Duration: 2.5 hours walking tour and (includes 30-minute gondola ride) - tour begins at 11:30 am
Type of Service: Walking Tour of Venice with Gondola Ride
Follow your expert, English-speaking guide through the quieter streets and piazzas of Venice. As you walk, your guide will captivate you with histories of Ca’ Dario, the cursed (and possibly haunted) house whose owners have continuously met untimely and often suspicious deaths. You’ll learn why music schools around the world are called ‘conservatories’ at Fondamenta degli Incurabili, the hospital where monks took orphans from the streets and trained them as nurses and world-famous musicians.
Along with local legends, you’ll hear tales of familiar characters. You’ll see Harry’s Bar across the canal, where Ernest Hemingway once kicked back after a long day of writing. You’ll see the home of Peggy Guggenheim, the heiress who lost her father to the Titanic but gained the means to build one of the world’s most interesting art collections. (Back in her day Peggy used to scandalize the locals by sunbathing naked on her roof and parading around town with a pack of tiny dogs on leashes.) Remember the play, Othello? You’ll see the house where Desdemona supposedly lived before her tale was transcribed by an Italian author and stolen by a man called William Shakespeare.
Your tour ends on the sweetest note with a gondola ride along the quieter back canals of Venice. Relax as a gondolier, in his ubiquitous striped shirt, rows along waterways built for these very vessels. With a maximum of five people per shared gondola, your tour will be intimate and, with no commentary on this section of the tour, quiet and romantic too.
Things to Know:
- Discover the famous landmarks and hidden gems of Venice, first by land, and then by the sea!
- Step away from the crowds and get off the beaten track with this original tour that explores Venice’s less seen, more romantic face on the other side of the Grand Canal
- Accompanied by an English- speaking local guide, enjoy a leisurely walking tour around the city’s charming bridges, streets and hidden squares.
- Admire unique architecture and Renaissance masterpieces while your guide shares fascinating tales from the history of this former maritime superpower.
- Small group tour for best experience - group size 24 or less
- Headsets so you can always hear your guide on the walking tour
- Relax on our pre-booked and pre-arranged 30-minute gondola ride with a local gondoliere and just 5 other people.
- Toured Offered only on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday
- Tour begins at 11:30 am
- Meeting point - Accademia di Belli Arti (more details are given upon booking)
- Wear comfortable walking or tennis shoes