Another Side of the City: Discovering Authentic Venice
Recommended by 100% of travelers
Badge of Excellence
Venice, Italy
- 2 hours (approx.)
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
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Overview
Discover Venice’s local side—and head off the tourist trail—on this immersive, private tour. Choose from multiple start times to suit your schedule, meet your guide at a convenient start point (or your hotel), and set off on foot. You’ll venture beyond the crowded areas, and will discover lesser-known treasures from quieter neighborhoods and backstreets to historic churches, gondola-making facilities, and more.
- Beat the crowds, and see a local side of Venice, on this walking tour
- A private tour offers the most personalized way to explore
- Learn the stories behind the sights from your guide’s commentary
- Discover lesser-known neighborhoods, churches, and historic landmarks
What's Included
- my service
- Gratuities
Meeting and Pickup
Meeting point
- Gallerie dell'AccademiaCalle della Carità, 1050, 30123 Venezia VE, Italy
Exactly at the entry of the Galleria dell'accademia
End point
This activity ends back at the meeting point.Operating hours.4:00 pm
Itinerary
Gallerie Dell'Accademia (Pass By)
1
Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute
20 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
2
Fondamenta Zattere
30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
3
Squero di San Trovaso
20 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
4
Campo San Barnaba
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
5
Campo Santa Margherita
30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Stroller accessible
- Service animals allowed
- No heart problems or other serious medical conditions
- Travelers should have a moderate physical fitness level
- 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
- 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
Reviews
5.0
based on 60 reviews
Aubray_C, Mar 2026
What a lovely tour! Definitely a highlight of our time in Venice. We gained so much insight and info about real life in the city, and Elisabetta was a delight. We could’ve spent all day with her! Highly recommend.
Louisa_D, Feb 2026
This is a great way to learn about the real Venice, not just what you see from staying near the usual places. Venice deserves to be appreciated for its smallest passages, unique shops, vibrant history and culture. Our guide, a lifelong resident of Venice, was enthusiastically fluent in all things Venetian and we were delighted we took this tour.
Response from Host, Feb 2026
Thank you so much for the great review! I might be able to may be see you again !!!
Elizabeth_P, Jan 2026
On this excellent tour we got to see areas of Venice that are often ignored.
Walking along a quiet canal, we got to see a shop where forcole are made. Forcole are the oarlocks on gondolas. Seeing a craftsman at work on a custom piece was a rare and fascinating treat.
We appreciated seeing different places and learning about Venice history, festivals, and unique traditions. This is a particularly good tour if you're looking for an actual camera-down, thinking-cap-on experience.
Elisabetta is a wonderfully well-informed guide who clearly loves her city. She shared some recommendations with us for shops and food. And we had our favorite meal ever in Venice at one of her recommendations.
We’ll definitely arrange another tour with Elisabetta when we return to Venice and we’re recommending her to our friends.
Response from Host, Jan 2026
Thank you !!!! Such a flattering review! I don’t think I’ll ever get used to compliments.
Natasha_D, Jan 2026
Awesome guide - her family goes back more generations than any American can imagine! We really felt like we got the full insider view!
Response from Host, Jan 2026
Grazie a pleasure to have you here in Venice !
Mallory_M, Oct 2025
Definitely take this tour as soon as you arrive in Venice if you’ve never been before. Elisabetta is a true Venezian who speaks great English and knows all the off the grid spots to go. We talked to her about cultural norms, and she warned us of scams and showed us how to spot pickpockets. We got to ask her a lot about being a resident of Venice, which I found very interesting. She tailored the tour to what we wanted to see and talk about.
Response from Host, Feb 2026
Thank you so very much for the review!!!
Munira_S, Sep 2025
On this tour there were only 2 of us. We felt privileged and we have the guide all to ourselves. Elizabeth showed us places we won’t see otherwise. She was very knowledgeable, accommodating and went extra mile for us. We highly recommend this tour and especially this guide
Burton_W, Aug 2025
Elisabetta is a charming host in this beautiful city. She knows every inch of Venice. I have visited Venice several times before but this was the best tour.
Stacey_A, Jul 2025
Takes you off the touristy parts of the city. Our tour guide Elisabeth was very knowledgeable. We learned about the history of buildings and the city. She even went out of her way and met us at our hotel. Made that so much easier for us. We highly recommend booking this tour with Elisabeth. She was great texting us through WhatsApp the day before.
Response from Host, Jul 2025
thank you so much !!!!
Alea_W, Jun 2025
Enjoyed seeing Venice from a local’s perspective. It was so nice to escape the crowds! Elizabeth was a wonderful host.
Response from Host, Jun 2025
Thanks so much!!!!
Jan_S, Jun 2025
Elisabetta gave us an amazing tour of her side of the island, away from the crowds and hustle and bustle. She gave us history of Venice, some hidden shops and locations we would have never found on our own. It was a great, intimate tour of a Venice we wouldn’t have seen otherwise.
Response from Host, Jun 2025
Thanks so much!!!!
Jacie_F, Apr 2025
We did our tour with Martina and we LOVED her. She is so knowledgeable and kind and made the whole experience feel so personal. She treated us to all kinds of goodies along the way (gelato/wine/cicchetti) and let us see inside a few buildings we normally wouldn't have been able to. Martina made our first time in Venice so special. I cannot recommend her enough
Response from Host, Apr 2025
MARTINA loved you too!!!!
marlin_l, Mar 2025
She's a lovely lady with full of knowledge and information about Venice and she recommended places for us to have to eat. Very helpful in answering our questions.
