This tour takes you inside the center of the religious power of Venice, the beautiful Basilica of St Marks with our skip-the-line access, where our expert history guide will give you a comprehensive and informative tour of this astonishing landmark-church that boasts a profusion of polychrome domes, walls clad in marbles and, inside, over 8000 square meters of glittering ceiling mosaics, many made with 24-carat gold leaf.
The highlight of the tour is our exclusive special visit of the Doge's Palace, the very symbol of political Venice, 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 and today hosting paintings from world renown artists like Titiano, Tiepolo, Tintoretto and Veronese and set to the grand ball of Venice Carnival. We’ll have a very exclusive access to the closed-to-general-public secret passages including the old torture chambers and prisons. From the prisons you will visit the courtyard and then the noble areas of the Doge’s public and private areas, to visit the great ballrooms, the great Councils hall, and the Doge’s lavish apartments and the “Opera Museum” boasting astonishing collection of portrait including Renaissance and Mannerism with prominent “Venitian school” paintings by Titian, Tintoretto and Veronese.
You will also have the chance to walk the famous bridge of sighs and learn the story behind the origin of its name.
Octavia made hour tour great! Perfect 3 hours, we got to see all the cool things about St. Mark's Basilica, Doge palace and Prison cells. Memorable tour and definitely recommend TOWNS OF ITALY!
Did two tours in one day. Both were really good and well paced. Would highly recommend
Absolutely loved it. She was fantastic
Our guide, Octavia, was extremely knowledgeable and took her time pointing out things of interest and giving us the history at meaning behind them. The pace of the tour was perfect and we never felt at all rushed.
Really interesting tour. Well presented.
Excellent! Beyond my expectations and more!!
Lorenzo is very knowledgeable on the history of Venice and has a passion to answer
Phenomenal experience! A great guide, highly knowledgeable and personable…kudos to Ottavia!!!
This was awesome because of Travis tour guide!!! Ask for her.
The knowledge of and enthusiasm for his city by our was remarkable. The tour of St Marc’s Cathedral and Doge Palace brought to life both these 2 landmarks but also the history of the whole city over centuries. Thoroughly enjoyable and I highly recommend this tour and Tour Guide .
She was very intelligent and very educated ! Highly recommend
Tour leader was outstanding!
Octavia was our tour guide and she did a great job. The tour moved at a good pace and we learned a lot.
Lorenzo was a fantastic guide, well informed and personable. He was very good at explaining the context for what we were seeing which elevated the tour from a simple recitation of dry facts to an enjoyable experience. He was also very good at keeping an eye on the group and making sure the older members got up and down the stairs safely.
Wonderful tour with extremly knowledgeable guide. Definitely recommend.
Lorenzo was so friendly and knowledgeable. I really enjoyed his passion for Venice. If you love in depth history, then this is for you.
Tour guide, Lorenzo Guglielmi, was amazing! He was so knowledgeable and animated. So thrilled to be in this tour with him!
Lorenzo gave us a thorough grounding in 15th, 16th & 17th Venetian history and explained the history of the cathedral, as well as the Venetian court.
We loved all aspects of the tour! It was so nice to have such a small group. The tour guide was also great ! We all agreed the interesting background information made the experience better than expected!!!
Excellent knowledge of the entire tour. Very enjoyable and great sense of humor throughout the tour. Would recommend this tour guide above all others
Very informative and caring tour guide. This was the only guide in our trip that asked where everyone was from and adapted some of the information to relate to comparisons we would know. She was very caring adapting the tour for my wife to what she would be able to handle after she hurt her foot on the cobblestones when we were in Rome.
Our tour guide was a lovely local resident exceptionally versed in Venetian history. Took his time with us to explain the history and the culture. His english was very clear and easy to follow.
It was a bit challenging to find the guide at the meeting point, there were LOTS of tours meeting at the same place. But once we found the guide, we were off with a quick "skip the lines" access. The guide was very informative, giving lots of history as we went along. Be aware, there are lots of steps to get to the upper levels. It was a bit long, 3 hours of standing and walking. We did take a short break in the middle for water and bathroom visit, which was very welcome. Great way to see the Basilica and Doge's Palace for the first time!
