Venice Best Sights & Artisan Crafts: St Marks, Doges Palace, Gondola Ride, Murano, and Burano Tour

Experience the best of Venice in one day! Explore iconic sights like St Marks Church and Doges Palace, take a gondola ride, and visit the artisan crafts of Murano and Burano.

Duration: 9 hours
Cancellation: 1 day learn more
Highlights
  • Basilica di San Marco - We provide the skip the line tickets, so walk right past the long queue and go right on inside. During November through March, St. Mark’s Basilica does not offer skip the line entry because lines are generally non-existent.

  • Doge’s Palace - As you explore the Doge’s Palace, you’ll hear about the wild ways of the Venetian Republic under the rule of elected magistrates. This tour not only showcases the interior of this ornate palace, but also goes in depth about the crime and legal system that was once in place in the city of Venice. Admire classic works of Venetian art and visit Doge’s Palace’s main sights, such as the Grand Staircase and the Bridge of Sighs. You’ll even get to see some of the prison cells that were functional during the time of the Venetian Republic.

  • Venice - Time to Board your Gondola! After your visit to St Marks and the Doges Palace conclude, it’s time to partake in that quintessential Venice activity. That’s right, step right up to your gondola boat! Left in the care of a trusted gondolier, enjoy the beauty of Venice from the water. Fun fact: in the Venetian dialect, “gondolier” translates into “rowing master”. Glide through the panoramic Canals in a gondola accommodating upto 5 participants.

  • Venice - As your enchanting gondola ride concludes, you’ll have some free time to enjoy a delightful lunch (at your own expense) before re-joining your guide for an exciting afternoon of exploration.

  • Murano - Dive into the age old craft of Glass Blowing on one of Venice’s most famous islands! Accompanied by your guide you will enjoy a glass blowing demonstration learning all the ins and outs of this old Italian craft

  • Burano - Make your way through Burano’s cosy streets on Venice’s most colourful islands - known to be a true insta-paradise. Here we head to a lace making workshop where you’ll witness a lace making demonstration by locals with an impeccable eye for detail!

What's Included
  • Glass Blowing Demonstration
  • Professional, English Speaking Guide
  • 30 Minute Gondola Ride
  • Small-group size, maximum 20 participants
  • Some Free Time to Explore Burano Island
  • Round Trip Transportation to/from Murano & Burano Island
  • Skip-the-line Entry and Guided tour of the Doge’s Palace
  • Skip-the-Line Entry and Guided tour of St Marks Basilica
  • Lace Making Demonstration
What's Not Included
  • Food and drinks
  • Gratuities
Additional Information

Want to uncover the finest of Venice but squeezed for time? This guided trip fuses the city’s top-notch landmarks into a single day tour! Savor fast track entry into the St Marks Church, behold the corridors of the Doges Palace, and view the city from its canals during your gondola ride, led by our experienced Gondoliers!

Post a relaxed lunch break, our tour launches into an expedition to the globally acclaimed islands of Murano and Burano. Our guide will steer you through the most picturesque alleys of the islands as you head towards witnessing the centuries-old practice of Lace creation and Glass Blowing. This guided trip is an ideal blend of Venetian History, Domestic Artistry, and Tourism!