GARY_C, Sep 2024
We had a great time wandering the quiet back streets of Venice. Our guide, Martina, was very accommodating and shared many stories and historical facts about the city. It was one of the best walking tours I have ever taken. She treated us all to a Gelato.
Susan_M, Sep 2024
Elisabetta was an outstanding guide. Born and raised right in Venice, she was a wealth of knowledge. It was just my husband and I who are fairly quiet people and she put us at ease and carried the conversation very well. We covered a lot of ground. It was great!
Jetty_A, Sep 2024
Loved the tour and our tour guide Elisabetta. Our favorite part of the tour besides seeing various parts of Venice we would have never seen on our own was visiting the Church of St Pantelon. Thank you Elisabetta for giving us a great tour.
Amy_W, Sep 2024
We loved loved, loved our personal tour with Elisabetta! Her tour was exactly what we wanted. She made our day!
Alicia_M, Feb 2024
Our tour guide, Alisabetta, communicated from several days before our booking up until even after the booking was over. She was incredibly friendly and easy to talk to and took us all over parts of Venice that my husband and I had not seen in the two days prior that we had been there. She told us history of Venice and answered many questions that we asked her about her own life and she also asked us about our lives. It felt like walking with a friend for a couple of hours. She even changed the tour up a little bit and accommodated our request for a specific kind of treat and showed us where our dinner reservations were later that day. She told me that she would send recommendations of restaurants to go to for the following days of our trip and followed up with them right after the tour. She even sent me several places to go the next day and was incredibly friendly. We felt like we made a friend! Highly recommended this private tour.
Iliana_S, Jan 2024
Our tour guide Elisabetta was absolutely amazing! She was so sweet and very knowledgeable on all things Italy. Super helpful and made it very personable. She took us to some pretty awesome spots of Italy. We really enjoyed her company; it was just my husband and I with her and she did not disappoint where she took us. She gave some great recommendations of where to go eat as well.
Kirby_L, Oct 2023
Highly recommend touring Venice with Elisabetta. Really fun and informative, and she will show you all the best places to go for food, drink, shopping, sight seeing. Should be your first tour of the trip! A+
Jenifer_F, Jul 2023
Great knowledge from a local! She was flexible in showing us areas that were of interest to us..... not just a typical pre-rehearsed tour.
Kerri_W, May 2023
Our family was enamored by Elisabetta. She was very informative and spoke English well. We were taken through the labyrinth that is Venice and shown her beauty.
Noah_G, May 2023
This tour was marvelous and we enjoyed seeing more of Venice than the tourist hotspots. Elizabetta was kind, patient and extremely knowledgeable about the history of Venice. She was a fantastic guide to the Venice of both the past and the present.
Dani_A, Apr 2023
We had a great time with Elisabetta walking the back streets of Venice and talking about the life of people there. We got to see a side of Venice visitors don't see, with even a quick visit to a Venetian apartment.
Jason_K, Aug 2022
Our guide was incredible. She walked us through the back streets and winding roads. Talked about the culture and history around a fabulous city. I highly recommend, the only way to visit Venice.
Kathy_S, Nov 2021
We had a last minute change to our tour guide due to an injury. We ended up having Denice as our guide. SHE WAS AMAZING!!!! What a true delight to wander around the secret streets of Venice with such a charming local. As my husband and I are huge history fans we truly enjoyed her vast knowledge of this amazing city. If we were to book another tour we would ask for her personally. It truly felt like you were being escorted around the city by a friend.
Response from Host, Dec 2021
ciao Kathy, thanks so much for this great words! Off course this message will go to my lovely colleague - Denise-- I am happy to know you have enjoyed the city!!! Elisabetta
Roy_B, Oct 2021
Excellent tour through Venice’s lovely backstreets and residential areas where authentic Venetian life really happens. Our guide, Martina, grew up locally and offered many interesting insights and historical tidbits. Get ready to walk several miles because although we used the vaporetto when possible, Venice is intrinsically a walking city with uneven pavement and many, many bridges.
Mirjam_S, Oct 2020
The tour with Elisabetta was really great! We got to know a lot of interesting places and facts about the city we would never have known if we wouldn't have done the tour. We also got some recommendations for local food and wine bars :) so all in all a very good experience and definitely worth it!
Maryanne_T, Oct 2020
Great tour with Elisabetta! Highly recommended this tour, Elisabetta took us around more interesting and hidden parts of Venice and shared fascinating insights and stories we would never otherwise have known! Was a great, fun and interesting tour from a lifelong venetian and would love to do it again!
Kerstin_D, Mar 2026
Elisabetta made us feel the special character of sestiere Dorsoduro , a wonderfully rewarding afternoon
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Response from Host, Mar 2026
Che coppia fantastica ! interessati e interessanti! grazie per la vostra visita ! Grazie Elisabetta
Thomas_B, Nov 2021
Si vous souhaitez découvrir une autre Venise, hors des sentiers battus, Elisabetta saura vous emmener aux bons endroits ! Nous recommandons.
From $99.76
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