St Mark's and Doge's Palace

I was surprised by the size of the group that you mentioned. We've never done a WOI tour with that many in the group, but we've also not done a WOI tour at the height of tourist season.

I went to the WOI site and found the review that mentioned 27 people it was written July 5. From what I see, you will be there in September. I think there's a good chance the group will be smaller then. The WOI website said this tour is limited to 25 or fewer. Perhaps the reviewer miscounted.

Have you been to Venice before? Have you ever taken a tour from WOI or anyone else? We did a Viking River Cruise one August and our tour groups ran 35-40 people, not like our WOI tours that had 15 or fewer members.

Look at the overall feedback for your tour, which is overwhelmingly positive. I looked for tours, both by WOI and others that cover the museum and treasury but couldn't find any I suggest you reach out to WOI for more information.

Finally, don't underestimate the value of skip the line. After reading the itinerary of the tour you have, I suggest you keep it. It sounds like a great tour. If needed, you might find something additional to handle the museum and treasury.

Your post made me look up the tour with walks of Italy that I am scheduled for at the end of August "Venice in a Day Tour" and it clearly states a limit of 18 for the group. It adds a walking tour and shared gondola ride in the morning to the St.Marks/Doges Palace Tour in the afternoon.

I first made reservations to do this tour in August of 2020. Clearly a victim of Covid, but I am looking forward to finally getting the tour I paid for so long ago. I also wonder if that "27" was accurate or typical for the group size. Could there have been some unusual circumstance that day (guide ill, either combine tours or cancel)?

Thanks for the feedback DougMac and Carol now retired! I would probably take one bad review with a grain of salt, but there were a few clustered together, one complaining of a poor guide and another faulty equipment. That's what made me wonder. I might just reach out to Walks to allay my concerns. Am also curious about what others think of my Plan B.

We are heading back for 5 days in Venice in Sept. We have already created our own walking tours as we have found in past experience that you can see it all on your own and do some research in advance. That is our preference as it allows us to move at our own pace, deviate if we see something interesting or skip past something. It really is subjective.

However, if your time is limited, having a guided tour can help you maximize your experience.

We did this particular Walks of Italy tour on a Friday in early May. I didn’t do a head count, but I’m sure we had less than 20. There were actually more, but they divided us up into three separate groups. Our guide was wonderful and very energetic, which helped with a 3 hour tour. They took a break about halfway through so that people could use the restrooms, etc. The tour did St.Mark’s first and then the Doge’s Palace. My memory is a little hazy because we had just arrived in Venice after a 6:00 a.m. flight from Catania, but I’m pretty sure we could have stayed in the Palace as long as we wanted.