Venice tours necessary?

I've been to Venice twice, March 2023 and March 2025, we didn't book organized tours either time. We did stay in Venice proper, not on the mainland. To me the joy and magic of Venice is just walking around, exploring. We used the Rick Steves walking tours and those were great. One morning we boarded the vaporetto at P.le Roma, the stop before the train station, so we were the first on the boat, got seats up front and put our earbuds in to listen to RS Grand Canal tour, it was like a private tour!
Is there something specific you absolutely don't want to miss seeing? You might book a tour of the Doges Palace if that's on your list. We didn't go there on either of our trips.

You can book a timed entry to St. Mark's- I definitely recommend doing that.

There is a great tour at Doges Palace- Secret Itineraries tour- that is worthwhile.

Other than that I see no need to book tours in Venice.

Aside from the places already mentioned, I don't know of many indoor sights in Venice for which you need to make advance arrangements of any type. One exception is the Peggy Guggenheim Museum. It is very popular. It's probably always going to be pretty crowded, but you can avoid the possibility of a significant ticket-buying line (and maybe getting a later entry time than you want) by purchasing a ticket online. It's my impression you don't need to do that very far ahead, but my trips to Venice have been long enough I wasn't limited in when I could go to the museum; maybe some days and times did book up quite early, which could be a problem on a 2-1/2 day visit.

Aside from the vaporetti--which can be very crowded--the crowds in Venice, in my experience, are mainly experienced outdoors, on the path from the train station to the Rialto Bridge and on to Piazza San Marco. Stay away from that path as much as you can, and you'll have a much more pleasant time in the city.

If you want to hear the fascinating history with details brought to life while you're touring Venice's densely layered and important sites of St Mark's Basilica or Doge's Palace, you could do worse than hire a local private guide. This professional service may be hard to budget, but an excellent guide can provide a superior value for an enhanced experience while creating memories for a lifetime. Venetian guide Elisabetta Morelli was my first guide experience back in May 2008 and boy, what a great start. I was captivated by her amazing ability to bring history into the present day, in the most engrossing and entertaining way possible. A quick search shows me she's still guiding, she's listed with Best Venice Guides, em [email protected].

I took After hours tour of San Marco and Doge’s Palace on my first visit to Venice in 2019 with sister-in-law. Since then on solo visits in 2022, 2024 and again this September I enjoy wandering around and stopping to see what interests me plus going to Murano and Burano. After this year’s visit, time spent in Venice will total 18 nights. it’s my favorite city and happy spot!

If you only have 2 1/2 days, do the tour. Then spend the rest of your time wandering to Frari Basilica and visiting large museums (Accademia and Guggenheim) and small museums (Palazzo Mocenigo and Museo Fortuny). If you like glass go to Murano or lace go to Burano although both islands are now highlighted by shopping.

Just wander around the city, eat gelato at SUSO. Take the RS tour of the Grand Canal, but ride the Vaporetto at night to see the beauty of lights reflecting on the water.

You can’t get lost, it’s an island. Enjoy Venice’s uniqueness!

EDIT: I’ll add that the Walks of Italy tour was worth taking to give background to the city. I visited Doge’s Palace on my own two years ago but I missed the context of the tour. Plus jails give me the creeps.

In my opinion, no. As someone mentioned, one of the best things about Venice is just walking around, exploring, and "getting lost". The Rick Steves' walking tours are very good, and I think you can down load a narration. Using the vaporetto to travel the Grand Canal with the downloaded RS Grand Canal tour is also interesting. So, as stated before, it is not necessary, but with a limited amount of time, a private tour, while expensive, might be worth it depending on your interest and budget. Only you can decide about that.

I tend to agree with the others and wouldn't bother booking a tour. The RS guidebook and audio tours should provide you with all the information you need for a great visit in Venice. However, if you want to take a short tour of specific sites (ie: The Doge's Palace), the guidebook will provide all the information you need to book that.

If this is your first trip to Venice, be sure to read the section on using the Vaporetti. As I recall, tickets have to be validated in the electronic machine prior to entering the platform.

I would say yes. 21 days is a MEGA HUGE term. I don't know what to do in Venice for 3 weeks

I was there for 5 nights and didn't do any tours. I used Rick Steve's Pocket Guide inside the basilica and other sites to give me on-the-go information.

It depends on how much in-depth information you want. A tour will give you more detail that you won't get on your own.

Personally, when I travel, I can't handle an overload of information about a particular site at the time I'm there. I like to simply experience the site--the overall majesty of it, the colors, the light, etc. I don't care what year the place was reconstructed or if such-and-such painting was done by this person or that person. I will never retain all of that information. For me, traveling is about the experience of being there, not compiling a huge load of trivial information that I'll never retain.

I spoke to someone in the airport coming home about their trip and they did a cicchetti tour in the evening which they really liked. If you're a foodie, you might do that. Also I took the vaporetto to Murano to the Glass museum but there are actually tours that will take you to all 3 islands which might be worthwhile. The hotel recommended this tour but I didn't want to spend an entire day visiting these islands. I only wanted to see the Glass museum and return to Venice.

An organized tour is never a necessity. An advanced booking with a timed entry is recommended for major sites.

That said, if you can swing is, the St Marks After Dark tour is one of my favorite memories from my travels, period. Being in St. Mark’s with a small group, going to the crypts, and seeing things close without mobs, worth every euro.