Tours

Tour 1: Historic, The political Center  (duration 2h). In both St. Mark’s and Doge’s Palace, big backpacks and big luggage, for security reasons,  must be deposited in two different cloakrooms (no charge).
The tour includes St Mark’s Cathedral. In summer expect long queues under the sun! Dont’you start queuing up if you don’t wear skirts or trousers to the knees, and if you don’t have shirts or t-shirts with sleeves: you will not be admitted into the church.  St. Mark’s Square: Procuratie Vecchie e Nuove, Napoleonic wing, Clock tower, Bell tower, Biblioteca, Doge’s Palace with State Prisons, Bridge of Sighs. This tour is a must if you visit Venice for the first time or if you haven’t a long stay, but it’s also the base to fully comprehend the glorious history of the Venetian Republic.

Tour 2: Walking tour of the east side of Venice  (duration 2 hours). It starts with the Piazzetta dei Leoncini (north side of the church), and it follows the narrow alleyways of the town to the greek orthodox church of St. George’s. From here following the long St. Lorenzo’s canal, one can reach the stunning and powerful gothic  San Giovanni e Paolo, dominican church, (with masterpieces by Veronese, G. Bellini, Lotto, Piazzetta)… At the side of the church, you can also  admire the unique equestrian monument of general Colleoni, and the typical geometrical fassade of the Scuola di San Marco, Renaissance building  of the XV cent., today major hospital of the town. From here, you can reach the splendid church of the Miracoli a real marble jewell. The tour than, continues to the Marco Polo’s house. This merchant, with his father and his uncle, in the XIII cent., beeing only a young boy at that time,  reached the court of Kublai Kahn, emperor of the Mongols. From here one can  reach very easily the Rialto Bridge, and visit the most important european market of the 14th, 15th and 16th cent..

Tour 3: Walking tour of the west side of Venice (duration 2 hours). The tour starts from the Piazza. With the Cathedral behind your shoulders, once you reach the left end, you continue through the most expensive shops of the town, to the the barock church of St. Moisé (prophet Moses). The building is heavily decorated and celebrates the fame and the glory of the Finis, whose busts are visible on their sarcophagi on the fassade. Once crossed the bridge of St Moisé, one can reach another barock church: Santa Maria del Giglio, whose main facade celebrates, this time, the glory of Antonio Barbaro admiral of the Republic of Venice: on the pedestals of the columns appear the plans of the towns where he carried out his political activity. Following the signs “all’Accademia you pass in front of the classical XVIII cent. facade of San Vidal where, quite frequently, a group of young Venetians offers pleasant concerts for a reasonable price. And in front of St. Vidal you can admire the powerful palace of the family Pisani,  today Conservatory of music.

Tour 4: The Friars’ church and St. Rochus (duration 2 hours). This church, with the one of St. Giovanni and Paolo, marks the beginning of the great religious revival in mediaeval Europe (1st quarter of the 13th cent). Filled in with fierce evangelizing zeal, the followers of Dominic and Francis spread themselves everywhere, but especially in big towns where they strove to address the poorest and most outcast classes (masterpieces by G. Bellini, Tiziano, Donatello, A. Vivarini, Canova)… Behind the apse of the Friar’s Church, you can visit the unique building of the Scuola di San Rocco, with an extraordinary collection of masterpieces painted by Tintoretto, right at the beginning of the Counter-reformation (1564).

Tour 4: Taxi ride. In summer this is a splendid possibility of admiring Venice without walking!!! This tour is highly recommended for anyone with problems in deambulating, and for elderly people. The cost is quite high (minimum of 100€ per hour) and it keeps changing every year!

Tour 5: Gondola ride. Prices and tours depend on the time (half an hour or one hour ride), and not on the number of people (from one to 6 the price is the same). The price is fixed. The best ride is the one you can have from the Rialto bridge and the houses of the Polos.  No bargain admitted, and the circuit is always a roud robin. If you ask for a different itinerary… you pay more.

Tour 6: Shopping through the alleyways! This includes glass, metal casting, lace, masks, paper and… brocades produced with 18th cent. hand loom!

Tour 7: Flights over Venice (on request once in Venice).