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Venice : Private Boat Tour of the Venice Lagoon

Recommended by 94% of travelers
Venice, Italy
Popular pick
Booked 5+ times last week!
  • 50 minutes to 1 hour (approx.)
  • Mobile ticket
  • Offered in: English

Why travelers loved this

4.8
·
· Justin_s ·
Jan 2026
Luca was an amazing tour guide. He explained so much of the way Venice is laid out, the properties of the canals, high and low tides and most of all, its apparent that he has an amazing command of his boat on these waters. A lesser captain would have caused us to get wet; however, Luca skillfully navigated every swell, wake, and shift with ease. Highly, highly recommended!
· Brooke_F ·
Jul 2025
Luca did an amazing job showing us around the city of Venice by boat. The views were gorgeous and I appreciate him stopping at good picture stops to take in the views, and to snap a few pics. Would recommend!

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Overview

    What's Included

    • Private transportation
    • Fuel
    • Skipper
    • Meals
      Prosecco and cichetti (extra)

    Meeting and Pickup

    Meeting points

    Select a meeting point

    End point

    This activity ends back at the meeting point.

    Itinerary

    Squero di San Trovaso (Pass By)

    Canale della Giudecca - Giudecca Canal (Pass By)

    Giudecca (Pass By)

    Laguna di Venezia (Pass By)

    Isola San Giorgio Maggiore (Pass By)

    Additional Info

    • Confirmation will be received within 48 hours of booking, subject to availability
    • Not wheelchair accessible
    • Near public transportation
    • Not recommended for pregnant travelers
    • Most travelers can participate
    • This is a private tour/activity. Only your group will participate
    Supplied by

    Cancellation Policy

    You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

    Traveler Photos

    Gallery picture 1 (from a traveler's review)
    Gallery picture 2 (from a traveler's review)
    Gallery picture 3 (from a traveler's review)
    Gallery picture 4 (from a traveler's review)
    Gallery picture 5 (from a traveler's review)

    Featured review

    Aimee_K
    Luca is awesome! This boat tour is a must do! Luca took us out into the lagoon and then down the grand canal. It was relaxing yet awe inspiring as you watch the setting sun bathe this beautiful city in glowing pinks, reds and golden yellows. After 3 days on foot touring this gorgeous city it was important for us to see it from the water and we saw things from the boat we would not have seen otherwise. Thank you Luca for an absolutely wonderful and memorable ride! Sei fantastico! Grazie molto!

    Reviews

    4.8
    based on 121 reviews
    Total reviews and rating from Viator & Tripadvisor
    We perform checks on reviews

    Go for it!

    Anna_T, Mar 2026
    We had a wonderful boat tour with Luca! His English is great and he was so friendly. Worth the time & money!

    Great experience!

    Justin_s, Jan 2026
    Luca was an amazing tour guide. He explained so much of the way Venice is laid out, the properties of the canals, high and low tides and most of all, its apparent that he has an amazing command of his boat on these waters. A lesser captain would have caused us to get wet; however, Luca skillfully navigated every swell, wake, and shift with ease. Highly, highly recommended!

    Very good experience. It...

    Alexis_F, Jan 2026
    Very good experience. It was a bit cold when we went and he brought a blanket, so very prepared. It was evident he has been doing this a while and was a very good driver

    Great ride around the...

    Joshua_D, Oct 2025
    Great ride around the outer area of Venice. Guide was friendly and explained a lot about the workings of the city. You saw some of the tourist areas along with the working docks and pointed out different points of interest.

    Ok at best but was 10 minutes shorter than advertised

    Elana_A, Sep 2025
    The tour was okay at best. Our skipper was 10 minutes late. Instead of extending our tour by 10 minutes he gave us a 50 minute tour with no heads up or apology. After the tour I received a WhatsApp message from him stating "review" with a prayer emoji. That left an extra bad taste in my mouth after the shortened tour. We also were never offered any prosecco, even for purchase. Overall I wouldn't do this tour again.

    Response from Host, Sep 2025

    I'm sorry that you didn't like the tour.

    Fantastico

    Aimee_K, Sep 2025
    Luca is awesome! This boat tour is a must do! Luca took us out into the lagoon and then down the grand canal. It was relaxing yet awe inspiring as you watch the setting sun bathe this beautiful city in glowing pinks, reds and golden yellows. After 3 days on foot touring this gorgeous city it was important for us to see it from the water and we saw things from the boat we would not have seen otherwise. Thank you Luca for an absolutely wonderful and memorable ride! Sei fantastico! Grazie molto!

