St. Mark’s Basilica & Doge’s Palace Guided Tour With Gondola Ride

The gondola ride is at a different time from the tour. This was not communicated at all. It caused us to pay twice for a gondola ride because we could not wait to do the gondola ride at our appointed time. Our ship water taxis left before the assigned time I was very disappointed at Viator because I would not have booked this tour bec of time issues. Sara was our guide and she was so good. She knew her material and was passionate about her country. I will be more careful booking with Viator in the future.

Valentina was incredible!!!! Thank you Valentina for an amazing tour experience!

This tour gives you the best of everything to do in Venice at a very reasonable price. Highly recommend.

Guide was very knowledgeable, entertaining and considerate of my mobility limitations. Highly recommend!

The locations are incredible, and will amaze you even without a guide. But our guide Valentina made this amazing place come alive!! I will NEVER visit another historicaly significant site without a CityWonders guide. Our guide clearly loves this city, it's rich history and traditions, and her passion for this place made our experience more than we ever imagined possible. THANK YOU for our memories!

Horrible with cancellations of tours. I had an 11 am tour booked at least a week before we left for vacation, which I had to re-book because of a previous tour cancellation by the provider. They reached out 3 days before, 11 am tour was cancelled, moving to 2 pm. I agreed, I show up after a confirmation email and message. I was told the tour was cancelled. Do yourself a favor a book directly with a tour operator like The Tour Guy or other. The problem is Viator is a second party that organizes trips, but does not have timely response between the person taking the trip and the operators. Hence the several cancellations or last-minute changes. I never write reviews that I had to share this. I tried to cut and paste my emails, but it wouldn’t allow me to.

Elena was very knowledgeable. Lots of walking but places to rest too. The gondola ride was scary the boat kept leaning to the right a lot.

Wouldn’t book again, the tour started late and the guide was very soft spoken and difficult to understand.

Our guide was wonderful. She was so informative and I can’t imagine doing it without a wonderful tour guide. Highly recommend☺️

Our tour guide, Valentina, was exceptional! She had so much knowledge and kept the tour going. Was very interesting and kept our attention the entire time. So glad we booked this tour!

This tour was a disappointment . The office was very disorganized. The tour guide was late . After the tour that was St Marks, the Doges Palace and Gondola ride we were told there was not Gondola ride included after we paid $347. After many discussions at 2 different offices the finally gave us the Goldola ride. this was not what we were expecting from Viator and City Wonders .

We thoroughly enjoyed our tour with Alessandra who was very clearly spoken and extremely well informed. The tour was well paced and perfectly to schedule without queueing at any point.

Elana our tour guide was absolutely amazing, usually tours like this tend to be dry and boring but not with her she is smart and absolutely funny! l loved the tour so much! Thank you Elaba for your amazing tour

Our tour guide, Iola, was very knowledgeable about the history of St. Mark's Basilica and the symbolism of the ceiling and floor mosaics in the church. Our gondola ride down a small canal was fun and Thomas, our gondolier, was pleasant and he piloted the gondola well.

Love to learn the history of Bacilica. It is amazing! Canals tour is very Venetian, great experience!

Very knowledgeable guide in St. Mark's and a wonderul gondola ride through the city. Great memories!

We had a very knowledgeable guide for the Basilica. It was a very limited tour. Only toured the front of the Basilica. The gondola was very tippy. If you're afraid of water or can't swim, I would not recommend this. The gondileer was quite rude.

Iole was very knowledge and very friendly. She made sure that if you had any questions she would answer them.

Very insightful and informative tour regarding St. Mark’s Basilica. Tour guide Rita very knowledgable. Highly recommended when you are in Venice.

This tour was great our guide Iole was excellent she explained everything and answered all of our questions. The gondola ride was sweet and peaceful!!!

Guide was not standing out. Completely missed guide even though I was there 25 minutes before start time at correct location. I asked multiple tour guides from different companies and security of I was in the right location and they said yes. Company would not answer text messages of emergency phone number. I waited for the next slotted tour time, still could not locate guide. Waited close to 3 hours in the Piazza and no one showing City Wonders attire was clearly identified. Paid for my own entry and requested the Gondola tickets as there was no set time. Company replied back absolutely no, and then they cut off communication.

