Private Tour: Venice Grand Canal Evening Boat Tour
Venice, Italy
- 1 hour (approx.)
- Offered in: English
Explore our promoted experiences
Overview
Spend a delightful evening cruising along the canals of Venice on this private boat tour. Take in the architectural masterpieces that line the Grand Canal and smaller waterways from aboard a comfortable modern water taxi, venturing further than a traditional gondola would allow. Learn about the artistic and cultural history of Venice from your English-speaking guide as you soak in the sights on your choice of a 1-hour or 2-hour ride.
- One- or two-hour private tour of Venice by water taxi
- Cruise up the Grand Canal and into smaller canals
- Explore further than in a traditional gondola
- Choice of one or two hours, before or after 6pm
- Enjoy privileged, personalized attention from your tour escort and expert English-speaking guide on this special private water taxi tour of Venice
- Professional commentary provided by your expert English-speaking guide
What's Included
- Private tour
- Professional guide
- Private Venice water taxi hire (1 or 2 hours)
- Gratuities
- Hotel pickup and drop-off
Meeting and Pickup
Meeting point
- Alilaguna & Bucintoro Viaggi -Ticket Office San Marco GiardinettiRiva degli Schiavoni, 30124 Venezia VE, Italy
Alilaguna ticket office, situated in the royal gardens of Saint Mark'square
End point
This activity ends back at the meeting point.Itinerary
Many of Venice’s most impressive sites can be seen from the water, from the Byzantine glory of ornate churches to the intricate grandeur of Gothic palazzos. Soak in the amazing architecture of the city from aboard a private motorboat, which can cover more distance than a classic gondola ride. Meet your guide in central Venice in the early evening, and then hop aboard a comfortable, spacious water taxi. Cruise up the Grand Canal past the magnificent palaces, churches and homes that line this main thoroughfare while learning about the diverse architecture you see.
Admire grand palaces such as Ca’ Rezzonico, Ca d’Oro and Ca ‘Foscari as you hear tales of the Venetian nobility that once called them home. Pass under the iconic Rialto Bridge that marks the heart of the city’s commercial district. Your cruise returns along the Giudecca Canal to take in sights like the Il Rendentore basilica and the island of San Giorgio Maggiore with its stunning cathedral.
Enjoy the personalized attention of your English-speaking guide and feel free to ask questions about any aspect of Venice that interests you. Choose from three different evening departure times and select a 1-hour or 2-hour tour to fit your schedule. At the end of your tour, you will be taken back to central Venice, where you can continue exploring the city on your own.
Please note: A minimum of two people per booking is required.
Admire grand palaces such as Ca’ Rezzonico, Ca d’Oro and Ca ‘Foscari as you hear tales of the Venetian nobility that once called them home. Pass under the iconic Rialto Bridge that marks the heart of the city’s commercial district. Your cruise returns along the Giudecca Canal to take in sights like the Il Rendentore basilica and the island of San Giorgio Maggiore with its stunning cathedral.
Enjoy the personalized attention of your English-speaking guide and feel free to ask questions about any aspect of Venice that interests you. Choose from three different evening departure times and select a 1-hour or 2-hour tour to fit your schedule. At the end of your tour, you will be taken back to central Venice, where you can continue exploring the city on your own.
Please note: A minimum of two people per booking is required.
Canal Grande (Pass By)
Piazza San Marco (Pass By)
Doge's Palace (Pass By)
Abbazia di San Giorgio Maggiore (Pass By)
Chiesa del Santissimo Redentore (Pass By)
Ca' Pesaro Galleria Internazionale d'Arte Moderna (Pass By)
Ponte degli Scalzi (Pass By)
Ca' Rezzonico (Pass By)
Museo Wagner (Pass By)
Galleria Giorgio Franchetti alla Ca' d'Oro (Pass By)
Ponte di Rialto (Pass By)
Ponte dell'Accademia (Pass By)
Peggy Guggenheim Collection (Pass By)
Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute (Pass By)
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking, unless booked within 2 days of travel. In this case confirmation will be received within 48 hours, subject to availability
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Stroller accessible
- Near public transportation
- Infants must sit on laps
- Most travelers can participate
- A minimum of 2 people per booking is required
- 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. For more information, including details about exemptions and the specific dates when the fee applies, please visit (https://cda.ve.it).
