Venice - walking tour

Nancy,

In late May, I really enjoyed a food tour with Walks of Italy. I know they have several different tours that might meet your needs. My group was led by Cristina who was fantastic! She was personable, knowledgable, and made sure everyone in the small group was involved. I found the price reasonable, and I think there might be an RS discount.

I've also taken a tour in the past with Alessandro Schezzini and loved it. He does a great job of mixing current information with history.

Enjoy Venice,

Sharon

On the evening of our arrival we did the free venice walking tour. It did not cover the big touristy areas, rather areas that we otherwise likely wouldn't have seen much if any of. it was about 2 hours long and between 10-15 people. If not for your first evening, definitely worth considering looking into this tour if you have time to fit it in.

That's sounds really interesting. I like "off the beaten path". Where did you find the "free" walking tour? Do you have a name or web site?

Venicefreewalkingtour.com :)

In our case the meeting spot was not a big campo, so we asked the staff at our hotel for help with identifying it on our map. With very clear instructions and a little help from google maps in the very end, we found it. A little unsolicited advice - just give yourself cushion in time for trying to find the meeting point! Or scout it out in advance if you choose to do it on a day following your arrival.

Happy travels,

Crystal

If this is your first time in Venice I'd recommend Walks Inside Venice. Their tour guide was wonderful and able to give us a feeling of the city beyond the usual tourist stops in just the few hours we spent with him. And in my opinion, Venice is all about getting beyond the usual tourist areas. What we learned on that first tour has served us well during other trips back. http://www.walksinsidevenice.com/

My suggestion - get a decent map, read up on a guide book, and do it by yourself. An historical tour might enlighten you, or leave you cold.
For example, in the Piazza, here is the bronze survey marker that indicates the surveyed axis of the Basilica, here is the site of the last pblic well in the Piazza (filled in in 15 something), here is the monument to the woman who dropped a mortar on the head of Tiepolo's standard bearer during a little revolution 500 years ago.

I have been intrigued to find those things, but I have spent months in Venice.

Just do it by yourself.

The eveningI arrived, I took two classes through Florence Town. One was an olive oil/wine tasting class, followed by a pizza/gelato making class. I did a walking tour the following day through the same company -- I had a great experience but there was an annoying group of travelers who were complaing of the tour guide's accent, which was very mild.

Just a warning that most walking tours are at least 2 hours so I'm not sure what you consider long. I did download Rick Steves' walking tour which would allow you history but you can go at your own pace.

By all means contact Alessandro Schezzini and schedule a "Rick Steves" evening tour of the back streets and bars of Venice. Seeing this amazing city through the eyes of a native will give the rest of your visit a memorable perspective.

We went a few years ago and booked through a consolidator Viator.
We really enjoyed this tour and it included a gondola ride.
We started about 5:30ish PM and had a great guide - a young man from Britain who was studying in Venice.
Walking tour of Venice & Gondola