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Skip The Line: Best Of Venice Walking Tour
Our Best of Venice tour is perfect for visitors with only a limited time in Venice or for those who want to get the main sights done and dusted early to leave time for exploring more off-the-beaten-track locations. This tour takes in all the highlights of Venice by foot – with a few less expected gems thrown into the mix. With skip the line access we cut out waiting time so you can spend more time exploring and less time queuing and allowing your dedicated guide to whisk you easily from one Venice highlight to the next.
It’s at one of these highlights that we’ll make our first stop. The Rialto Bridge is a favorite of many – a vast marble beauty that ran far beyond its budget, yet when the sunlight dances on it’s smooth stone and its reflection shines in the water below, it’s worth every penny.
Our walking tour is a head-spinning journey past some of the best known sights of Venice along with some unassuming gems. We’ll stop by Marco Polo’s house and hear about the Venetian son who went to sea one day and came back with stories of China and a world in the East that few had ever seen. We’ll see lively Campo San Luca and Campo SS Giovanni Paolo where locals carry out their daily lives in the shadow of spectacular architecture.
Just as we started with a pop we’ll end our tour with a bang, visiting Piazza San Marco – the number one sight in Venice. We’ll stand in front of the impressive Doge’s Palace where Venice’s famous lover and writer, Casanova was held in an attic prison before he managed to escape. Then it’s on to the main event – the stunning Basilica San Marco. Marvel at the diversity of Venetian culture as your guide points out the spots where eastern architecture and western design have blended to create a structure with an onion dome that could only have been created in Venice. In a rare extended tour of the basilica you’ll hear about how St. Mark’s remains arrived here illegally and see all sorts of treasures, molded in this very city or plundered during the crusades. We’ll visit the second level of the basilica for views over the piazza below where string quartets play and waiters bustle around piazza-side cafés.Looking for a more in depth Venice visit? Include a one hour tour of the Doge’s Palace. Our tour of the palace visits all the best sights open to the public. Marvel over ceilings frescoed by Tintoretto to show Justice presenting herself to the Doge while you think of all the feet that have shuffled on the tiles you stand on – ambassadors waited nervously in this very spot for an audience with the Doge in the Hall of Four Doors. Then there’s the numerous flattering works produced on demand by the masters of the time –‘Virtues of the Republic’ in the Council Room was Veronese’s rosy outlook on the state of his nation while ‘The Triumph of Venice’ in the Senate Hall was where Tintoretto paid his dues on a high ceiling.In the Chamber of the Council of Ten, as you marvel over Veronese’s ‘Juno Bestowing her Gifts on Venice’ your guide will point you in the direction of a dark corner, dwarfed by the vibrant masterpiece. This unassuming slot was where friends and foes condemned each other in the form of accusations – warranted or not – that were investigated and acted on with frightening brutality.The highlight of our tour at the Doge’s Palace visits the spectacular Bridge of Sighs – so named for the prisoners that walked its length on their way to cells across the canal. As they took their last look at beautiful Venice they couldn’t help but sigh.
IMPORTANT: If you choose this tour on a Sunday, please select either 1:30 PM or 2:30 PM. If you want to have this tour on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday you may only do so from March 04- October 31.
