Skip the Line: Best of Venice Private Tour Including San Marco Doges' Palace and Gondola Ride

Recommended by 94% of travelers

Venice, Italy

6 hours (approx.)
Group discounts
Mobile ticket
Offered in: English

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Overview

Get exclusive, skip-the-line access to the very best of Venice on a private, 6-hour walking and gondola tour of the city. Learn about Venetian art and culture as you trace a route from Piazza San Marco to the elaborate Doge’s Palace and the Bridge of Sighs. Discover the remarkable architecture and history of the Basilica San Marco, and continue through a series of churches, landmarks and picture-perfect highlights. Finish the day in true Venice style with a private gondola ride through the iconic canals of Venice.

6-hour private tour of Venice
Skip the line
Enjoy the personal experience of a private tour
See the city's scenic and historic highlights
Led by a local guide
All entrance fees and gondola ride included

What's Included

Local guide
Gondola Ride
ADMISSION TICKETS FRO :Doge's Palace 35 EURO EACH and Basilica 12 EURO EACH

Gratuities
Lunch is not included but the local guide can give you great recommendations
pick up /drop off from hotel

Meeting and Pickup

Meeting point

Piazza San Marco
P.za San Marco, 30124 Venezia VE, Italy
The meeting point is next to the Lion Pillar

End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

Operating hours
.10:30 am

Itinerary

Piazza San Marco

1 hour • Admission Ticket Free

Basilica di San Marco

30 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Palazzo Ducale

2 hours • Admission Ticket Included

Ponte di Rialto

30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

San Polo

30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Campo Santa Maria Formosa

30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Chiesa dei Santi Apostoli

30 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Not wheelchair accessible
Stroller accessible
Service animals allowed
Near public transportation
No heart problems or other serious medical conditions

Most travelers can participate
A dress code is required to enter places of worship and selected museums. No shorts or sleeveless tops allowed. Knees and shoulders MUST be covered for both men and women. You may risk refused entry if you fail to comply with these dress requirements
On certain dates, most travelers staying outside of Venice who are planning to visit for the day will be required to pay a €5 access fee. For further details (including exemptions) and to learn what days this fee is applicable, please visit: https://cda.ve.it
BASILICA ENTRY TICKETS 12 EURO EACH INCLUDED IN THE PRICE DOGE'S PALACE ENTRY TICKETS 35 EURO EACH INCLUDED IN THE PRICE 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
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)

Reviews

4.7

based on 32 reviews

Total reviews and rating from Viator & Tripadvisor

We perform checks on reviews

In Denise we had a most...

John_C, Feb 2026

In Denise we had a most womderful tour guide. The Doge Palace was the highlight of the tour. The gondola ride was a great way to end the day

Private tour of Saint Marks and the Doge

Thomas_K, Oct 2024

A last minute snag with our credit card forced us to move up to a private tour. Our group of six was very happy with our private guide, Brankica. We learned much about the history and lore of the Doge and St Mark’s cathedral. She was efficient and focused in her presentations and very proud of her city. Our visit to the Rialto bridge and surrounding area and the gondola ride were also accompanied by great local insight. What a fun way to scoop up knowledge and great memories of Venice. Spending the additional money for a private tour is very well worth it particularly if you’re lucky enough to have Brankica as your guide.

Great Venice experience

Terry_L, Jun 2024

Denice has been our favorite guide ever! She was so knowledgeable & was able to answer all our questions. She hit all the highlights of Venice with ease and her joyful & bubbly personality made it a great time!! We highly recommend this tour & guide to everyone.

Donata is the best!

James_W, Nov 2023

Our guide, Donata, was fantastic and a great pleasure to work with. Would work with her every time friends or family come to Venice.

Great walking tour

Cari_E, Oct 2023

The walking tour with Denise was awesome. She was so informative and had great bits of information to add and make it enjoyable. We had a change of tour guides for Doge’s palace. Don’t need one for there. She just said what was on the walls signs. Her English was not easy to understand. They did not purchase Chapel tickets early enough to get us in so we did not get to see it. I booked 3 months ahead!!

SPECTACULAR tour of Venezia!

Annie, Sep 2023

AWESOME tour! As this was our first time in Venezia, we wanted to take a full day tour to experience it with a local Venetian and Ketty did not disappoint. She was not only kind but extremely knowledgeable about the city and it’s history. We spent the whole day with her visiting all the sites you would expect including Doge’s Palace, St Marks Square and even took a gondola ride. We shared a couple of meals together during our tour and she pointed out many other stops and restaurants along the way that we may want to see later in our stay. We left Venezia having met a new friend and we hope to see her on our next trip to this gorgeous city in the future. She speaks wonderful English and is more than happy to help us practice our Italian, haha! We can’t say enough about Ketty and the beautiful city she is blessed to call home. In our opinion, Venezia is the prettiest city in Italy. Ketty did a wonderful job of introducing us to Venezia. GRAZIE TANTI KETTY!! ❤️

Perfect choice for a tour of Venice.

frogpond86, Aug 2023

The tour of the Duomo was very informative. Donatello knew her history and was very accommodating. We enjoyed the walk thru the local streets to the Rialto Bridge. The gondola ride was very relaxing.

