Private Venice City Tour and Gondola Ride

Venice, Italy

2 hours 30 minutes (approx.)
Group discounts
Mobile ticket
Offered in: English

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Overview

Ideally suited for first-time visitors, or anyone short on time, this action-packed sightseeing tour serves as the perfect Venice primer. Get an inside peek at the world-famous Byzantine mosaics in St. Mark’s Basilica, and cross the iconic Bridge of Sighs. Tours include pre-booked admission tickets to the Doge's Palace. Upgrade for an exclusive bonus at the end of the tour: a relaxing gondola ride through Venice’s most cherished lagoons.

Entry to the Doge's Palace is included; tickets to St. Mark's Basilica available on request
Tick off two of Venice’s most blockbuster attractions in a single visit
Drift along an enchanting maze of canals, discovering sides of the city off-limits to pedestrians
Listen to legends and stories from the heyday of the fabled city from your own private guide

What's Included

Private licensed guide
Entrance tickets to the Doge's Palace
30 minutes gondola tour included ONLY if you choose the option with the gondola included

Gratuities
Hotel pickup and drop-off
Entrance tickets to St. Mark's Basilica are on request, contact us to reserve your tickets

Meeting and Pickup

Meeting point

P.za San Marco, 3, 30124 Venezia VE, Italy
Meet our guide between the two columns in St. Mark's Square.

End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

Operating hours
.3:00 pm

Itinerary

Piazza San Marco

30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Palazzo Ducale

1 hour • Admission Ticket Included

Basilica di San Marco

30 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

gondola ride

30 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking, unless booked within 7 days of travel. In this case confirmation will be received within 48 hours, subject to availability
Not wheelchair accessible
Near public transportation
Most travelers can participate
Proper attire is required while visiting the Basilica.
For security reasons bags, back-packs, etc. cannot be taken into the Basilica.

A gondola can accommodate 5 people only.
Choose the gondola option if you want to add it
Please provide the full names of all travelers when booking. Failure to present a voucher with all travelers’ full names at the ticket office prior to entry may result in denied entry to the attraction.
Each traveler must present a valid passport or ID document that matches the name provided at the time of booking for successful entry to St.Mark’s Basilica
Basilica tickets official price is 12€ per person for Tour Operators
This is a private tour/activity. Only your group will participate

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Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 3 days in advance of the experience for a full refund.

Traveler Photos

Gallery picture 1 (from a traveler's review)

Featured review

Lauren_G

Monica was a fantastic tour guide. Even though we didn't get to enter the palace due to it being a holiday, we still had a very interesting walking tour. In the end it felt like a fun stroll through Venice with a friend who offered not only historical facts but also interesting debate and friendly conversation. The church is magnificent. The Gondola ride ended off a really good experience which is something you can't miss when visiting Venice.

Reviews

4.4

based on 9 reviews

Total reviews and rating from Viator & Tripadvisor

We perform checks on reviews

Seamless

DukeandDiane_B, Sep 2025

Alexandra, a Venetian native, was a knowledgeable, informed, articulate & thoughtful guide. Although we’d visited Venice years before, we had not seen St Mark’s, the Doge Palace or ridden a gondola. Such a treat & Alexandra made it seamless with no wait. Learned so much more than had we done on our own. Some confusion about meeting place. Would have been helpful if instead to address, the meeting point could have specified “between 2 columns”. We were at wrong spot. But Viator called us after 10 min & all was good. Would highly recommend this tour.

Private tour of Venice highlights

Mark_A, Sep 2025

Guide was knowledgeable, on time, and provided an exceptional tour. The gondola ride at the end was well organized and a great way to learn more about the canal system

Very knowledgeable guide....

Amanda_C, Aug 2025

Very knowledgeable guide. Alessandra made the museum and the palace tours a valuable learning experience. It made our trip!!

Our guide was very nice...

Steve_D, May 2025

Our guide was very nice and knowledgeable. She did a great job telling us about the basilica and the palace. The gondola ride was only about 20 minutes not 30. It was relaxing until the end when another gondola came racing right up next to us and splashed us with water. Otherwise good

Great guide!

Lauren_G, Apr 2025

Our guide was great and...

Amanda_R, Apr 2025

Our guide was great and gave us a lot of information, but we booked the tour specifically for the gondola ride and at the end of the tour, we were told that the gondola ride was not included. They wanted to charge us another $120 to go on the gondola!!! What a rip off. Not only did we pay for a private tour, which was not cheap, but we were scammed out of our gondola ride!! Don’t book with this company!!

Excellent, efficient and well planned.

Cristina_P, Jul 2023

Luisa was an excellent caring tour guide. She met our needs and worked with us. Our family has three small Children and she was able to give us a tour which our children will not forget.

Maximize your time with a private tour!

James_S, Nov 2022

My husband and I absolutely loved our private guided tour of St. Marks Basilica and the Doges palace. We also had a wonderful gondola ride at the end. Our guide was very knowledgeable and she really brought the history of each building to life. We especially enjoyed bypassing the very long lines for both buildings! I definitely recommend seeing the sights via private tour if you have a limited time. We were only in Venice for 3 nights and Viator helped us make the most of our time! Grazie from James and Dirk!