Small Group Venice Grand Canal Panoramic Tour

We had a very small group so it was easy to see everything and ask any questions we had. Elena was very informative.

Is a scam don’t book Is a scam !!!! Is. A scam don’t book !!!!!!!! Is a scam don’t book !!!! Is a scam don’t book !!!!

Excellent boat trip on the Grand Canal with lots of really good information and a very knowledgable guide . Recommended

Being in the boat was lovely - there were only 3 people total in our group so we all had lots of space - but the tour was pretty bland. Our guide pointed out key places, but I would have loved more information about Venice and its history. I did my own learning later - it’s such a cool city! We also returned to the dock 10 minutes early, meaning the tour only lasted 50 minutes.

The boat was 30 minutes late, the boat was not properly tied to the pier so dangerous to get on, the first 5 people took up the only space for taking pictures since the windows were dirty, and the guide did not encourage them to share the space. The cruise was only 45 minutes instead of a hour due to late boat. Totally a waste of time.

This was an excellent tour! Our guide was knowledgeable about Venice and shared interesting facts about the city. We enjoyed the tour!

Nice boat ride but the commentator was not very friendly. He seemed board and only spoke on the way there, not the way back. He spent that time on his phone. Was extremely had to hear and understand him.

Waste of time and money! Guide was very unprofessional without any knowledge about anything! Very poor experience for not so little money

Small group tour with guide on part of the grand canal. Easy to find. Easy to book. Lovely start to Venice.

Would not recommend. This tour is literally a guide who hires a water taxi to take you from the start point (near the square) to the bridge near the train station and back. A water taxi can fit approximately 6 people outside (2 in the back, 4 in the front). If your tour has more than 6 people, then the remaining people will be in the center of the taxi - a stuffy interior with small windows that you can barely see out of. Perhaps some people are grouped with others that will rotate seats - the others on our tour did not. The tour guide spoke for maybe 5-10 minutes of the hour tour. For the fact that this cost $50 a person, I feel as though a couple or a small group could simply hire their own taxi and have a better experience. For our particular tour, a second guide got on board our taxi. The guide and the extra guide sat in the front outside seats - meaning only 2 people could sit outside and the rest of the paying tour members sat in the interior (in 90 degree heat) where you couldn't see. This was the case for the first 15 minutes of the 60 minute tour - until we stopped to drop off the bonus guide. That's right - we gave another guide a free ride down the canal, giving them the best seat.

We were very disappointed in this tour. There were too many people for the vessel so that some people had to sit inside. It’s very difficult to enjoy your scenic tour when you can’t see the sights. The two tour operators took two of the few available outdoor seats preventing the paying customers from seeing anything.

What a great way to experience another side of Venice! Our tour guide was friendly, knowledgeable and happy. Small group meant small group, only 9 in total on our tour. The time of day was perfect (18.30pm) and the tour was an hour which was just enough time to experience the Grand Canal in all its spendor.

I thought the tour was going to be in a gondola or something similar but instead it was in a water cab. The glass w as dirty so unable to see out. We had to take turns looking out the opening. Once I was able to look out the opening, the views were beautiful.

This boat tour was a nice overview of the important sites and buildings along the Grand Canal in Venice. I would recommend taking it early in your visit to orient yourself to the area. The boats used are water taxis so there is limited space for having an unobstructed view. I was in the back part of the boat that is open to the air so it was great, but some of the people on the tour had to sit inside the boat and it was harder to see from in there. The tour guide was very knowledgeable but it was kind of difficult to hear her when we were standing in the back of the boat.

It was good but it could be better if the boat had more not covered space to make pictures. We selected spanish language tour but it was all explained in english so my wife couldn't understand anything.

Our driver was amazing but unfortunately, I can’t remember his name. He was knowledgeable and friendly.

It was great to learn about the city from the viewpoint of the canal. The guide was very knowledgable about the city and its buildings as well as suggesting placed to go visit after the tour. The ride on the boot was very comfortable and enjoyable and we were able to see many parts of the city from the water.

