Guide/Tours in Venice

[onivek]

With great hopes of being able to cruise next summer, we have booked a trip that presently has an overnight in Venice.  We arrive mid-afternoon one day and depart late afternoon the next.  To that end, I am looking for recommendations for a guide or tour company who offers both day and evening tours in Venice.  I'm willing to use different companies for each of the two days,. We are looking to do a canal tour/nice dinner on day 1, and St. Mark's/Doge's Palace/lunch before departure on day 2.  For a variety of reasons, we do not want to DIY this port.  Any recommendations for guides/companies?

[PORT ROYAL]

5 minutes ago, onivek said:

With great hopes of being able to cruise next summer, we have booked a trip that presently has an overnight in Venice.  We arrive mid-afternoon one day and depart late afternoon the next.  To that end, I am looking for recommendations for a guide or tour company who offers both day and evening tours in Venice.  I'm willing to use different companies for each of the two days,. We are looking to do a canal tour/nice dinner on day 1, and St. Mark's/Doge's Palace/lunch before departure on day 2.  For a variety of reasons, we do not want to DIY this port.  Any recommendations for guides/companies?

 

Think the Concierge at your Hotel would be something to consider.  It is then "In House" with one point of contact for bookings, schedules, itineraries, and any potential problems.

Edited September 22, 2020 by PORT ROYAL
Typo

[onivek]

4 minutes ago, PORT ROYAL said:

 

Think the Concierge at your Hotel would be something to consider.  It is then "In House" with one point of contact for bookings, schedules, itineraries, and any potential problems.

 

We don't have any need for a hotel, though, so there is no concierge.  The ship is in port overnight, and I'm trying to avoid the ship excursions in favor of a private/third-party tour operator.  I appreciate the thought, however!

 

[PORT ROYAL]

16 minutes ago, onivek said:

 

We don't have any need for a hotel, though, so there is no concierge.  The ship is in port overnight, and I'm trying to avoid the ship excursions in favor of a private/third-party tour operator.  I appreciate the thought, however!

 

 

An official site.  Have a look, send enquiries and build a wonderful day.

https://www.visit-venice-italy.com/address-tourist-board-venice-italy.htm

 

[onivek]

2 minutes ago, PORT ROYAL said:

 

An official site.  Have a look, send enquiries and build a wonderful day.

https://www.visit-venice-italy.com/address-tourist-board-venice-italy.htm

 

Thank you!

[Hlitner]

I would suggest, to the OP, that although one can certainly hire a professional guide, Venice is relatively easy to do on one's own.  Keep in mind that the island (and the other islands in the Lagoon) are major tourist destinations and relatively tourist friendly.  Venice is about walking (a lot of walking) mixed with the use of the public water bus system (vaporettos).   Doing a canal tour is as simple as hoping on a Vaporetto (you can buy times passes that allow unlimited use).  Taking a gondola ride is simply a matter of walking up to a gondolier (they are docked at multiple locations around the city) and negotiating a price (usually about 90-110 Euros for 40-50 minutes.  To be very blunt, DW and I would not want to share a gondola with a guide or other folks.  It can be a very romantic event and we prefer to buy a nice bottle of wine and plastic wine glasses (you can get this anywhere they sell wine) and have them pull the cork.  We then relax on our own gondola sipping wine as we glide through the back canals.

 

Going to the other islands such as Burano (a personal favorite) or Murano is simply a matter of hopping on the right gondola.  If you purchase a vaporetto pass (easy to do at any ACTV ticket office) you have access to all the various vaporetto routes.  Its fun, efficient, and very safe.  Rather then spending hundreds of Euros on guides one can simply spent about $5 on the Rick Steves Venice book, choose the walking tours and options that best meet your own wants, and just go have fun.

 

As to nice dinners (and lunches) in Venice, we have always found this to be a major challenge.  The famous tourist restaurants are often overpriced without matching quality.  Over the 30+ years we have traveled to Venice the quality of known restaurants waxes and wanes with the phases of the moon as chefs, staff, and even ownership changes.  Our best luck has been to look for online reviews done near an upcoming trip and also to heavily rely on staff in our Venice hotels.  But the truth is that with all the charms that one finds in Venice, dining is not usually up to the standards (or value) we find in most other parts of Italy.  When we have stumbled on a good dining experience we usually pat ourselves on the back with a nice after dinner drink and accept that it has been a lucky day :).   Our best dining experiences have been in relatively unknown restaurants/cafes usually discovered thanks to our hotel staff.  Other good experiences have been found by our other method which is strolling around a neighborhood looking for restaurants that seem to be frequented by Italians/locals.  

 

Hank

[PORT ROYAL]

As recommendations are being offered, may one suggest a lunch suggestion.

https://www.allamarone.com/the-food/ 

Unpretensious, simple and good food, which lets your wine selection shine.

Never taken Dinner there.

As stated, never found a Restaurant that excels against the price.

The only one that justified the price, and we had a nice evening was

https://www.postevecie.com/

 

 

 

 

 

[DUTRAVEL]

The tours we took with JM Walking Tours were great. We learned a lot about the history of Venice and you cannot beat the price since they are free (just tip your tour guide).

[irvington]

We enjoyed Context Travel. 

[Jilliebean28]

The best tour we took on our Med cruise was one recommended by Rick Steves.  It was with Alessandro Schezzini .  It was a afternoon tour called the Back Street Tour and then an evening "pub crawl" or Bar Tour.  Both tours were fantastic!