Duration: 2.5 hours
Type of Service: Best of Venice walking tour including St. Mark's Basilica
If you have limited vacation time (and who doesn’t?), this is the perfect way to see the best sights in Venice in just a few short hours. Your expert English-speaking guide will take you to famous landmarks including St. Mark’s Basilica, Rialto Bridge, Marco Polo’s house, Camp SS Giovanni e Paolo and Campo Santa Maria Formosa piazzas, Bridge of Sighs and more, including quiet off-the-beaten-path places many tourists may miss.
We begin your tour at one of Venice’s most photographed locations, the Rialto Bridge. Then we’ll wind through the Floating City’s serpentine streets and over the tiny bridges that dot its seascape on our way to Marco Polo’s house. Learn about this intrepid Venetian son whose sense of adventure and exploration took him beyond the horizon to the Far East, where few had ever been before. Along the way, you’ll stroll through the lively piazzas of Campo SS Giovanni e Paolo and Campo Santa Maria Formosa, and marvel at how the beautiful Byzantine architecture and Renaissance buildings meld seamlessly with today’s modern and somewhat eclectic edifices.
On the way to our final and most awe-inspiring stop, St. Mark’s Basilica, you have a chance to see the romantic Bridge of Sighs. Then saunter through St. Mark’s Square, which Napoleon named the “finest drawing room in all of Europe.” Next, enjoy Skip-the-Line Access to the city’s most bustling spot for tourists. You’ll breeze past the long lines and straight into the Basilica.
Your tour guide will not only educate but also entertain you with the rich history of St. Mark’s Basilica. Learn about the city’s diverse culture with intriguing facts only a local would know. An impressive architectural marvel, see how Eastern architecture blends beautifully with Western design to create an unbelievable onion-domed structure so individually Venetian. With less time waiting in line, you’ll enjoy more time standing in awe of ornate frescoes before ascending to the famous St. Mark’s terraces. Not often included on guided tours, this site offers a spectacular aerial view of the prized piazza – and makes the perfect photo opp.
On this private tour, your small group will receive individualized attention. Audio headsets are provided, if you like, so you can always hear your guide. Ask all the questions you like and learn as much about Venice and the world-renowned sites as you please.
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Duration: Nine Hours - 8:30am - 5:30pm
Type of Service: Full day Valpolicella & Amarone Wine Tour
During the day, we'll visit two celebrated wine estates to taste the Famous Valpolicella wines, like the Amarone, Valpolicella Classico, the rare Recioto and other wines.
In between wineries, we'll travel through the enchanting Valpolicella hills, stop for lunch (optional) at a local trattoria, where you can taste some of its local cuisines, and time permitting visit a lovely small village perched on top of a hill from where you can enjoy beautiful vistas over the surrounding scenery: the view on a clear day arrives as far as the Lake Garda.
THE WINES
The region boasts numerous types of indigenous grapes that have been naturally selected over the last 2,000 years. Like the famous wines of Bordeaux, the wines of the Valpolicella are made from a blend of these indigenous vines. Each vineyard has its preference in regards to the types and quantity of grapes used in the production of their wines.
On this tour, you'll enjoy two full wine tastings and vineyard tours of two selected vineyards in the Valpolicella wine region. At each vineyard, a local expert sommelier will conduct a tour of the vineyards' facilities so that you fully appreciate the unique methods of production utilized to make the very special wines of the Valpolicella. With this new knowledge at hand, you'll be able to truly appreciate the unique and diverse wines that you'll taste at each vineyard. Noting the subtle differences between the different wines produced, and the varied tastes they produce on your palette.
THE COUNTRY
In between vineyards, we'll traverse the soft undulating hills that stretch like fingers from the high mountains above, to create the valleys where the Amarone and Valpolicella wines are produced. You'll be enchanted by the lovely country with hills covered in vines, olive and cherry trees punctuated by small rural and sleeping villages. Along the way, and time permitting, we'll pause at a lovely small village, from where, on clear days, you can enjoy views of Lake Garda and visit an Ancient pagan temple that dates back to Roman times.
THE CUISINE
You'll have an additional opportunity to taste the Valpolicella wines during the optional lunch at a selected local trattoria, that excels in both its regional cuisine and its choice of local wines.
After completing your wine tour of the Valpolicella, sit back and relax while we head back to Venice arriving at approximately 5:30pm (1730).
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Duration: 3 Hours
Type of Service: Discover Florence Walking Tour - private tour
Explore the most important sites in Florence with your very own privately guided walking tour. Your English-speaking guide will meet you inside your hotel lobby, and then you will embark on an adventure and learn what it’s like to live as a local in the Renaissance city. With your guide, they will bring you around to the most important sites including the following:
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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.
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Duration: Two Hours (7:30am - 9:30am)
Type of Service: Early Morning Walking Tour of Venice
Venice draws millions of tourists every year to experience the beauty of this city. On this early morning walking tour, you will visit some of the city's most popular and famous sites with no crowds. Your first stop is Piazza San Marcos known as St. Mark’s Square, that is filled with centuries of history and is the symbolic heart of Venice, framed by St. Mark’s Basilica, and Doge’s Palace. You will venture on to the Rialto district where you will stop for coffee and learn more about the local life of Venetians. You will see shop owners getting prepared for the day.
Your expert guide will lead you through the labyrinth streets as you continue on toward the Dorsoduro corners. Dorsoduro has some of the most picturesque canals, piazza’s, finest art museums, churches, quaint shops and home to Venice’s university. Throughout the tour, your guide will give you many useful tips about the best places to eat and shop. Explore this floating city before the crowds wake up and catch the early morning life of the locals. The tour will conclude back at the Rialto Market as you experience the colorful shops in the market. An essential tour for the understanding of Venice and a perfect introduction for first-time visitors!
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Duration: 3 hours
Type of Service: Borghese Gallery and Gardens Tour
One of Rome’s richest and most interesting villas, the Borghese Gallery houses a vast and diverse collection of sculptures and paintings produced by masters such as Bernini, Canova, Caravaggio, Raphael, and Titian. The Borghese Gallery is truly a magical setting in which the beauty of the artwork, fountains, and monuments combine with the rich and diverse flora of the vast surrounding park. In all a true pleasure for the senses.
Your guide will lead you on a walking tour through the breathtaking rooms of the Borghese Gallery and reveal the secrets, stories, and techniques behind the masterpieces. Then, you will go for an enchanting walk through the Borghese Gardens (Villa Borghese) and enjoy the surprises and silence of this Eden in the heart of busy Rome. The tour ends with a breathtaking view from atop the Pincio Terrace.
Tickets Aren't Easy to Come By and Because of its strict, reservations-only ticketing policy, the Borghese Gallery can sell out far in advance, leaving many a vacationer disappointed about not being able to get in. Highly Recommend Advance Reservations - to see one of the most beautiful art collections in the world.
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