- 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
Featured review
What a great way to see Venice, the Grand Canal and other points of interest in Venice! Our tour guide lady was awesome, so so nice, fun to talk too, her knowledge and history of Venice was great and endless! What a great way to see Venice by water taxi, private is the way to go. A little expensive it is, but a great way to go if you can! I enjoyed the tour from beginning to end! Thanks to our tour guide, she was great!
Reviews
4.2
based on 59 reviews
Sort by: Most insightful
Unfortunately, we showed up for our 6:00pm evening grand canal tour and were told that no guide or boat were available. I tried messaging the provider with no response that evening and the next day with no response. Thanks to Viator for providing a full refund!
Basically you are on a private taxi boat, mostly going through the Grand Canal, some side canals and in the open lagoon.
The windows of the boat are dirty from the waterspray and don't get cleaned before the next tour starts.
So taking photos or really seeing the sights is obscured.
For the most part, the tour guide explained the history of Venice rather than explaining what we were driving past.
A conversation better held over a dinner and not an expensive boat ride.
So overall we were not impressed.
The tour was and boat were nice but we had issues finding our meeting location. Viator had listed two meeting locations and our location tour guide had a third meeting location so we had a late and unfortunate start to our trip as it was frustrating and changed the energy of our experience. They did provide 15 minutes at the end to help rectify but it was not the full luxury experience I had hoped for.
Our guide was very knowledgeable and the tour was nice. My suggestion would be to have a separate (uncrowded meeting place). One of the biggest problems is that their meeting place was significantly crowded. It is difficult to find and once you find the place, there were 2 separate windows bearing the company name who had no idea what tour we were on and could not help with the Viator Voucher? After going back and forth in lines for almost an hour and tour guide "popped up out of nowhere" in the crowded area saying we're ready to go. This could have all been avoided with more clarification and a less crowded meeting place. After we met, the tour was good.
What a great way to see Venice, the Grand Canal and other points of interest in Venice! Our tour guide lady was awesome, so so nice, fun to talk too, her knowledge and history of Venice was great and endless! What a great way to see Venice by water taxi, private is the way to go. A little expensive it is, but a great way to go if you can! I enjoyed the tour from beginning to end! Thanks to our tour guide, she was great!
We cancelled this tour, but somehow the tour company managed to still charge us! It's very bad, as the price for this 'trip' is $580 for 1 hour, yet the price for a private 5 hour boat in Venice is $610!
No one would ever book this tour for that kind of money.
We are hoping to get a full refund given we cancelled it, and never went on the tour
Buyer beware- do NOT even think about booking this tour.
Lara was a great tour guide. Punctual and kind. The boat and captain were perfect, private, and clean. The evening started great with good weather. We chose to even disembark in an area near Nick’s Gelatorria which has some of the best gelato on the isle. However, a storm came in fast and the rest of the tour was quite rushed. It wasn’t the fault of Lara or the company. My daughter really couldn’t hear anything Lara was saying, especially with the loud boat engine. A com system that most tour ciompanies use would have been more helpful. Anyway, a great evening overall as dusk approached this beautiful city. But I only gave 3 stars because we were simply left wanting at the end. Not great value at nearly $800 USD for what we experienced. But a solid 3-4 stars and probably would have been 4-5 if weather held great. Thanks Lara for the experience, and seriously consider a coms unit for guests in the boat so everything can be heard clearly no matter wear we are sitting.
Spectacular way to see Venice for the first time. We took this tour our first evening here and were treated to gorgeous views of the city’s vast grandeur and elegance, lovely soft summer evening air turning to dusk, and a great tour guide (Sylvia) and boat driver, in a beautiful water taxi. We explored both large and small canals. Absolutely the finest intro to Venice.
