Private Tour: Venice Gondola Ride with Serenade

Venice, Italy

Great choice

5+ bookings last month.

30 minutes (approx.)
Offered in: English

Why travelers loved this

4.1

· Wayne_G ·

Apr 2025

The most fun on this trip. Exactly as I had hoped. A tourist event for sure, but that added to the experience. Cruising through the canals of Venice can only be described as wonderful. The added expense of being serenaded was worth every penny. The highlight of the trip to Italy. Corny, yes. But sooooo worth the time and expense. Do yourself a favor and book this tour.

· Kevin_S ·

Jul 2025

This was a fantastic experience. I had read some pretty mixed reviews that were quite recent so I was a bit skeptical but I really have nothing but good to report. The gondolier, the singer and the musician were all so great. Lovely time.

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Overview

Nothing quite says Venice like a gondola ride through the Floating City’s famed canals. But this private tour goes the extra mile with a serenaded experience. Glide past ancient palazzi and magnificent cathedrals on a traditional handcrafted gondola, while musicians serenade you with mood-setting Italian ballads. Gondolas have room for up to three passengers, so it’s the perfect opportunity for romance or an unforgettable family experience.

Glide around the Grand Canal, seeing colorful boats framed by gorgeous Gothic palaces
Sit back and relax as your private gondolier serenades you
Explore the myriad of smaller canals that lead off from the Grand Canal
Private gondola rides can accommodate two or three people

What's Included

Experienced and licensed local gondolier
Private gondola ride
Serenade

Guide
Hotel pickup and drop-off

Meeting and Pickup

Meeting point

Alilaguna & Bucintoro Viaggi -Ticket Office San Marco Giardinetti
Riva degli Schiavoni, 30124 Venezia VE, Italy
Alilaguna ticket office is located at San Marco Giardinetti vaporetto stop, in front of Illy Caffè next to the Royal Gardens. Strictly requested to be at the meeting point 15 minutes before the departure of the tour.

End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

Itinerary

Gondolas have been used to navigate Venice’s watery ways for more than 1,500 years and are still locally handcrafted using time-honored methods. Your romantic journey aboard one of these traditional vessels begins at Campo San Luca in central Venice, where you’ll board a private gondola and meet your friendly gondolier. Choose from an afternoon or evening departure to suit your schedule.

Relax into the comfortable seats as your standing gondolier skillfully navigates the famed Grand Canal. Soak up the passing scenery of Gothic palaces and historic homes as you glide beneath stone bridges and into the quieter canals of Venice’s backstreets. To add to the enchanting atmosphere, an on-board singer and musician (or, in some cases, your gondolier) will serenade you with a selection of Italian ballads. Musicians are usually guitarists or accordion players.

After 35 memorable minutes, say farewell to your gondolier back at the original departure point and continue on your own Venetian adventure with amore in your heart.

Price listed is per person based on four passengers per boat.

Gondola - Traghetto Santa Maria del Giglio (Pass By)

Canal Grande (Pass By)

Peggy Guggenheim Collection (Pass By)

Ponte dell'Accademia (Pass By)

Basilica Santa Maria della Salute (Pass By)

Palazzo Barbarigo Minotto (Pass By)

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking, unless booked within 12 hours of travel. In this case confirmation will be received as soon as possible, subject to availability
Not wheelchair accessible
Near public transportation
Infants must sit on laps
Infant seats available
Not recommended for travelers with back problems

No heart problems or other serious medical conditions
Most travelers can participate
A minimum of 2 people per booking is required
Each gondola can take 2, 3 people, with a minimum of 2 per gondola
If you're planning a day trip to Venice and staying outside the city, please note that an access fee will be required on certain dates.
This is a private tour/activity. Only your group will participate

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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

Aleksandra_H

What can I say apart from breathe taking, the ambiance of Venice and the amazing singing was truly memorable. It’s something you should definitely get when visiting Venice, our singer had a beautiful voice both me and my husband really enjoyed it.

Reviews

4.1

based on 208 reviews

Total reviews and rating from Viator & Tripadvisor

We perform checks on reviews

Wow - Amazing!

Kevin_T, Mar 2026

The gondola ride with musicians through the Grand Canal and quiet back canals was amazing! I have no doubt it will be the highlight of our entire trip through Italy. Wow ~ what a life memory for my wife and I.

Wonderful experience

Natalie_W, Oct 2025

Excellent excellent!!!! Highly recommend The singer she’s definitely a gifted singer and the guy playing the instrument gifted for sure

The gondola ride's better with music

Morino_R, Sep 2025

Earlier in the day prior to having taken this tour, I was already on a gondola in the afternoon; and let me tell you, the tour is literally twice as good with music and serenading. Definitely recommended.

