucky enough to have Brankica as your guide.

Denice has been our favorite guide ever! She was so knowledgeable & was able to answer all our questions. She hit all the highlights of Venice with ease and her joyful & bubbly personality made it a great time!! We highly recommend this tour & guide to everyone.

Our guide, Donata, was fantastic and a great pleasure to work with. Would work with her every time friends or family come to Venice.

The walking tour with Denise was awesome. She was so informative and had great bits of information to add and make it enjoyable. We had a change of tour guides for Doge’s palace. Don’t need one for there. She just said what was on the walls signs. Her English was not easy to understand. They did not purchase Chapel tickets early enough to get us in so we did not get to see it. I booked 3 months ahead!!

AWESOME tour! As this was our first time in Venezia, we wanted to take a full day tour to experience it with a local Venetian and Ketty did not disappoint. She was not only kind but extremely knowledgeable about the city and it’s history. We spent the whole day with her visiting all the sites you would expect including Doge’s Palace, St Marks Square and even took a gondola ride. We shared a couple of meals together during our tour and she pointed out many other stops and restaurants along the way that we may want to see later in our stay. We left Venezia having met a new friend and we hope to see her on our next trip to this gorgeous city in the future. She speaks wonderful English and is more than happy to help us practice our Italian, haha! We can’t say enough about Ketty and the beautiful city she is blessed to call home. In our opinion, Venezia is the prettiest city in Italy. Ketty did a wonderful job of introducing us to Venezia. GRAZIE TANTI KETTY!! ❤️

The tour of the Duomo was very informative. Donatello knew her history and was very accommodating. We enjoyed the walk thru the local streets to the Rialto Bridge. The gondola ride was very relaxing.

Carolina was amazing with so much knowledge, took us on the unbeaten path away from the crowds most of the time e explaining the rich culture. Definitely recommend

We booked this tour in February 2023 to make sure we would be able to go to the Basilica and to the palace. We paid $1,026.49 for it. Two days before our tour they said they could not get our Basilica tickets and did I want a refund. It was a little late at that point to get any tickets so we did the tour anyway and they refunded us $13.16 for apparently a Basilica tour not happening. Really?

My husband and I took “Best of Venice Private Tour Including San Marco Doges' Palace and Gondola Ride” with Carolina in June 2023. It was like taking a tour with an old friend. Carolina was very knowledgeable — about the city’s culture and history, but especially about art! — and had good “side stories” that were relatable, sequential, and informative. The entire day ran smoothly through all the must-see stops and then intentional strolling. We stopped for a perfect quick Venetian lunch that didn’t disrupt the flow of the tour but still felt like part of the experience. We appreciated that she had a plan for the day but checked in periodically to make sure we were engaged and didn’t want to divert. Her helpfulness didn’t end when the tour did — she texted us later and sent along some recommendations for us to visit on our own later in our stay. We would highly recommend this tour and especially Carolina; it’s well worth the money to put yourself in such capable hands with such a professional, personable person!

Our guide Carolina was amazing. BUT we were very disappointed that our tickets to the Basilica were cancelled at the last minute and on our once in a lifetime chance we were unable to see it.

Walking through the Jewish Ghetto and other regions of Venice that were less touristy was our favorite part of the day. Our tour guide Donata was very knowledgeable and accommodating.

Carolina was so AMAZING! It was like touring the city with a dear friend. She was knowledgeable, animated, friendly and outgoing. We immediately felt at ease with her. Her information was interesting about Venice and it’s sites. It was worth every penny and more! We felt we had a full overview of the area.

Wonderful deep dive into history of Venice with a kind and knowledgeable guide. If you love history and want to know the stories behind such a special place, this is a great tour. St Marks Square, the Doge Palace, prison and Basilica. Followed by a nice lunch (options provided to meet your desires). Then gelato and walking tour of the alleys and squares you might never find. Finish up with 30 gondola ride to see Venice as it was meant to be seen. Excellent day. Highly recommended.

