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Venice Highlights: Exploring Doge's Palace, Golden Basilica and Historical St Mark's Area
3.4
13 Ratings
Venezia
Immerse yourself in the heart of Venice with a half-day tour of the city's highlights. Explore Piazza San Marco, visit Doge's Palace and St. Mark's Basilica, and discover the secrets and history of these iconic landmarks.
Duration:
3 hours, 30 minutes
Cancellation:
1 day
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Highlights
- Piazza San Marco - Learning about the past of this charming city while walking along the historical streets of Venice!
Walk through the Piazza San Marco with a qualified and experienced guide in order to learn Venetian history before the viewing of the main monuments in this area, including the Basilica San Marco, Palazzo Ducale, Bell Tower, Clock Tower and Procuratie. You will admire Campo Santa Maria Formosa, Campo SS. Giovanni e Paolo (the “Pantheon” of Venice), the Great School of Charity before viewing Marco Polo’s House and the Malibran Theatre. Visit the stunning Rialto Bridge with its traditional market.
Coming back to San Marco through the main shopping area known as Mercerie!
- Doge’s Palace - The Palazzo Ducale has been for centuries the seat of the Venetian political power. In its splendid rooms, plastered and immersed in hundreds of painting masterpieces, the Duke and his Council controlled the fate for thousand-years in the old Republic. You’ll live it together with a guide who will show you the halls of power, plunging you into a very special historical context: the European Middle Ages. You’ll be surprised by the details of the gold staircase and of the realism of the scenes depicted by many artists who have decorated this building.
- Ponte dei Sospiri - Relive the anguish of the prisoners crossing the famous Bridge of Sighs, and entering the Venetian prisons, famous for hosting Giacomo Casanova.
- Basilica di San Marco - Follow a tour guide through St. Mark’s Basilica, one of the most majestic cathedrals in the world. Learning about byzantine art and its religious background while taking a glimpse at the gold mosaics and marble floors.
After the visit of the Basilica you will have the opportunity to visit a Glass Factory close to Saint Mark’s Square where you can see a Glass Craftsman at work. Please note this is a free of charge optional tour of approximately 20 minutes and it is not a part of the tour.
- Museo Correr - You may visit by yourself the other magnificent palaces around St. Mark’s Square as known as Procuratie. You will discover the Venetian way of life, Venetian paintings, library, coinage, sculpture. You will go back directly to the secrets of Venetian Empire and you will visit the area built by Napoleon and the rooms restored for Sissi Empress Austria
What's Included
- Mobile audio guide for a self-guided tour of Venice’s 5 districts
- Skip-the-line access to Doge’s Palace and Saint Mark’s Basilica
- Entrance included to San Marco Museum and Basilica Terrace
- Ticket for independent visits to Palaces in St. Mark’s Square
- Guided walking tour of Piazza San Marco and Venice
- Expert-led tours of Doge’s Palace and St. Mark’s Basilica
- Access to the iconic Bridge of Sighs and the Piombi Prisons
What's Not Included
- Hotel pickup
Additional Information
Join our half-day excursion in the heart of Venice, featuring a guided exploration of Piazza San Marco and tours of the Doge’s Palace and St. Mark’s Basilica.
We kick off in Piazza San Marco, offering a rich history of its major attractions, before making our way to the Rialto bridge. Enjoying the scenic locations and enchanting spots such as Campo Santa Maria Formosa and the Basilica of S. Giovanni and Paolo.
The journey continues as our guide leads you inside the magnificent Doge’s Palace, showcasing its intricately adorned halls of authority, the Golden Staircase, and renowned Tiepolo masterpieces. Experience the notorious Bridge of Sighs as we make our way to the ancient prisons where Casanova was the only one to evade captivity!
The capstone of our tour is the awe-inspiring St. Mark’s Basilica. Step into this grandiose church to marvel at its golden mosaics! Uncover its mysteries, history, and behold the remarkable artworks, including the five domes laced with gold.
Immerse yourself in more than 200 notable Venice landmarks with our accompanying audio guide for a self-guided exploration!
- Tour does not operate in case of exceptional high tide or in case of unexpected religious functions (in these cases it can be postponed the days after otherwise it will be refunded)
- For the visit of the Basilica suitable clothing is required (no shorts)
- You must download the audio guide with digital map on your mobile phone.
- You will receive the audio guide with digital map by e-mail. If you have any problems with this, please come to Venice Tours office (San Marco 1093/B) for assistance.
- Due to the security reason, luggage and bags are not allowed inside the Basilica
- Admire mosaics, the San Marco Museum and enjoy a breathtaking overview of St. Mark’s Square from the Terrace.
- 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
Location
Calle larga de l'Ascension
The meeting point is at the brown wooden newsstand with the yellow sign where is written "MEETING POINT", Calle Larga de l'Ascension, St. Mark’s Square, in front of the Post Office. Please be at the meeting point 15 minutes before the departure time.