Great experience, worth the $

Ryan_S, Aug 2023

Carolina was amazing with so much knowledge, took us on the unbeaten path away from the crowds most of the time e explaining the rich culture. Definitely recommend

Lovely Tour with Carolina!

Michael_M, Jun 2023

My husband and I took “Best of Venice Private Tour Including San Marco Doges' Palace and Gondola Ride” with Carolina in June 2023. It was like taking a tour with an old friend. Carolina was very knowledgeable — about the city’s culture and history, but especially about art! — and had good “side stories” that were relatable, sequential, and informative. The entire day ran smoothly through all the must-see stops and then intentional strolling. We stopped for a perfect quick Venetian lunch that didn’t disrupt the flow of the tour but still felt like part of the experience. We appreciated that she had a plan for the day but checked in periodically to make sure we were engaged and didn’t want to divert. Her helpfulness didn’t end when the tour did — she texted us later and sent along some recommendations for us to visit on our own later in our stay. We would highly recommend this tour and especially Carolina; it’s well worth the money to put yourself in such capable hands with such a professional, personable person!

Our guide Carolina was...

Lisa_G, May 2023

Our guide Carolina was amazing. BUT we were very disappointed that our tickets to the Basilica were cancelled at the last minute and on our once in a lifetime chance we were unable to see it.

Venice Day Trip

Joseph_W, Apr 2023

Walking through the Jewish Ghetto and other regions of Venice that were less touristy was our favorite part of the day. Our tour guide Donata was very knowledgeable and accommodating.

Carolina + Venice = perfecto!!

Michelle_B, Sep 2022

Carolina was so AMAZING! It was like touring the city with a dear friend. She was knowledgeable, animated, friendly and outgoing. We immediately felt at ease with her. Her information was interesting about Venice and it’s sites. It was worth every penny and more! We felt we had a full overview of the area.

History, Food, Beauty

Craig_P, Sep 2022

Wonderful deep dive into history of Venice with a kind and knowledgeable guide. If you love history and want to know the stories behind such a special place, this is a great tour. St Marks Square, the Doge Palace, prison and Basilica. Followed by a nice lunch (options provided to meet your desires). Then gelato and walking tour of the alleys and squares you might never find. Finish up with 30 gondola ride to see Venice as it was meant to be seen. Excellent day. Highly recommended.

Just one day in Venice

Sara_B, May 2022

We had only one day to see all the ‘big things’ in Venice and this was a great way to do it. Carolina was a wonderful guide who took us off the beaten track as well as navigating through the busier places and providing a fascinating commentary on everything we were seeing. Not a cheap way of doing things but value for money when time is short. Great communication from the tour company before as well.

Perfect private tour

Andre_W, Nov 2021

Absolutely wonderful - highly recommend if you want to avoid crowds, skip lines, and learn a lot! Carolina was very helpful and patient; we’re quite glad to have had her as our guide!

Venezia

Jose_M, Feb 2020

I loved Michaela and her knowledge. But since we could not go into the museums then it was too expensive for what we did.

Venice experience

Donna_V, Feb 2020

Such a great tour. When we arrived in Venice every museum and palace had been closed due to the Coronavirus scare. However our wonderful tour guide, Romy changed plans on our behalf. She instead took us on a 6.5 hour experience beginning with tours to Murano and Burano in addition to a fantastic tour of Venice. Finishing with a gondola ride in Venice. Showing us all the best Venice has to offer. Romy was so knowledgeable and knew the history of everything. She stayed with us on the gondola ride and took photos for us all day. She took great care to ensure our safety every step of the way. If you have a chance to take a tour of Venice you definitely should request Romy.

If you only have one day in Venice, then this is your tour- but it is a long day.

Stephen_K, Jun 2019

our tour guide was great. Native Venetian. Knew the city very well. She showed os pretty much everything to see in the city and answered all our questions. The only part that was not 100% great was the gondola ride as they used the busiest operator behind San Marco and they short changed us on the time- only 22 minutes not 30.

We were priveleged to have Dr. Romy...