Don't arrive early. Just 15 min. before. Meet under column with lion at top. We arrived early and wandered in the square for an hour looking for guide. Meeting point in email just said square. It's a big square. It was a 3 hour tour. Lots of walking. Our guide was extremely knowledgeable and friendly. A very good tour, somewhat tiring.
This tour is wonderful whether you're spending one day or a few days in Venice. You'll see all the major historical sites of importance in this tour. At St. Mark's Basilica, the mosaic tiles that cover the floors, the walls, the domes, etc, are incredible. The trip to the terrace to see the original 4 St Mark's Horses was good and the outside terrace with the views of the.piazza are unique. The artwork on the walls and ceilings ofnthe Doge's Palace are spectacular. Our guide, Lorenzo, was fabulous. He was very knowledgeable, interesting and accommodating. He was easy to hear and understand with the headsets, which are given out prior to the tour. The meeting place was very easy to find. I would most definitely recommend this tour to anyone wanting to see the major sites of Venice. For reference, we spent 1 day/night in Venice and got to see everything we wanted on this tour and still had time to explore the alleyways of Venice, stop at the Rialto Bridge for photos and have dinner on the Grand Canal. Perfect tour for our stay!
Our tour guide, Lorenzo Guglielmi, was extremely well prepared and deeply knowable of the historical background and architecture of the Doge's Palace and the Basilica. He was very passionate about Venice's story and the events that created the beauty and grandeur of those magnificent buildings. He was also very pleasant and humorous. We enjoyed our 3 hour tour very much!
A very disappointing experience. The local tour operator did not have the proper authorizations to get all 8 of the participants into the church. 4 of us stood outside for 40 mins while he called his office to resolve and finally were told we would have to abandon the tour and request a refund. We did request the refund but it was denied and after numerous communications and attempts to escalate the decision, we were never called back with any results of the escalation and never received our $450 refund. Very dissatisfied and will never use Viator again! After using them for years in multiple countries!!
Excellent information delivered in an easy to follow delivery. Almost like listening to an interesting story while walking through the book.
Lorenzo was a wonderful guide. He was very informative. He had a great sense of humour and was very interesting. Wonderful tour!
Lorenzo was a fantastic, knowledgeable, and passionate tour guide. Touring St. Marks and the Doges Palace without him would have been a huge mistake. MOST IMPORTANT ..... bare shoulders are not permitted and men must have shorts to the knees and women's knees covered. Unfortunately three ladies did not and had to go to a street vendor to purchase large scarfs to wrap around their waist/legs. St. Marks church was filled with ladies wearing scarf skirts OR Venice tee shirt tops. Towns of Italy should add this bit of information in their reminder email which is sent the day prior. Now onto the tour. The tour walks at a nice pace. There are many steps up to the 2nd floor of the church and Doges Palace. For those with stair issues there are elevators that need to be arranged on the spot with a employee of the Church or Palace. You do get separated from your tour but can easily find them again. This tour is a must if you go to Venice. Finally, do not follow google maps for your meeting place. It is wrong. Towns of Italy will send you an email the day prior with the specific, easy to find, meeting area. Highly recommend Lorenzo and Towns of Italy.
Ariana was warm, welcoming and considerate to our mobility limitations. Great experience learning all the history of the Basilica and Palace. Highly recommended.
Absolutely stunning!! So glad this tour included the walk to the top of St. Mark’s - definitely worth it! Nice length, 3 hours, which covered the basilica and Doge’s place.
Small group of 10 is great. Plenty of time to ask questions. Stairs were an issue for one older participant.
The tour leader (Monika) was easy to find despite a busy Easter Weekend in St. Mark's Square. She captivated our attention from the beginning with her knowledgeable details and history. We visited on a Saturday (before Easter), which also encouraged us to attend Easter service at the Basilica. The Palace and Basilica were both amazing. The Sky Walk provided a view of Venice and the Square that no other tour can give. Monika was personable and professional and would highly recommend her for any tour in Venice. She was exceptional!