Our guide was great but this tour was very disappointing. We were under the impression that it was a private boat and was between 1-2 hours. It was not. We were on a taxi boat that the tour operator hired as we walked up to the docks. The whole thing lasted less than 45 minutes and the driver did not slow down for anything. I believe he literally circled the island and headed back. For the money, just rent your own taxi for $50. Not worth what we paid.
It was a wonderful time and our conversations with the guide were so enjoyable. It was a relaxing and interesting way to see Venice by water.
Wonderful boat tour around Venice. I would recommend this tour instead of a (overrated) gondola ride. Our tour guide met us at the ticket stand and took us to our private taxi boat. Couldn't ask for a better hour around Venice--even in a little rain. The only confusing thing about the reservation is the ticket says you need to show up at the ticket stand and exchange the voucher prior to the tour. This wasn't needed--we ended up meeting the guide at the ticket stand at our tour's time.
Simona was a superb guide, with a deep well of knowledge about Venice and a most engaging personality. She brought Venice to life and made all of us wish we could spend more time here. As she said at the beginning of the tour - Venice is a city on and of the water, and the best way to see the city is from the water. We agree.
The most memorable part of this trip was seeing things that you would just never see in Venice unless you had weeks to spend here (e.g. the hands sculptures at the military base). Our guide, Catti, was absolutely terrific. There was a long delay with the boat, however - about 30 minutes. It was a lovely evening so we are glad that we waited, but we should not have had to. The tour was entirely by water - which is what we wanted. Some reviewers experienced part boat/part walking tours but we did not, it. It has been the highlight of our trip to Venice!
Private two hour boat tour of Venice and the lagoons. Our was extremely knowledgeable and the boat driver was fun too. Worth the price!
Thank you so much to Ketty and Paulo for an amazing tour of Venice. Ketty was so informative and a really lovely guide. She told us everything we needed to know and we felt so comfortable with her. The tour itself was so nice and was the highlight of our stay.
Absolutely recommended!
Our guide was very knowledgeable and we had so much fun with her. She was able to give all the pertinent information about key sites without going into to much detail. We would recommend this for anyone who would like to see Venice during the sunset. It was beautiful.
Our guide was friendly, informative and spoke perfect English. I wish we had chosen the longer tour we took the shorter of the two options! I wasn't sure our group would have the attention span or endurance for it we had a 9 year old and 2 senior citizens but the time seemed to pass so quickly, and there is so much to see!
This was a fantastic way to see Venice. Think we went into every canal, large and small. Our guide, Julianna not sure name was so knowledgeable and we enjoyed every minute of the tour. The lights came on after dusk, and it was like a fairy tale. Would recommend this tour for everyone. Thanks so much for an experience we will always remember.
This was only an hour but what a wonderful hour! It was pricey since it was a private tour but definitely worth the money! Our guide was born and raised in Venice and was very nice. He was a wealth of information about Venice and helped us understand the geography and history of the city. He was able to balance giving us information with letting us take it all in on our own.
We enjoyed this very much and Barbara very very knowledgeable and friendly. However, they ended the tour 20 minutes early. I was going to complain (should not have to) but the others in my party asked me not to because they didn't want to spoil what was otherwise an amazing time. Not worth the money
Our guide met us near the Grand Canal and walked us to our water taxi for a one hour tour along the Canal. We had just arrived that morning so were still adjusting to the new time zone and little sleep on the flight over, but she was very informative without being dull in any way. We went along the Grand Canal as well as along some of the quieter canals, and into the Lagoon as well. All in all, a great way to spend a late afternoon hour and a good introduction to Venice.
The Private Grand Canal Boat Tour was certainly not Grand as the the tour was entitled. The actual boat provided was a narrow covered boat with a small open seating area the rear, which was a tight fit for just four of us all small/medium framed and therefore, it not allow any room to take any meaningful photographs as there is no room to manoeuvre. In fact, the actual boat is a complete misrepresentation by the Tour writeup and its accompanying photograph. If the tour writeup was accompanied by the photograph of the actual type of boat, I would not have bought the tour for myself and family. Hence, it is not surprising that there is certainly the strong sour taste of being misled.