Felicia V, Aug 2018

We were priveleged to have Dr. Romy Rigattieri, a learned local Venetian as our guide for the day. As Romy knew the city like the back of her hand, she took us to visit it's main highlights through meandering streets, off the beaten path, so that we could see so many hidden gems and aspects of the city, en route. Two such unique stops that were significant for us were to a historic Gondola boatyard where Romy explained the painstaking process that goes into the construction of a single gondola and to an iconic waterfront gelateria where we were made to try a unique dessert which Romy used to relish as a child of chocolate and whipped cream! Being very experienced Romy brought the ancient and mesmerising city of Venice to life for us with her detailed and animated commentary. She took us to iconic mask shops to explain the process and significance of this unique Venetian phenomenon. She also took us to try Cicchetti, typical Venetian snacks, similar to Spanish tapas. Her explanations of the Doges Palace, Bridge of Sighs, the adjoining Prison and of the Byzantine influenced San Marco were exceptionally notable. Our Tour ended with a private gondola ride which my young daughters were looking forward to the most. Seeing that the gondoliers were very busy and hence nonchalant and uncaring of the thronging tourists, Romy never left our side until she was sure that we were seated in a comfortable gondola with an attentive gondolier. This for us was very touching. As the gondolier pushed away from the shore and took us down the canal, we could see Romy gradually disappear from view. She never stopped waving to us. Felicia Variava Albert. Managing Director, Blaze Tours and Travels Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai, India

This tour was so much more than we...

William_T, Jun 2018

This tour was so much more than we were expecting. Our tour guide Romy was very knowledgeable and showed us the best of Venice. It was a private tour for the 4 of us and was a perfect day. The gondola ride was just the four of us and about 40 minutes long, made our Venice trip exactly what we expected. I highly suggest this tour.

The tour guide was very...

Gabi, Sep 2017

The tour guide was very knowledgeable, he was eager to show us what we wanted to see, it was so nice to have the guide to ourselves. Although it was expensive, it was worth it.

A wonderful tour! Thank you to our...

Chris T, Aug 2017

A wonderful tour! Thank you to our extremely knowledgeable tour guide Christina. We visited Doge's Palace and Saint Mark's Basillica and toured the city. Our tour guide gave us great information about the city, the buildings, the people and life today. This was a all day tour, which I would highly recommend. Be prepared to walk a lot! So wear comfortable attire, however please be aware some places you are visiting may have some requirements or restrictions. Just be ready to enjoy Venice, only wish we had more time to explore.

Rafael Tours is a great company...

Nanette T, Jul 2017

Rafael Tours is a great company. Used twice and would use again. Adriana was an excellent guide-knowledgeable, flexible and funny.Plenty of time in Doges Palace and San Marcos church. 30 min gondola ride was ok. Our gondolier was boring-was on his phone the whole time. Overall great tour! DO BOOK!

This was a basic one day guided tour...

Todd_B, May 2017

This was a basic one day guided tour of the city of Venice. Our guide was contracted through a local tour company that was contracted by Viator. It is a challenge to get so many hands in the pie and it makes these tours expensive. However, this guide was very professional and his English was excellent. I far prefer a private guide now for any tour that I'm taking. The experience far outweighs the cost when you consider how much you spent to get to the destination in the first place. He made a great lunch recommendation, and created an excellent custom day. However, the constraints between Viator and the local tour company caused minor timing problems. I believe there is not enough work in matching what the local tour company is offering and what Viator is selling on its site. In this case, the guide was willing to make it fit the description that Viator had said which was a completely private, customized guided tour not so much what the local company had described, but this is not always the case. Be wary that you might not get what you expect in the tour description if Viator hasn't done enough foot work with the local tour provider to mesh expectations. If they email ahead of time for tour confirmation it is imperative to set expectations up front.

Truly awesome city and the tour was...

paola m, Apr 2017

Truly awesome city and the tour was really good. There is so much to see in Venice that you definitely need a guide!

Magnificencia, historia y poder veneciano.

Carlos_S, Sep 2022

Todos y cada uno de los momentos son únicos. Cada paso es una historia y es Historia. Stella fue y es una guía excepcional. No he conocido en los años que llevo viajando por el mundo una cicerone tan preparada, tan educada, amable y sobre todo cariñosa.

User Guide Arianna war...

Sandro_D, Apr 2022

User Guide Arianna war fantastisch. Eine super Allgemeinbildung und sehr sympathisches auftretten. Danke

Unglaublicher Tag in Venedig mit Reiseführerin Ariane

Alex Z, Nov 2019

Wir hatten ein Wochenende in Venedig mit dieser privaten Tour gebucht. Unsere Reiseführerin Ariane war pünktlich am Treffpunkt und wir verbrachten einen wahnsinnig interessanten und unglaublich tollen Tag mit ihr in Venedig. Es ist zwar etwas teuer, aber dafür lohnt es sich im Vergleich zu den 'Massentouren' sehr. Es gibt kein Warten und keine Langeweile. Man kann seine Fragen direkt stellen und Ariane hatten sehr viel zu erzählen. Vielen Dank an sie an dieser Stelle. Wir werden diese Tour weiterempfehlen.