    A great time!

    Jessica, Sep 2025
    A great time to explore venice canals and the lagoon. My husband and I had a great time during this excursion.

    Views by Boat

    Brooke_F, Jul 2025
    Luca did an amazing job showing us around the city of Venice by boat. The views were gorgeous and I appreciate him stopping at good picture stops to take in the views, and to snap a few pics. Would recommend!

    Not a great experience in an unknown super busy area

    Chris_P, Jul 2025
    Booked the trip excited to take a boat tour in Venice, a super busy and confusing place. Downloaded the viator app after receiving a link after initial booking. The link said I had a message. After signing in I could see tickets but no message so I clicked the help link. It gave an option of help messaging on WhatsApp, I chose that. After 20 minutes I finally received a message. The message said, I am reviewing your file. Another 5+ minutes go by and no help. We booked another boat because the instructions were poor. We had zero communication from the boat operator or Viator. I still was charged for the tickets. Super not useful.

    Response from Host, Jul 2025

    Buongiorno la stavamo aspettando all orario che ha prenotato . Ma non si è mai presentato.

    Great lagoon tour with Luca

    Thomas_C, Jul 2025
    This tour was very enjoyable. Luca was a friendly and knowledgeable guide and captain. We had a really great tour and recommended it highly.

    Not a good tour

    alankar_s, Jun 2025
    Meeting point is in a deserted location 20 min walk from St. Mark's square. Most of the time was spent going around some very seedy areas and dirty canals, far away from San Marco or Grand Canal. Would not recommend to anyone.

    Response from Host, Jul 2025

    Ci dispiace che il tour non è stato di vostro gradimento.

    We enjoyed our private...

    Melissa_O, Mar 2025
    We enjoyed our private boat tour around Venice. The guide, Luca picked us up at the meeting point and we enjoyed an hour seeing some of the sites from the water.

    Response from Host, Apr 2025

    Thank you!

    It was a great experience...

    Dominic_B, Dec 2024
    It was a great experience cruising around and seeing more of Venice that you could never see by gondola! It was a great and relaxing time! Highly recommended!

    Response from Host, Jan 2025

    Thank you!

    Fun way to sightsee

    Maryory_T, Oct 2024
    So much fun, my husband and I enjoyed ourselves we got to see the beautiful sunset. Luca was kind and informative and entertaining as well and he took beautiful pictures for us

    Response from Host, Jan 2025

    Thank you!

    Relaxing tour of Venice

    Janlyn_T, Oct 2024
    Luca was kind and informative. This tour was a great way to see a lot of Venice and was very relaxing

    Pretty view of sunset

    h6c8b2ywd2, Sep 2024
    Our flight was canceled and Viator would not do anything for a refund but the local guide was generous enough to move to another day. That was very appreciated. Especially because Viator a service was absolutely terrible. One star removed from that please know not a reflection of the tour. The guide was behind so they messages us but due to that we missed part of the sunset. Everyone mentioned drinks provided as a special treat, that was not the case for us. Note, the tour did not say it was included. The biggest thing that I would warn you is if you get sea sick do not go in this boat. They cross the big channel in a pretty small boat. The driver was amazing in navigating and felt safe, he kept checking in on us. I personally would preferred going down the the hotel area channel but we went through the local area which is ok to see but not really anything special. We did get a sunset and took us to st marks square but it’s so choppy in that open water for small boats you can’t really sit and watch. Because 15mins behind we did miss part of sunset it was almost behind the buildings. View was still very pretty. He took pics for us and gave some local food recommendations. I liked the boat was a speed boat and could lay in the front. I chose this over a gondola. If you want to see the popular channels then this is not the ride for you. If you want to see other areas and focused in the sunset this might be a good option.

    Response from Host, Oct 2024

    Thank you you are always welcome

    Sunset tour of Venice

    Barbara_H, Sep 2024
    Relaxing and informative boat tour of the Venice Lagoon. Our guide was helpful and answered all our many questions plus took some fabulous pictures! Highly recommend.

    From $82.14

    per person

    up to 24 hours before the experience starts (local time)

    Book ahead!
    On average, this is booked 40 days in advance.

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