We had a wonderful day in Venice! Having our knowledgeable guide, Michela, to explain the history and government workings of the Venetian empire, plus point out the significance of paintings, sculptures and mosaics in the various buildings, while bringing other items of interest to our attention, made it such an interesting day. Being able to walk by hundreds of people waiting in line gave us more time to appreciate each location, and ending the day with a relaxing gondola ride was perfect.

We had only one day to see all the ‘big things’ in Venice and this was a great way to do it. Carolina was a wonderful guide who took us off the beaten track as well as navigating through the busier places and providing a fascinating commentary on everything we were seeing. Not a cheap way of doing things but value for money when time is short. Great communication from the tour company before as well.

Absolutely wonderful - highly recommend if you want to avoid crowds, skip lines, and learn a lot! Carolina was very helpful and patient; we’re quite glad to have had her as our guide!

I loved Michaela and her knowledge. But since we could not go into the museums then it was too expensive for what we did.

Such a great tour. When we arrived in Venice every museum and palace had been closed due to the Coronavirus scare. However our wonderful tour guide, Romy changed plans on our behalf. She instead took us on a 6.5 hour experience beginning with tours to Murano and Burano in addition to a fantastic tour of Venice. Finishing with a gondola ride in Venice. Showing us all the best Venice has to offer. Romy was so knowledgeable and knew the history of everything. She stayed with us on the gondola ride and took photos for us all day. She took great care to ensure our safety every step of the way. If you have a chance to take a tour of Venice you definitely should request Romy.

our tour guide was great. Native Venetian. Knew the city very well. She showed os pretty much everything to see in the city and answered all our questions. The only part that was not 100% great was the gondola ride as they used the busiest operator behind San Marco and they short changed us on the time- only 22 minutes not 30.

We were priveleged to have Dr. Romy Rigattieri, a learned local Venetian as our guide for the day. As Romy knew the city like the back of her hand, she took us to visit it's main highlights through meandering streets, off the beaten path, so that we could see so many hidden gems and aspects of the city, en route. Two such unique stops that were significant for us were to a historic Gondola boatyard [where Romy explained the painstaking process that goes into the construction of a single gondola] and to an iconic waterfront gelateria where we were made to try a unique dessert [which Romy used to relish as a child] of chocolate and whipped cream! Being very experienced Romy brought the ancient and mesmerising city of Venice to life for us with her detailed and animated commentary. She took us to iconic mask shops to explain the process and significance of this unique Venetian phenomenon. She also took us to try Cicchetti, typical Venetian snacks, similar to Spanish tapas. Her explanations of the Doges Palace, Bridge of Sighs, the adjoining Prison and of the Byzantine influenced San Marco were exceptionally notable. Our Tour ended with a private gondola ride which my young daughters were looking forward to the most. Seeing that the gondoliers were very busy and hence nonchalant and uncaring of the thronging tourists, Romy never left our side until she was sure that we were seated in a comfortable gondola with an attentive gondolier. This for us was very touching. As the gondolier pushed away from the shore and took us down the canal, we could see Romy gradually disappear from view. She never stopped waving to us. ~Felicia Variava Albert. Managing Director, Blaze Tours & Travels Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai, India

<p>We were priveleged to have Dr. Romy Rigattieri, a learned local Venetian as our guide for the day. <br/> As Romy knew the city like the back of her hand, she took us to visit it's main highlights through meandering streets, off the beaten path, so that we could see so many hidden gems and aspects of the city, en route. Two such unique stops that were significant for us were to a historic Gondola boatyard where Romy explained the painstaking process that goes into the construction of a single gondola and to an iconic waterfront gelateria where we were made to try a unique dessert which Romy used to relish as a child of chocolate and whipped cream!<br/> Being very experienced Romy brought the ancient and mesmerising city of Venice to life for us with her detailed and animated commentary. She took us to iconic mask shops to explain the process and significance of this unique Venetian phenomenon. She also took us to try Cicchetti, typical Venetian snacks, similar to Spanish tapas.<br/> Her explanations of the Doges Palace, Bridge of Sighs, the adjoining Prison and of the Byzantine influenced San Marco were exceptionally notable.<br/> Our Tour ended with a private gondola ride which my young daughters were looking forward to the most. Seeing that the gondoliers were very busy and hence nonchalant and uncaring of the thronging tourists, Romy never left our side until she was sure that we were seated in a comfortable gondola with an attentive gondolier. This for us was very touching. As the gondolier pushed away from the shore and took us down the canal, we could see Romy gradually disappear from view. She never stopped waving to us.<br/> Felicia Variava Albert. Managing Director, Blaze Tours and Travels Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai, India</p>