Furthermore, an hour prior to the tour, I had called the given telephone number to check on the specific location of the meeting place for the tour but I was given incorrect information to wait at the esplanade where there is a wooden booth in front of a flower garden to turn right of St Mark's Square, along the walkway by the waters. We had almost missed the tour completely as we had to rushed frantically to find the right meeting place after being advised by some people at the wooden booth.
However, the guide was knowledgeable and provided adequate commentary on the tour. Our rating would be a one-star rating and this is just for the guide of the tour only, and, for the Tour Company, its administration and logistics of the tour, our rating is a zero-rating.
Great tour. We did this our first night in Venice. We arrived in the late afternoon. This tour was the perfect way to get acclimated to the city. Our guide, Claudia was amazing!
Great way to see Venice and learn a lot more than with a group.
Thinking it was just a water tour was a little dissapointing since we had already booked a walking tour. You should make it clear that it consist of a half water tour and half walking tour.
The boat taxi touring ride itself was excellent, and including a chance to see both lagoons, the Grand Canal, as well as many of the smaller canals and views. The tour and tour guide were below expectations. The tour guide was late, we waited for him to finish eating before leaving, and his moderating of the tour was modest; in addition, he arranged to stop the boat tour for 2 landings, both of which were interesting and unique, but were not listed by Viator as part of the boat tour and took away from our expensive time on the water. Overall, the taxi tour was among our travel highlights; however, as our first use of Viator, compared with other tour groups, I'd strongly recommend that you more closely evaluate your vendors. Thanks.
ABSOLUTELY A MUST...especially if you have a lot of luggage:)) Great service TO and FROM Marco Polo Airport to ANYWHERE in Venice Italy. We will, with no question use this service again!!!!
Excellent tour. This was one of the highlights of our trip. We took it the first evening we were there and it is a great way to get introduced to the city. Our guide Ivanno was fantastic. Very knowledgeable and informative. A great way to see the city.
We thoroughly enjoyed this tour as we were able to see more of the Venetian neighborhoods than we would have seen just by walking. Fiona provided excellent historical and architectural information that we would not have learned just from the guide books. She adapted our tour to show what we had not seen, and it was interesting to see more of Venice from the lagoon to understand the city.
What was covered in 2 hours could have been covered by 1 hour. First off, the tour guide did not know it was 2 hours, then the tour started 20 mins late and finally the boat (taxi) had to be replaced. With all these things we managed to finish the tour by 1.5 hours approximately. Money charged for 2 hours is not worth it.
From $533.67
per group (up to 6)up to 24 hours before the experience starts (local time)
Compare Similar Experiences
Current
Private Tour: Venice Grand Canal Evening Boat Tour
59
1 hour
Free Cancellation
From
$533.67
Customers Who Bought This Tour Also Bought
Attractions in Venice, Italy
- St. Mark’s Bell Tower (Campanile di San Marco) Tours & Tickets
- Accademia Bridge (Ponte dell'Accademia) Tours & Tickets
- Ca' d'Oro (Palazzo Santa Sofia) Tours & Tickets
- Venice Accademia Gallery (Gallerie dell'Accademia) Tours & Tickets
- Madonna dell’Orto Church (Chiesa della Madonna dell'Orto) Tours & Tickets
- Lake Misurina (Lago di Misurina) Tours & Tickets
- Rialto Bridge (Ponte di Rialto) Tours & Tickets
- St. Mark's Square (Piazza San Marco) Tours & Tickets
- Basilica of St. Anthony of Padua (Basilica di Sant'Antonio di Padova) Tours & Tickets
- Campo Santa Margherita Tours & Tickets
- Bovolo Staircase (Scala Contarini del Bovolo) Tours & Tickets
- San Lazzaro degli Armeni Tours & Tickets
- Giardini della Biennale Tours & Tickets
- Doge's Palace (Palazzo Ducale) Tours & Tickets
More attractions near Venice, Italy