Rita, our guide was informative and engaging. We began promptly, had ample time in the basilica, and were guided through carefully. We then went to the gondola for a nice ride through the canals. The tour ended where it began, which was very convenient, even though the listing said it would end far away.

Be ready…Tour guide may not show up, with NO prior notice to you. No alternate guide on standby. Besides the St. Marc Basilica tour, we also had to cancel our Gondola ride to get a full refund, otherwise we’re told only 25% will be refunded.

Great tour guide and the gondola ride was very nice. Be sure to have your shoulders and knees covered to enter the Basilica. Quick little excursion so not too exhausting.

Meeting location easy to find, the guide Anna was fantastic and the city guide was great, the experience as a whole was amazing

Anna Chiara was really an excellent guide. She is passionate about history and the tour of St Marks Basillica was really enjoyable. She explained the art work so nicely, we all really enjoyed it.

It was good for the skip the line tickets to st Mark’s basilica. The gondola ride was nice but the man on the gondola was a bit rude to us

We went with Anna K. She was energetic & a fun tour guide. Gave us a simple explanation of the history of every stop. Made the tour a wonderful experience for us! Strongly recommended!

Clara was our guide and did such an amazing job not just showing us the Basilica and Doge’s Palace, but also getting us around Venice in high water with ease and a smile. We learned so much and our daughters (10 & 13) learned a ton also, even in the rain.Grazie!

This tour is a must do! Moses our guide was so knowledgeable and gave you exciting facts about the city so you weren’t bored by pointless information. It was such a reasonable price and I would recommend this to anyone who comes to Venice.

The tour guide that was Used on this particular walking tour was absolutely fabulous she took her time to explain things she didn’t walk at an uncomfortable pace and I would highly recommend her and this tour to others. We came to Venice for many reasons but one was to go on a gondola my wife and I totally enjoyed it and It met all my expectations.

Our first time visiting Venice. This was a great half-day tour, and the guide was excellent. Great value for money.

Iole was a great guide. She knew so many details about Venice, which made this tour very personal and exciting. We were not able to enter the basilica due to a special event occurring last minute, however, our guide replaced it with visiting the local markets which was incredible. It rained at the start of our tour, but it added to an experience we will never forget. Bring an umbrella just in case.

My Guide, “Monica” was excellent! She was probably one of the best Guides I’ve ever had with Viator. You’ll love this tour!

This was a very comprehensive tour of Venice, St. Mark's and Doge's Place. Our guide was excellent and very knowledgeable. I would recommend to go through Doge's palace and figure out another way to do a gondola ride. Remember, the gondola's have a large blade on the front of the boat. The boats with a curly-q on the front are NOT gondolas. Highly recommend!!

I am becoming more convinced that Viator offered the best way to do a city - so that the first day you are not frustrated with focusing on a map. We started our visit with this afternoon tour and my only regret was that we thought it was 3 hr, not 4 hour and we did not time our food schedule properly. However there is a 15 min break towards the end that gives you time to use the WC and get water. You would not want to cut this short because it is the only way to see St Mark’s _ Doge Palace. The meeting place was a bit tricky, but I was glad that I confirmed with the office the exact location and then we had no troubles finding it. I liked the first part- simply walking thru the maze of a city and hearing history was more accurate than what our gondola operator was trying to “tell” us on our separate (non-tour) ride. Elle was very proficient in her English and her history. I love hearing one speak with passion versus just covering the main point of the script. She answered all of our questions, even though not related to the tour sites. I highly suggest this as the starting point for any tourist and then use your next day to venture & get lost on your own..........knowing that you only saw the bests.

We did the Best of venice walking tour with Mose. He is a wonderfully animated tour guide who clearly loves and knows his history ! He was very enthusiastic, engaging and full of knowledge about the history of Venice and Utah architecture. His tour was also very well tuned managed as we got to see the bell tower at just the right moment it was about to change time and chime from the terrace of the basilica. Really enjoyed his tour, hope you get to have him for yours !

POOR - Misleading as labeled Doge's Palace OR Gondola Ride We wanted Gondola Ride but City Tours did not offer it .....................