<p>This tour was so much more than we were expecting. Our tour guide Romy was very knowledgeable and showed us the best of Venice. It was a private tour for the 4 of us and was a perfect day. The gondola ride was just the four of us and about 40 minutes long, made our Venice trip exactly what we expected. I highly suggest this tour.</p>

<p>The tour guide was very knowledgeable, he was eager to show us what we wanted to see, it was so nice to have the guide to ourselves. Although it was expensive, it was worth it.</p>

<p>A wonderful tour! Thank you to our extremely knowledgeable tour guide Christina. We visited Doge's Palace and Saint Mark's Basillica and toured the city. Our tour guide gave us great information about the city, the buildings, the people and life today. This was a all day tour, which I would highly recommend. Be prepared to walk a lot! So wear comfortable attire, however please be aware some places you are visiting may have some requirements or restrictions. Just be ready to enjoy Venice, only wish we had more time to explore.</p>

<p>Rafael Tours is a great company. Used twice and would use again. Adriana was an excellent guide-knowledgeable, flexible and funny.Plenty of time in Doges Palace and San Marcos church. 30 min gondola ride was ok. Our gondolier was boring-was on his phone the whole time. Overall great tour! DO BOOK!</p>

<p>This was a basic one day guided tour of the city of Venice. Our guide was contracted through a local tour company that was contracted by Viator. It is a challenge to get so many hands in the pie and it makes these tours expensive. However, this guide was very professional and his English was excellent. I far prefer a private guide now for any tour that I'm taking. The experience far outweighs the cost when you consider how much you spent to get to the destination in the first place. He made a great lunch recommendation, and created an excellent custom day. However, the constraints between Viator and the local tour company caused minor timing problems. I believe there is not enough work in matching what the local tour company is offering and what Viator is selling on its site. In this case, the guide was willing to make it fit the description that Viator had said which was a completely private, customized guided tour not so much what the local company had described, but this is not always the case. Be wary that you might not get what you expect in the tour description if Viator hasn't done enough foot work with the local tour provider to mesh expectations. If they email ahead of time for tour confirmation it is imperative to set expectations up front.</p>

<p>Truly awesome city and the tour was really good. There is so much to see in Venice that you definitely need a guide!</p>

Todos y cada uno de los momentos son únicos. Cada paso es una historia y es Historia. Stella fue y es una guía excepcional. No he conocido en los años que llevo viajando por el mundo una cicerone tan preparada, tan educada, amable y sobre todo cariñosa.

User Guide Arianna war fantastisch. Eine super Allgemeinbildung und sehr sympathisches auftretten. Danke

Wir hatten ein Wochenende in Venedig mit dieser privaten Tour gebucht. Unsere Reiseführerin Ariane war pünktlich am Treffpunkt und wir verbrachten einen wahnsinnig interessanten und unglaublich tollen Tag mit ihr in Venedig. Es ist zwar etwas teuer, aber dafür lohnt es sich im Vergleich zu den 'Massentouren' sehr. Es gibt kein Warten und keine Langeweile. Man kann seine Fragen direkt stellen und Ariane hatten sehr viel zu erzählen. Vielen Dank an sie an dieser Stelle. Wir werden diese Tour weiterempfehlen.