It doesn’t get better than this!

amg, Jul 2025

A real highlight of our trip! The private experience lent itself perfectly to the romance of the moment, and the added feature of the musicians took it to a whole new level!! Absolute perfection!

This was a fantastic...

Kevin_S, Jul 2025

Don’t do this

julia_m, May 2025

NO serenade! Paid for this! Gosh they could have turned on their I phones to sing to us at least. Such a disappointment Also gondola guy was a grump. Hundreds of gondolas all over the place Save your money and rent a private water taxi and tour around the canals

This is what heavenMust be like.

Wayne_G, Apr 2025

Very Disappointed

Martha_P, Oct 2024

I planned a romantic Gondola ride with my boyfriend. What I got was more like bumper cars and no serenade.

Overpriced

Alan_M, Sep 2024

The most memorable part is the confusion and disorganization running the tour. It lasted less than 1/2 hour and cost over $500. The singer and guitarist were very good. My suggestion is do not book in advance. Just show up. You’re sure to get a deal for much less

The ultimate gondola ride!

Annemarie_R, Sep 2024

We had some difficulty finding the meeting point and the correct person to talk to. The information provided is not perfectly correct and we did become a little frustrated and anxious that we would miss our timeslot. I do think this could be easily rectified by the provider. However once we had successfully checked in the activity was seamless…. It was everything you would expect it to be, my husband was mildly amused at the cheese factor of it all, but in all honesty all the other gondola’s passengers were taking videos of our’s instead! I think the music makes the ride so much more fun and romantic, both the singer and the musician were superb! It was definitely a memorable experience and a lovely way to spend our anniversary.

Unhappy with instructions and meet point

Enrique_V, Aug 2024

The meet spot was not clearly noted on the tickets. We arrived 10 minutes before our time slot and we're confused on the meeting spot because it did not state a business name or any information beside a location correspondence. My wife and I walked up and down the the main area of where all of the Gondolas take out of and no one could point us in the right direction. We called the number on the tickets no answer. We continued to walk around and finally saw a small sign on a window of a small booth that stated Gondola rides. We checked in at this time where we ended up being late by 5 minutes and this point we started our 10 min walk with our guide towards the other side of the grand canal where we met the singer, guitar play and boat operator. We started our trip at this point 15 minutes late due to the tickets not clearly stating what to look for or a company name to look for. Our ride was cut short. We spent $500 for a 15 min ride down one canal even the singer and guitar player were confused on why it was cut short. We had no issues with the singer and player they were amazing but the fact that our ride was cut short because of failure on the company's tickets was such a bummer. I would not recommend this due to the fact that the operator not being understanding and the fact that it was cut extremely short and still ended up paying $500 for this. It was supposed to be a romantic ride which ended with confusion and being left unsatisfied.

Very upset

Maria_F, May 2024

Horrible customer service. Horrible service u guys canceled on me last minute same day. What a way to ruin my vacation. Did not even call me. Did not credit my money until I called upset and requested it.

No serenade, no discount

Susan_W, May 2024

I would have given this tour a zero except that the woman at the ticket office was polite and our accordion player was skilled. But the rest of the ride was terrible. When we got there we were told repeatedly that they were only expecting three people — even though I kept showing them that the voucher clearly said four. Because of that we were not able to get the serenaded ride we paid for. Apparently no more than five people could be in the gondola, so our singer would have been 6. In addition, after the gondoliers argued with the woman at the ticket office for five minutes about the situation, we finally began our ride. The gondolier was rude and never spoke a word to us except regarding seating. Our tour was cut short by 20 minutes because rain was coming in, but we were not offered a discount for that or the lack of the singer. When we got back, they yelled at my group to get off the boat and offered me no assistance even though I am 64 and the step off was very difficult for me. What was supposed to have been a romantic ride was ruined. Don’t waste your money on this tour. Just pick any other gondolier while you are in the city. The experience would be better.

Not the full 30 minutes, do not pre book

Eric_T, May 2024

Very short tour, it say it will be 30 minutes we barely spent 20 minutes on the gondola. A quick ride through a canal and we were back at the dock.

Memorable experience

Aleksandra_H, Mar 2024

Amazing experience!

Christopher_R, Nov 2023

This was simply amazing! The singer and the accordion player had such incredible talent! It was the highlight of our Venice trip!

Better hope you're not running late...