  • Please refrain from bringing big back packs or bags, because they are not allowed inside.
  • The remainder of the itinerary is spent walking from one place to the next alongside the guide and travelling to the next site
Location
P.za San Marco, 3
Piazza San Marco
Please Arrive 15 Minutes Early. Between the two big columns in St. Mark’s Square (columns of San Marco & San Teodoro) located on the south side of the square, near the canal. Your guide will be holding a "The Tour Guy" sign.
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
4.5
(392 Ratings)
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Terry_v
Aug 11, 2024
Viking Cruise Venice Pre-excursion. - Too many amazing things to mention. Our tour guides for Natalie and Fransica were fabulous. San Marco, Murano Burano were pleasant trips. Highlight was the gondola ride. Great tour as advertised.
Review provided by Viator
Mark_m
Aug 2, 2024
Excellent tour covering most all of the key points of interest and fun things to do in Venice. - The tour was in two parts, morning and afternoon. Both were excellent! The boat ride to the islands and the explanations of the history and cultural were very informative. The islands are beautiful and distinctly unique from other parts of Venice and Italy overall. The afternoon session was in the Venice in tours of the palace, church and old town. The guide, Marco, provided a lot of fun info as well as accurate historical facts. Awesome to see the largest room in Europe and the largest oil painting in the world! The he tour ended with a fun Gondola ride in the canals. Our gondolier actually sang in Italian!
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Susan_s
Aug 1, 2024
Our guide Roberta was... - Our guide Roberta was wonderful and brought the history to life. You could tell she was passionate about her city
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Alejandra_d
Jul 29, 2024
Best Venetian tour - Both guides, Francesca and Nataliya,were just amazing! They gave us a lot of fun facts and the history of all the places. The visit to the islands really worth it, and ending with the gondola ride is the cherry on top. Very good value too, so recommended!
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Lisa_m
Jul 29, 2024
See Venice in a day - Both the guides were very knowledgeable. Was glad to have front of the line entrance into St.Marks and Doges Palace during high season. Murano and Burano a must islands when in Venice.
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Suzyjonsen
Jul 28, 2024
Wonderful and long! - Wonderful experience! Rita was an amazing guide and very knowledgeable. Even with skip-the-line access be prepared to wait in lines with huge crowds (it was very hot when we went - be sure to hydrate). We went on the Doges Palace, St. Marks Basillica, Murano, Burano tour- it was very long with lots of walking and several hours in a boat. Not bad, just be prepared. In Murano you only go to one glass factory so you do not have the opportunity to “shop around”. The glass is beautiful and it’s not high-pressure but you get the sense that if you don’t buy the glass there in the factory, any other glass you buy will be subpar. They actually tell you that. Burano is a quaint little town know for lace. The first stores off the boat are expensive but it you wonder into town you can find deals (and cash will get you discounts)!
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Victoria_w
Jul 28, 2024
Great Day in Venice - Morning tour to Murano and Burano was wonderful both islands were beautiful!! Afternoon tour to basilica and palace were fabulous!! Both morning and afternoon guides were so friendly and informative. Would defiantly recommend this day tour!!’
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Jacqueline_t
Jul 23, 2024
Highly Recommend - This tour was fantastic! Covered all the major attractions in Venice. Entering and exiting were easy! Guides were fantastic. Christina and Serena were wonderful taking us around Murano and Burano.
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Ryan_h
Jul 30, 2024
Good tour but tour company could have communicated better. - This is basically two tours combined into one. The tour company did not communicate this well so we were left rushing lunch. Morning tour was good. Glass factory was good - we had plenty of time to explore. Murano island was beautiful but we didn’t have enough time to explore after the lace demonstration. I think the tour company should have allowed more time in Murano and spend less time in the glass factory. Our morning tour guide was very helpful. For the afternoon tour, painted ceilings were breathtaking. Our tour guide did his best to let us stay in the shade. It is really hot in doge palace but unfortunately there’s no alternative. There’s a lot of stairs and walk inside and really not any opportunities to take a rest. For mobility challenged tourist like me, it’s a bit challenging.
Review provided by Viator
Boris_n
Jul 25, 2024
Terrible Doge Palace tour with great Murano and Burano visits - So this tour actually consists of two separate tours - (1) Doge palace, (2) St. Mark's basilica, and (3) Gondola ride in the first tour and then a trip to Murano and Burano in the second tour. The first tour was awful, but I think that was because we had a really awful guide. She spent over 2 hours in the Doge Palace talking for what seemed like an eternity about almost every painting in such painful level of details that I think only true artists could appreciate. She also spoke in very monotone voice and it was very boring. We even considered just walking away from the rest of the tour, it was so bad. She then breezed through St. Mark's Basilica in about 30 min (tour description says 1.5 hours each). The gondola ride was good, though we had to wait about 15 min and the canals were very full and slow. The second tour to Murano and Burano was excellent, very interesting, with a great guide and beautiful scenery. So I give the first tour 1 star and the second tour 5 stars.
Review provided by Viator
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up to 15 guests
1 Adult
September 2024
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