Really enjoyable and well organised. Would highly recommend for all first timers, nothing bad to report

Short and sweet with a very good guide. The boat used was a bit small and difficult to see all the places through the windows (but we went in very low season and it may be different as it gets busier).

this was the best boat tour i've ever been on. the tour guides were kind and the views were incredible. this is a must do for your first time in the grand canal!

Terrible experience, I would have never thought one activity could ruin an entire trip to this extent. If I didn't know better I would have thought this was a scam. 2 failled attempts, the ticket office doesn't know who you should wait for and when no one comes to pick you up they simply say "they are leaving". The same thing happened again later that week, unbelievable. Tour operator is never responding and Viator doesn't do anything to help.

We had a wonderful tour and the guide was knowledgeable and friendly. Would highly recommend Easy access to boat and an enjoyable cruise through the canals

We had Alberto as our tour guide and he was wonderful, Very knowledgeable. We learned a lot within the hour and the views were amazing. Would recommend to others!

Our guide, Gaella, was very knowledgeable and fun! I’d recommend this tour over a gondola ride as it gave more information and travelled over more water. You should definitely book this trip!

The tour is ok but the boat used was too small and panoramic as advertised, we had to keep swapping seats with other people to get good pictures, good tour but not the boat.

Wonderful to be on the gran canal of Venezia. Beautiful palaces close up. The beauty of St Mark’s square from the canal was breath taking

It rained. Taxi boat very hot. Guide pointed our historical buildings. Very little imagination to make it interesting.

Tour company, NOT Viator overbooked this excursion, so we were "encouraged" to offer up our seats. Viator was quick to respond and I'm hoping we see the refund we were promised.

Great overall tour of the Grand Canal in a nice small group. The guide was super nice and had lots of great detail on our tour. If you haven’t been on a tour of the Grand Canal, this will be a good one to expose you to it!

We arrived and the boat tour guides said it had been canceled that day. We’d like a refund. I was very disappointed that we paid for this and didn’t get to enjoy it.

The tour was great. The guide was very knowledgeable and the commentary was clear. Seeing all the architecture of the Grand Canal was a highlight of our visit

A wonderful way to take a trip down the Grand Canal. We had a great guide who gave us so much fun information. The best way to sightsee down the canal.

I’ve been waiting to receive a refund for over two weeks. The tour time was changed after my friends and I purchased tickets and we were unable to continue with the tour. The actual tour guide told us to contact viator to get a refund. I’ve spoken to two employees and was informed that my case went to the “higher ups”. I have yet to hear from anyone on their team about any progress.

The view from the canal was fantastic! A little hard to find at the start and understand the guide with the accent, but they were very well informed about Venice and pointing things out on the tour.

The locations themselves are marvelous and well worth seeing, but Viator was worthless. We arrived 15 min early to meeting location. “Host” was 10 min late! He passed out tickets with no information or instructions. I made 12;00 reservations, tickets said 1:30? Only because I asked, He told us we had to go to Baptistry and museum first, then be back to cathedral side entrance at 1:30. But didn’t tell us where to find entrances to any of the other places!! We went to wrong museum. Some kind people checked our tickets and gave us directions. Rushed through museum to make it back to cathedral side door at 1:30. That side entrance that lead to crypt. But we NEVER got into the actual cathedral. So that part of the experience didn’t exist at all for us. Would have loved to have seen inside the cathedral if only we knew where to go with our tickets. Not clear if cathedral is I really included at all, so maybe misrepresentation. There are no “skip the line” entrances at any of these locations; so it’s all false advertising. Our second booking for the day we never made because Viator screwed up the reservation entirely. We even called customer service international from Florence but they couldn’t fix it, only cancel it. And I can’t even leave a scathing review on that one because their format doesn’t allow it. Beware If they cancel your reservation because of THEIR screw up, there is no way to leave a review letting anyone else know about their bad customer service! Vistor has grown very large. TripAdvisor directs all their customers there. They really don’t care if they do a good job or not, because it’s all about the numbers. From now on I’ll be looking for alternative tour operators; but don’t expect to find any of them on TripAdvisor. Because TripAdvisor owns Viator, and now markets them strongly while excluding alternatives. I’ll go to Expedia next time for real recommendations.

