Venice's Golden Grandeur: Palace, Basilica, Gondola & Glass

This is not a tour for someone who has never visited. The tour was basically going in a circle and describing streets no important sites whatsoever. The Bell tower was great views but the tour guide did not go. I don’t know why it’s called Rialto bridge tour because we were not even close. We saw it at a distance and did not walk on it. Total waste on money and time.

The tour guide was amazing and although very busy she ensured that we saw a lot of Venice that is usually missed. Good and informative tour!! The Bell Tower was amazing!! Really made my holida!!

Friendly and informative guide highlighted areas beyond tourist central - which we appreciated. It was difficult to hear since she was speaking to large group and the signal kept getting lost as we walked the narrow streets

All in all the tour was great. It is definitely a long day but well worth it. Read the details of the times, locations, and assigned guides carefully as it is quite a frantic place and spread out. The four individual tours (sold as a single Viator event) were each great and our guides were all top notch. Especially Monica who took us through the Doges Palace and St Marks Cathedral. The Goldie ride was a pleasant, peaceful way to end our day. I highly recommend this tour, especially if your time in Venice is short!

As others have mentioned the transition between tours is not great. The Doge's palace + church tour meeting location and time are well advertised, but we only found out the other meeting times by contacting the tour operator directly. The glass blowing begins at 1pm at the same spot you meet for the palace + church tour at 10:45. The Gondola tour also meets at the same spot, but at 4pm. The doge's palace and basilica tour were great: Guide was experienced and knew the highlights, and you skip the huge majority of the lines. The tour itself felt a bit rushed, there was no time to spend on your own in either location and our bathroom breaks were disrupted because the lines were too long to wait (which was a problem with the kids).

The Palace and cathedral were magnificent. The tour guide was not very good. Couldn’t hear most of the time even tho the radios provided were a nice touch. She didn’t speak into her microphone most of the time. Other groups barged through our group or joined the group. Not a very good at keeping the group together. We returned for the glass blowing and no one showed up. This was a different company from the palace and cathedral part of the tour. We waited for the gondola trip and we’re very happy with the trip. The guide was very helpful and very organized. So, would I recommend this to anyone else? Not sure.

We had a short 2 day stay in Venice and this packaged tour ticked of most of the ‘must sees and dos’ when you visit the baffingly beautiful city. The tour guide around the palace and basilica was wonderful. Really informative and interesting. Never would have learned so much walking around on our own. We think we went to a different glassblowing demonstration than the one advertised (we just followed a guy who was there at the end of the tour and it was in a different location). It was okay, a way to kill time but an obvious sales opportunity for them. And the gondola, if you want romance - pay extra for a private one. If you want to save money, take a gander of the gorgeous waterways and say you’ve done it, this’ll do the trick. Overall great experience, felt our limited time was well spent.

Although the tour of the Basilica and the Palace were wonderful, we never experienced the Gondola portion. When we arrived at the meeting point, the tour guide took our printed paperwork and told us to line up for the palace. We asked about the Gondola and he told us to come back to the square afterward and meet the guide. He was dismissive and seemed annoyed with our questions. We were tourists in a foreign city and we needed guidance. We completed our guided tour and when we returned to the square, there was no personnel in sight. We walked to the meeting sight as listed in the instructions that we downloaded because we no longer had our printed copy, but there was no tour guide to be found. We asked some shop owners, but no one could help us. We ended up paying for a Gondola ride which cost $120.00. Choose a different tour.

We enjoyed this tour. We saw lots of places, the Basilica church and the Doge Palace. The Jeweled Art in the church was amazing. Enjoyed the Bridge of Sighs and dungeon. The Gondola Ride was our favorite. Thank You!

Our tour guide, Gina, was so enthusiastic and informative. I could feel all the people in the rooms after she described its' use. I understood why Venice was so powerful. I had been in St. Mark's basilica nearly 40 years ago, but she brought a new understanding and appreciation of the people who built it and worshiped there. Glass demonstration was okay. The gondola ride was wonderful the skill of the gondoliers maneuvering through the canals was unbelievable. Take this tour!