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Customer Ratings
3.4
(13 Ratings)
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Anthony_l
Jun 6, 2024
Covered all the high points - Great walking tour, St Marks, and Doge's Palace. Covered all the high points. I would recommend this
Review provided by Viator
Elizabethre9484gx
Jul 30, 2022
Walking tour of Doge's Palace, Basilica and City - We really enjoyed our guide who was very knowledgeable and entertaining. Walking through the narrow streets of Venice was fascinating, and seeing the extravagant beauty of St. Mark's Cathedral was awe-inspiring. Would highly recommend.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Nik4nt
Jul 31, 2019
Outstanding Tour - My 2 adult children and I took this tour, as our time was limited, and boy did it deliver! Excellent overview of Venice, all the highlights! A lot of walking, but a gondola ride and lunch break in the middle makes it work. And got to see and hear about areas in the city that we wouldn’t ordinarily have been able to see.
The very best part was our guide Mosè. He was the greatest tour guide ever! He gave us just the right amount of history and interesting facts, but the best part was his enthusiasm and storytelling ability that just made it so wonderful. We really enjoyed this tour!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
530devinz
Sep 25, 2022
Venice Walking Doge & Basilica Tour - It was informative and we are glad we did it. I would recommend for your first trip to Venice. It wasn’t as engaging as some of the tours we have done elsewhere.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Kavita_k
Mar 30, 2024
Not kept well informed - Tour didn't start on time. Golden Basilica was closed on the day I booked by trip. The operators could have informed us by SMS or emails it's closed on that day,I could have arranged for something else than. But they never informed until we started the tour. Disappointed.
Review provided by Viator
Vikram_a
Mar 30, 2024
Less than ideal experience - We had a mixed experience. St Marks Basilica was closed during our visit. Despite the tour company knowing in advance we were not given an option to cancel or reschedule. Furthermore after the tour started we were told we had to take a “break” and then return to complete the Doge Palace portion. They also extended the walking tour without giving any sense of how long it would be. Given we had elderly family members and young children (plus rain!) we may have opted to do something else / shorter. In the positive, the tour guide was extremely knowledgeable even though his style was a bit pedantic.
Review provided by Viator
Ana_g
Mar 23, 2019
Very expensive - It was very expensive even skip the lines, at this time it is not worth to pay all this when is not included the bell's tower and St Marcos is not included the museum or top floor 😑 The guide it didn't speak enough English to explain things and the group was huge, for this prizes I was expecting max 10 people and we where at least 20.
At this time where there is not a lot of tourists is better visit on your own the church and pay ticket to the Doges's Palace.... And the time only 2 hours cuz I miss the tour city and instead to find me where was the guide cuz I'm sure they could call them and wait 5 min I could do it but the leave us only there waiting 2 hours more
Review provided by Viator
Nishaan_n
Apr 5, 2024
Disgusted and disappointed - Don’t waste your time or money on this tour. WORST experience ever. We had only 1 day in Venice and it was completely wasted. We booked a tour that clearly stated group of 10 or less. When we arrived we realised that there were 22 people. When we questioned the tour operator he was rude and dismissive. The headsets were not working trying to resolve this took over half an hour. Most importantly the guide could not speak English properly so we couldn’t understand a word. 5 minutes into the tour we left. We walked forever to find Venice tours offices. There we explained the issues and they were just as unhelpful. We had to call Viator and hold 3 times while in their office. We confirmed with Venice tours and Viator that we shall be refunded and we proceeded to buy our own tickets to see the one attraction that we had time to visit. Despite not going for the tour and not using any of the tour operators tickets and cancelling because we were lied to about the group size and the tour guide being fluent in English we still haven’t received a refund.
Review provided by Viator
Rose_c
Apr 1, 2024
Not a good tour - The tour was supposed to be 3 1/2 hours and they sent us for lunch in the middle. We didn’t get to see the dome and they didn’t offer a refund.
Review provided by Viator
Anthony_d
Mar 30, 2024
Horrible experience - This was our fourth of five tours booked through Viator and the only experience that did not meet expectations. Despite paying for it, we were not permitted to tour the inside of the Basilica. Before we started the walking tour, I informed our tour guide, Max, that my husband is disabled and struggles with long periods of walking and to please be cognizant of how far behind we would be. On every other tour, the guides would periodically wait for us to catch up. Not only did Max not keep track of who was with him, he did not care and we became lost in Venice in the pouring rain. We had to ask several people for help in order to find our way back. We finally made it back to the piazza a half hour before the tour resumed with the Doge Palace. We returned our headsets to Max and told him we were done with him. It was such a bad experience, that we refused to continue on to the Doge Palace. He did not even offer an apology. We will be seeking a refund
Review provided by Viator
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