Guide was very knowledgeable. Provided overall history of Venice and also visited Marco Polo's birthplace and the oldest Inn in Venice.

We did the walking tour and Doge’s Palace option. The tour guide provided too much detail during the tour which left nearly everyone in the group getting bored or ignoring what she was saying. The guide meant well and was obviously very knowledgeable however didn’t read the participants body language well. Admittedly I’m sure it’s a tough job. The sites and locations themselves were great to see and definitely a good tour to do whilst in Venice.

The instructions for meeting our tour guide was very confusing and even after asking local vendors for directions we did not meet with a tour guide. We even inquired at Doge's Palace if we could go in since we had paid for a tour and did not meet the guide. We were not allowed in. It was very disappointing since this was my first visit to Venice and I probably won't ever be able to visit again. Viator refused to give us a refund and offered another scheduling of this tour which was impossible as we were leaving Venice in two days. I was disappointed in Viator response and don't know that I will refer anyone to them.

We took the Guided Walking Tour with St Mark's and Gondola Ride. Walked around from Campo S. Bartolomeo to St Mark's Basilica with a radio device. The radio device was clear and convenient as you can still hear the tour guide's commentaries even if you are a little away or the surrounding area is noisy. Our guide (too bad I forgot his name), was a local passionate Venetian who provided a lot of information and tips. He was organised and spoke good English. I learned about the former residences of Marco Polo and Casanova and other significant information Our Gondola ride was taken by another tour guide but was seamless with the transfer from the first tour guide. The meeting place was easy to find and easily accessible from a Vaporetto platform in Rialto bridge. Overall, it was a very nice tour. Thank you!

I will not even give a 1.....We missed our tour and we were where we thought our meeting spot was according to what was on our paper. We asked prob 5-6 different people and they all told us somewhere different. There were 9 of us that was standing in same spot where we thought tour was so they were having the same problem. We all were there 20-30 min early and didn’t see the guide. When we called, the lady told us the tour had already left. We asked could we do another tour that same day as we were only there for two days and they told us no they didn’t have the same tour but could do a different tour but would be more money. I asked if we could get our money back and they told us no. Travel agent called and they told her no. Not happy and will not use again!!!!

Our version of this tour package included a water taxi ride and not a visit to Doge's palace. This was not clear form the description. I had to contact the company to verify this information. Tour was informative and involved visits to more unusual sites. Our tour guide (Carla) provide a lot of information about old and modern life in Venice.

We really enjoyed our walking tour with local Venetian guide Martina from who we learned a lot about well known and hideaway parts of Venice. Very informative and easygoing tour.

We got amazed with the history and beauty of Venice, in special with the amazing tour to the St. Mark Cathedral and the Doge's Palace. Our tour guide Eleonora "Elle" Penzo did a great job. She showed deep knowledge of the places and did the presentations with professionalism and a friendly style. We strongly recommend Eleonora Penzo!

We had a really good time! Our guide, Natalia was really knowledgeable, explained a lot of details and was very friendly and happy to answer questions. We have been to Venice a couple of times before but this was definitively the best tour.

Susan was our guide to this tour and we have to admit that she was the reason why we recommend it for sure.She was an educated ,friendly and polite person,full of good energy.Although the weather conditions were against us,she did her best to explain everything and let us informed about the details of St Mark's and Doge's Palace tour.Thank you very much Susan.

My husband, sister, and I were fortunate to have engaged CityWonders and our knowledgeable and enthusiastic guide, Monica, on a guided walking tour of Venice, as well as tours inside St. Mark's Basilica and the Doge's Palace. This was on Easter Sunday and even with the large crowds, Monica's walking tour included quiet back streets. The tour was well-paced and Monica's explanation of the history of Venice was fascinating. She timed our tour of St. Mark's Basilica so that we were standing on a high outside balcony under St. Mark's Clocktower so that we were right there when the 'giants' struck the hours on the tower's bell. Memorable ! The tour of the Doge's palace was excellent as well, and I would recommend the experience we had, which was to be in the Doge's palace in the late afternoon, when there are few visitors. Monica was tireless and we learned so much, and were truly entertained ! Thank you.