Went to the tickets office to redeem my voucher to find out that my booking was cancelled because excursion was overbooked.

A fantastic tour of the Grand Canal with a knowledgable guide. It was just myself and my husband and a lovely couple from Germany. Having a smaller group meant I could stand at the back of the boat and really take it all in, not something I would have been able to do if the group were bigger. A must do tour.

We were disappointed because we could hardly hear what the guide was saying over the crackling speaker system. The last time I did a tour of the Grand Canal, it was much more interesting so I brought my friend with me this time. Neither of us felt it was worth what we paid,

Small friendly group, very knowledgeable guide, good photo opportunities even in the rain. Worth every penny.

My trip was scheduled for 5:30 and I was at/very near the meeting point from 5:10. No one from the tour appeared to tell me there had been a problem with the guide, apparently. I only found out by making inquiries at the ticket office as I was thinking of taking the trip unguided to ensure I got to seethe Grand Canal as my last activity in Venice. The ticket office arranged for my booking to be transferred to 6:30. The trip itself was as interesting as I hoped although could have been more enjoyable - once we reached the Canal and I was allowed to sit outside to take photos it was hard to hear a lot of the guides commentary as the speaker was placed at the stern while the sitting outside/standing spot was behind the driver.

A fantastic boat trip, just six guests on the very stylish boat and the guide was very knowledgeable.

The guide was disassociated with the guest. We were never allowed to ask questions. She sat outside of the boat while we were on the inside. This also made it hard to see most of the buildings.

This approximately 50 minute tour of the Grand Canal was enjoyable, if not particularly insightful or special. The guide was pleasant and professional and it is always interesting to view Venice by water. Perhaps, I may have enjoyed it more if it were my first trip to Venice or my first activity while in Venice. Under the circumstances, it was pleasant, but not special.

It was very enjoyable to have a small group tour of the Grand Canal recently. We were all able to be outdoors and take photos of the amazing historical buildings. Our guide provided meaningful commentary and was able to answer any questions that the group had. Our driver was very good as well and both made it a trip to remember.

Great experience! Customer friendly! We we’re running late as we went to the wrong pick up spot…we called to let them know and they did everything they could to make sure we got onnthe tour or reschedule for a different time. Very impressed.

Our initial time was postponed due to heavy rains but the travel group made sure we were rescheduled. They were very helpful to make our gondola ride excellent.

Español: Fuimos en un tour a Murano Burano y Torcello y llegamos 2 minutos tarde al meeting point en Murano y se fueron sin nosotros, nos quedamos en Murano completamente solos, decían que te daban 50 minutos para disfrutar de la isla pero de eso nada tuvimos menos de 25 minutos y como llegues un minuto tarde se van sin ti, vale mucho más la pena coger el transporte público y ir por tu cuenta a las diferentes islas. Así podrás visitarlas tranquilamente y sin agobios. English: We went on a tour to Murano Burano and Torcello and we arrived 2 minutes late at the meeting point in Murano and they left without us, we stayed in Murano completely alone, they said they gave you 50 minutes to enjoy the island but we had less than 25 minutes and if you arrive one minute late they leave without you, it is much more worthwhile to take public transport and go on your own to the different islands. This way you will be able to visit them calmly and without stress.

The tour was fine in all honesty. There were two disappointing things. We were being stuck inside a boat which makes the view less 'panoramic'. Those in the back of the boat had a better view but that was limited to 6 people max in reality out of 22. It was also tough to concentrate on what the guide was saying as she switched between English and Italian (which was rather impressive really) but she didn't get the opportunity to stop talking for the full hour. Therefore you were always trying to listen but only pay full attention when she was speaking English. It was still a nice tour though despite all that though.

Our guide was very committed to excellence. Thank you Last time I used Get Your Guide, the company is awful. Viator is outstanding.