Terence_B, Nov 2023

We had a day trip planned to Venice from Florence. Our train was delayed leaving Florence by 1 hour. Nothing we could do about it. We reached out along the way, and they said if we didn't get there at the originally scheduled time then we were out of luck. These people wouldn't wait or reschedule. THey said tough luck, no refund, no reschdeule. No refund. Take your 1 star review and choke on it. Hope you enjoyed my money

Not what I had hoped

Jeffrey_C, Oct 2023

Directions to get our tickets were good - we arrived an hour early with our voucher and had them printed out and were told to go to the gondola pier at the appointed time. There is a quaint cafe right by the docks (Illy Cafe) where we had a nice drink before our ride. We went to the line 10 minutes early as there was a lull and were told to return in 10 minutes. By our appointed time, the place was packed with many tour groups who were given priority and we (and others who had tickets) were told to stand to the side to wait … for 20 more minutes. Finally we were instructed to go to our gondola. We had a private 45 minute ride with a musician booked … when we got on our boat and we’re about to leave I asked about our serenader and showed our ticket. I was told to sit down as we needed to leave and that there were no musicians available. We were gone 20 minutes total. The reason I didn’t rate lower and said yes to recommending is that it is a must to do a gondola ride when in Venice. There seemed to be other options that weren’t quite the s***show that this particular gondola pier was. It seemed their goal was to get people on and off as quickly as possible and take the shortest route available. Not the relaxing romantic 45 minute serenaded gondola ride I had hoped for with my wife.

Romantic

Paul_C, Oct 2023

The beautiful voice of Marcello Marcus serenading us thru out the tour was fabulous!! We had a nice group of 3 men taking very good care of us.

Best experience hands down!

Amy_J, Sep 2023

Favorite experience in Italy! Blew us away with accordion player and singer. We were the envy of everyone on the canal!

Beyond expectations

Margaret_C, Sep 2023

I am sad to say I don’t know any of the names of our singer, Gandalf operator or accordion player. I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect night. So worth the extra money spent to hear the talents of these artists!

Highlight of our trip

Daniel_G, Aug 2023

This was the absolute best gondola ride of our trip. The guitar player was fabulous and the singer was wonderful! We did three different gondola experiences while in Venice and this was by far the best…so romantic and relaxing!

Horrific

Anneliese_B, Jul 2023

Horrific experience completely destroyed what otherwise was enjoyable once we fought to get the services we paid for. We weren’t the only parties standing at the assigned spot and being told our tickets were not valid the time slot we prepaid was not avaiable , Nicole was horriable didn’t care we had to chase her down the pier as she walked away from us multiple times saying it was a Vitar problem. Our tour guide in Venice said this wasn’t the first time she heard this Vitar can not deliver on items they promise and many people loose their money and experience. After a long day in the sun we really didn’t need to be chasing the tour company around Venice , beyond rude no explanation and overall the worst experience. Do not book with Vitar you stand a good chance of not getting the services you paid for

A potentially brilliant event ruined because of the trauma in delivery. Not a recognised trip option in Venice.

Wendy_C, Jul 2023

This event option is not recognised by the gondola company and they were not expecting us. Fortunately, one of their managers took control and asked us to return in 25 minutes during which time she managed to rustle up a singer and a guitarist, both of whom were very good and keen to please. The gondolier on the other hand was surly and did not communicate. With a great deal of trauma and time we finally got what we had requested and paid for. Sad as this is not a cheap event and one we had been looking forward to.

Venice Serenade

Tom_R, Jul 2023

The singer and accordion player elevated the experience in unexpected ways. For a short time we were stars of the Venice canals! Amazing.

Highlight of the trip

Mary_M, Mar 2023

This was our first trip to Italy and to Venice. There are many opportunities to arrange a gondola ride after you arrive, but we saw only one other gondola with music serenade during our three-day stay in Venice. People were stopping on bridges or from other gondola rides to stare or record the musicians on our gondola. It was worth the extra expense! The only drawback is finding the booth to check in for this experience. One kind Viator operator not affiliated with this company told us to look for the blue seagull symbol next to the name Alilaguna. I provided a picture for reference. This was my favorite tour of our eight days in Italy. Hands down.

Romantic Gondola ride

Albert_A, Feb 2023

It was a nice stroll around the canals. Good singer. Next time I would rather do more of a day or closer to sunset then the time I booked it. It was dark through the canals, so could really see that clear.

Ciao Valencia

Russel_M, Oct 2022

Was a great singer and musician. They said you would receive Prosecco and we didn’t though which was dissapointing.

Highlight of our trip to Venice

Jonathan_C, Aug 2022

Lovely experience. Due to a last minute medical issue we had to cancel on the day but they were really accommodating and changed us to the next day at the same time. We felt very special as we entertained the passers by and the restaurants along the canals. Around 30 mins - one of the highlights of our trip.l!!