Venice tour

I just found a guide I’ve contacted and booked a backstreets tour with...Seevenice.it. She is highly ranked on TA (I think #4), all 5 stars...every single one. You might want to check her out.

One of my favorite things I’ve done was the rowing lesson with the ladies of Row Venice. You get to meet locals who are keeping a tradition alive and have fun as you row in some quiet canals. For other activities check out www.veneziaautentica.com. They connect you with local artisans and restauranteurs as well as some guided experiences. Have a great trip!

We took a tour through Viator a couple of years a go.
It was a walking tour of about and hour and a half, then a 25 minute gondola ride.
It was excellent, and we learned a lot from our guide even though we had been to Venice before.
The gondola ride was so relaxing at the end of walking in the heat!
I think it cost about E60 pp, about 4 years ago.

My family's trip to Venice was a few years ago, but here are some highlights and relevant information. We only stayed two nights (the end of a 16 day trip), so others who have visited for longer periods may have better advice, but this was our very nice experience:

We stayed at Hotel Pensione Guerroto, near the Rialto Bridge (I believe this was a Rick Steves recommendation) and it was great.

We ate at Antica Birriaria la Corte (near Campo San Polo), La Rosa dei Venti (near Piazzla Roma) and Muro Frari (can't remember exactly where but not too far from our lodgings). Enjoyed all of them.

As for sightseeing, just walking around is great - poking your nose into various churches and piazzas. I highly recommend seeing Murano and the Basilica di San Giorgio Maggiore (the most architecturally beautiful church I think I've ever seen) - both of which require vaporetto rides

Our Itinerary:

We didn't get there until well after noon, so on our first day we just dropped our luggage at the hotel andwalked around (including San Marco square) with dinner at above mentioned Antica Birraria la Corte.

On our only full day there we started with San Marco (I highly recommend getting there early - it got crowded FAST behind us). We next headed for the San Zaccaria vaporetto station (walking past the bridge of sighs) and took the vaporetto to San Giorgio Maggiore (designed by Andrea Palladio himself). After lunch at above mentioned La Rosa Dei Venti, we did a little more walking around (through Giardina Popadopoli and near the Constitution bridge) to take the vaporetto to Murano. The trip took us past (but not to) Venice's cemetery island with its beautiful church. Just walking around Murano was a treat (bring a fat wallet if you want to buy anything, though). Upon returning to Venice we just did more walking around (past such sites as Scoleta dei Calegheri, Chiesa di San Toma, and Basilica de Santa Maria). After dinner at above mentioned Muro Frari, we did just a little more walking around to see Venice at dusk.

The next morning we left really early. My only cautionary tale here is that we almost missed our flight because the bus instructions we got were for weekdays and the bus we needed didn't run on Sunday mornings at 4:40 am. We were able to secure a ride on a gypsy cab and made it to the airport on time. Make sure of the schedules!!!!

Some had warned us off that Venice is crowded and smelly and disappointing. It was crowded, but even in early July, we didn't find it smelly and we certainly weren't disappointed. There are clearly marked paths to the main sites. If you want to avoid the crowds, get your own map and walk along minor paths just two or three blocks away and you'll lose them. We asked locals where to eat and they were more than happy to give us advice on where to go to have great food without all the tourists. We didn't bother with the gondola ride (very expensive - and I've known people who have had bad experiences - such as having the gondolier try to increase the rate after pushing off).

We had a great time. Enjoy your visit.

For an introduction to Venice, we like to get a vaporetto pass and use the Rick Steves Grand Canal podcast to see Venice with Rick in your ear.

Our first night in Venice, we took a food tour through Savor Italy Food Tours. We had so much fun and met people from other countries. We went to places we would never have thought to go and learned about the area. It was a great way to start our trip and we went back to several places the following days.