Never got to go. We got to the San Marco Square which was the only instruction on the TripAdvisor app. There was no meeting point given on the app itself. We didn’t think to scroll down on the online tickets because I had printed them out. So we missed the tour and they won’t even consider a partial refund. It was TripAdvisor lack of proper instruction and no fault of our own. Will NEVER use TripAdvisor to book a tour again.
Our guide Monica was excellent. Her knowledge of the basilica and Doge’s Palace was amazing. It was evident how much she loved the history of both . The tour was very thorough and we all enjoyed it.
Our tour guide, Mina Randy, did a great job showing us st Marks Plaza and Doges palace. His knowledge was vast and you could tell he enjoyed his job. He guided us through all the various sights and we never felt rushed
Fabulous tour of the most beautiful buildings with a true art historian expert. Amazingly knowledgeable and enthusiastic guide who bought the paintings to life with his stories of the artists and their subjects. Highly recommend to anyone interested in art or history! Well worth the price.
One of the most insightful toys we’ve had. Our guide was so informative and friendly. Be prepared for lots of steps but what you expect with buildings this old.
Well done, can be recommended - not cheap, but value for money! The Guide, Octavia, is a very pleasant and polite Girl who give us a real good and comprehensive ipression about the Venecian History.
This was a good tour and worth the extra to skip the lines. However, everyone on the tour had a different package the bought. One had three hours, ours was two, another was four. Also it seemed like there was supposed to be more stuff on the tour that we skipped.
I highly recommend this tour if you are an art lover. Our guide, Lorenzo, was very interesting and informative. He was animated and made the tour interesting and fun. The artwork in the palace and church are truly breathtaking. A must-see if you are visiting Venice.
Great experience and a very knowledgeable and entertaining guide. Would definitely recommend this small group tour.
Ottavia was the best guide, informative, detailed, humorous and thoughtful when answering questions. We have done many tours over the last month and this one was the best.
I learned so much about the Venetian Republic and the history of Venice. Our guide Ericka was amazing. On the last portion of the tour we walked around Venice and Ericka answered all our questions about past and local life in Venice. The best tour ever!
This company seriously Lacks customer support. They are concerned about getting paid. I would highly recommend looking for another option.
Unfortunately, we had an emergency come up and we were unable to make our scheduled tour time in Venice. We did not call in time to cancel the tour before hand because we were at the hospital in Venice. The tour company considered it a no show and will not refund our money. We were at the hospital in Venice with my daughter and I didn’t know how or who to contact about the trip. I didn’t know how long we would be in the emergency room. We were there over 4 hours and they refused to refund our money. I would not recommend using Viator or Florencetown the local tour operator in the future. Sincerely Valerie Pass
Excellent tour! Tour guide was amazing and money well spent to understand the political structure and Religious stories in the mosaics of the chapel. This is a must while in Venice.
Lorenzo was the most amazing guide and host. He went above and beyond any other tour I have ever been on. You can tell he is really passionate about Venice and all it has to offer. He was so thoughtful and even recommended restaurants for us after the tour going as far as calling the restaurant for us and making the reservation. We could not have asked for anyone better than Lorenzo and would highly recommend both him and the Venice Masterclass tour for anyone who wants an in-depth guide to Venice’s most famous landmarks.
To be honest our first impression of Florence was “meh”. We walked around and saw most of the key sights on day one and wondered what we would do for the rest of our stay. We actually did this tour on our final full day and wished we had done it first. It put the city into context and we saw places we may have wandered past but never appreciated. Sibilla was an excellent guide and the small group meant no headphones, just conversation and the opportunity to ask questions. Our appreciation of Florence changed over the duration of the tour through knowledge and an excellent, knowledgeable guide in Sibilla. Take the tour ....... you will not regret it.
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