A masterpiece of Gothic architecture, the Doge’s Palace is an impressive structure composed of layers of building elements and ornamentation, from its 14th and 15th century original foundations to the significant Renaissance and opulent Mannerist adjunctions. The structure is made up of three large blocks, incorporating previous constructions.
The Bridge of Sighs is one of the most famous and photographed symbols of Venice. Just a short walk from St. Mark’s Square, it connects the Doge’s Palace to the New Prisons. Known today as the "bridge of love," it was originally the bridge that prisoners crossed before being locked in the Venetian prisons, where they would sigh at the sight of the outside world and the last glimpse of sunlight. According to popular tradition, the name "Bridge of Sighs" was first used by the English poet Lord Byron.
St. Mark’s Square, or Piazza San Marco, is the principal public square in Venice and one of the most iconic landmarks in the city. Known for its stunning architecture and vibrant atmosphere, the square is surrounded by some of Venice’s most famous buildings, including St. Mark’s Basilica, the Campanile (bell tower), and the Doge’s Palace. The square is often bustling with tourists and locals alike, drawn to its cafes, live orchestras, and historic charm. Its grand open space, lined with elegant arcades, serves as a focal point for events and celebrations. The square’s unique setting near the Venetian Lagoon adds to its allure, especially during high tides when it can become partially flooded, creating the famous "acqua alta" effect with reflective waters.
Our guide was extremely knowledgeable about the art, architecture, geography and social-cultural history of Venice. As if that wasn’t impressive enough, he had a cracking sense of humour and infused the three hour tour with hilarious tales and myths of Venetian history. Highly recommended!
Outstanding ! Lorenzo was awesome!!!
Ottavia was amazing! We saw a side of Venice that we would have missed without her excellent narrative
The tour was nice. There were issues hearing our guide. Going on a Gondola Ride was pleasant.
Wonderful overview of Venice
Great experience, guide was extremely knowledgeable!
This was fantastic. We learned much of the history.
Amazing experience, the tour guide led greatly and it didn’t last long enough
This tour was absolutely fantastic! Davide was a real gem, a fountain of knowledge full of quirky humor. We loved every second. Highly recommend.
Our guide was fantastic, walked us through the streets highlighting the history of Venice. Would definitely recommend
Simonette was very knowledgeable and upbeat. We had a wonderful tour and would highly recommend. She was friendly, flexible, knowledgeable, and upbeat.
I was disappointed with the tour especially for the price. It felt disorganized and was not an actual art tour- we got a few facts about the city at the beginning but it was more so just walking around the town with random stops to look at buildings along the way. The gondola ride was supposed to be 30 minutes but was shorter. Overall I didn’t think it was worth the 3 hour time commitment and price.
Paula was a superb host for our first day and first tour in the city of Venice. As no one else booked in with our group, she catered the entire experience to our particular interests, and shared with us her incredible wealth of knowledge. She personalized our exploration of bridges, alleyways, Venice culture, Italian language, the history of Marco Polo, Libreria Acqua Alta book store, the history of Venetian masks, cisterns, and of course she connected us to our fabulous gondolier Fabio! What an incredible first day. Don’t hesitate to recommend!
Tour guide was very informative and interesting. David was very friendly, humorous and made our experience worthwhile. It was great too that the tour was only 5 people.
Explanation of facade of Doge, Marco Polo house and history were strengths. Loved the drinks, snacks and gondola ride. Other people were challenging but can’t help that. Not really an art tour
This was a perfect tour for Venice! We got really lucky and had our guide Octavia all to our selves. We really enjoyed the experience and it was a perfect length of time to get in all the highlights.
Our guide Lorenzo was a lovely patient man with just the right amount of information and a wry kind nature.
Meeting place was extremely hard!!! No breakfast. Very short tour, separated my partner and I at the gondola ride. The gondola driver yelled to other gondola drivers the whole ride.
Tour was good but misleading. Tour states that it will end where it started, but that was not the case for my client who, after doing the gondola boat ride, saw that her guide had went missing. No "good bye" or anything. She was so concerned that she contacted the company and me (her travel agent). She said the tour was good other than that bit of false information. Guide missed out on their tip by dissapearing....
Writing to only warn of false advertisement. Be advised that the tour does NOT end where it started. My client contacted me and advised that after the gondola ride was over, her guide went MIA and never told her the tour was over. Shes was under the impression that the tour would end where it started, as it states on the description, not true.
Francesco was really knowledgeable and friendly. He was so helpful and answered all of our questions.
Lorenzo, our guide was amazing; engaging, informative and helpful; his explanation of the history was enhanced by his passion as a local; he provided some history on the snacks and drinks offered; the final part of the tour was on the gondola; our driver (didn't get his name) navigated the narrow waterways with great skill and provided some local knowledge as we went; well worth the time and money to particularly for first-time visitors to Venice
I happened to be the only guest on this tour. I missed meeting other people, but Davide, the tour guide, was wonderful and really tailored what he talked about based on my studies of medieval Europe. He was quite knowledgeable on a vast variety of areas and also made for a great conversation partner. The tour is the perfect length to give you just a look into the history and its most famous sites.
Our favorite day in the Florence area! Hisband drove the vintage Fiat while I took photos of beautiful Chianti region! Nickolai Guilia was our informative guide! Wine was tasty and lunch following was delicious! Graci Graci!!!
This was a fantastic day. We took the 2:30 tour. Driving a classic fiat in Tuscany was a really fun and cool experience, visit to wineries and lunch at the end. The guides, Viola and Giulia new what they were talking about and were very enthusiastic and funny. We had so much fun, we can only highly recommend it.
We just returned from this tour today. Nickola was the leader of our group. He was a local classic fiat expert. If you can drive a standard transmission and learn double clutching, you are good to go! The scenery was gorgeous, we stopped to tour two winery's and had a great lunch at one. I can’t emphasize enough about what a great host Nickola was , (not sure about spelling) . He was so enthusiastic, patient and genuine . This was the most fun so far ,of a 3 week vacation in Italy.
Our Italian Job tour Fiat 500 tour in the Tuscan countryside was not perfect but it was a lot of fun — I’d do it again! Similar to a trail ride at a dude ranch, the tour is a follow-the-leader style. And since we were the only Fiat drivers in the afternoon group (all the others were on Vespas) I only needed to upshift to 4th gear a couple times during our drive. That slow speed may have have frustrated other drivers, but for me, the chain of lower speed vespas ahead of me were like training wheels and a big red flag for other local drivers. It’s a thrilling but a little frightening ride for the first few miles — you actually ARE driving on the road with those crazy Italian drivers and you don’t have a student driver sign in the window of your car! I’m glad I was in a Fiat not on a Vespa — other drivers passed aggressively along the way. The winery tour was interesting (although our guide’s basic English trapped much of his knowledge about winemaking in his head.) After we parked for the day, we did enjoy a tasting at another boutique winery located just a short walk from the villa where we started the tour. We shared a simple Italian meal and wine at the conclusion of the tour before our return to Florence in early evening. There’s clearly room for Florence Town to improve its service to their mostly American customers. The painfully slow check in process that included watching individual test runs by virgin Vespa drivers, paperwork and payment of an “optional” 30E insurance fee for our tour was not ideal. I’d recommend that they speed up the check in, explain the participant insurance and obtain drivers license data when you book, brush up on the guide’s English and separate the Fiats from the Vespas — but it was a lot of fun.
Monday through Friday 9 am to 7 pm EST
Reach us by phone
Reach us by email