Great tour!! Inu was fantastic. She was well informed. She was willing to answer all the…read morequestions best as possible. She even stay after the tour was over to accommodate us on recommendations on the do's and don't's in Venice. I would highly recommend this tour for people to get the history and feel of the city.

Please do yourself a favor while in Venice and sign up for one or multiple tours offered by La…read moreBussola. This really was the highlight of our two day stay in Venice. Our guide, Lazaro, was the best! He gave us a very comprehensive and energetic overview of the historic highlights of the city. There was also plenty of time to take pictures. Lazaro gave us great tips on restaurants, shops, and overall great insights about local life in Venice that would have been unknown to us otherwise. Tours were available in English and Spanish. They offered a morning tour that gave insight about how the city was built and an afternoon tour focused on the major monuments. We took the afternoon tour and if we had more time we would have signed up for the morning tour tour. This really was incredible. My husband and I loved it. So will you!

We did the ghost tour. It was very informative and historical. The tour guide was energetic and…read morepretty loud for a big group. This was our first day in Venice so once night fell and we were being lead around very dark corners it was nice to be with a guide as the tourists disappeared. I loved the folklore told and learned a lot about Venice from this tour. I'd highly recommend it!

One of the best tours we had while on vacation. They were very organized and professional. We…read moreexplored parts of Venice on a very nice motor boat that accommodated a group of 8 people. Our tour guide was excellent. He explained the sights and took us through the less touristy areas which was awesome because we experienced the city like locals. It was a wonderful hour long ride and very well worth the price. There's no way we would've covered so much on gondolas and we would've paid double! So glad we experienced the canals with Avventure Bellissime. I recommend them and look forward to taking another tour with them on a return visit!

I was very disappointed. We didn't get to explore many of the canals, rather spending a large…read moreportion of the tour at the edge of the city and the lagoon. Further, the guide didn't seem to care much about the quality of our experience. She literally said "this is a group of younger people, so we can do a chill tour" -- I took this to mean she would be informal, but it turned out to mean she put minimal effort into educating us about the city or the ensuring we were getting to see the sights. There were people in the tour more interested in taking pictures, but instead of making sure that we stayed on track the guide just sat in her kayak while they took selfies. It was fun to paddle around in a kayak, and doing so at sunset was absolutely beautiful. But overall, this "tour" is definitely not worth the price.

I had SO much fun! Instructor and guide, Anna, was so knowledgeable and patient. She was such a…read morepleasure to talk to, it felt like a local friend was showing me around Venice. She had a friend with her--Andrea--who was also a local and SO NICE and KNOWLEDGEABLE! When I could not hear Anna, Andrea would relay the information back to me. As well as ask her in Italian really fast if I had any questions. She may become a guide as well so if you can somehow request either of these two girls you will get your full money's worth! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED and will 100000% be back next time in Venice!

I love tours done by professional guides, they bring a lot of value to the most touristic parts of…read morea city. What I discovered with Riccardo and the Free Walk in Venice is another way to complement the touristic tours : walk in the non touristic areas to see the true parts of the city, experiencing the life of true Venetian and getting insight that professional tour guides would never dare to tell you. So my advice to you : go through both experiences and you will get the best out of your trip in Venice.

My first time in Venice and I was told about these great free walking tours.. Our guide today was…read moreLucia, an art student who was passionate about the city she lives in. Her knowledge and humour really brings the tour to life and luckily we had a small group of around 7 of us so she really was able to give us her personal touch. The little stories relating to the history of Venice and the reasons behind each one was enlightening as well as entertaining. Lucia ended the tour with a map she had devised adding little touches on it with details of places to eat.. Her favourite place to visit and lots of different ideas.

THE BEST FOOD TOUR that I've ever been on!!!!!! We did the "lunch tour" of Venice (I wish the…read more"dinner tour" wasn't booked or I would've done that too!!). Adam and Maya are Americans that fell in love with the city (and people) of Venice while on vacation and subsequently moved there. This couples' love of Venice, along with their brand new sidekick, Sarah, REALLY shines through on this food tour. Even while simply walking down the street you will get to experience their bonds with the locals. All 3 are the absolute BEST guides- friendly, funny, quirky, knowledgeable, and most importantly, passionate about the food. The tour lasted about 4 hours (wear your walking shoes), and was JAM packed with interesting information- from the food, to the people, to the architecture, to the culture. What I liked most about this food tour, was after arriving at each cafe, you usually got to choose which food or which wine (red or white) you wanted to try. That's an aspect of a food tour I haven't experienced before- usually all the samples of food and drinks are pre-chosen for you. Adam taught us several miscellaneous pieces of information about Venice, that you too will find intriguing and make you fall in love with the city of Venice. He explained to us that in Venice it is illegal to sell food the next day, from the day before ("leftovers")- so that was cool to see firsthand (as we continued from cafe to cafe throughout the day, you saw that the available samples dropped). I don't think I can even pick one "favorite" stop on this tour- important to note that all the stops you visit are owned by local Venetians. All of the tapas, chichetti, sandwiches, pasta, gelato, pastries, and wine were all SO fresh and so tasty- I had no other wish than to have more time in Venice to go back and eat at all the places again!! You will definitely not leave hungry, and like us, you'll be guaranteed to leave with new friends and fond memories. I will continue to recommend this food tour to friends and family for years to come- I have yet to stop talking about it!! I learned SO much, and I enjoyed myself on this tour more than any other tour that I did (over 2 weeks) in Italy.

This review is long overdue. I'm horrible at these things!…read more We had an absolutely amazing experience with Venice Bites Food Tours on the "Off the Eaten Path" Tour. Maya and Adam are great! We learned so much about not only Venetian food and drink but also all about Venice and it's history. This tour made us fall in love with Venice! My wife and I are planning a trip back to Venice in 2020 and we will be doing the Progressive Dinner tour with Maya and Adam for sure!!!

We were given a gondola in which out of 10 this was the only one that had silver instead of gold…read morestatues and emblems and this one was rusted and tarnished and the paint was missing and worn on the steps and the railings were loose and noisy and ugly. All the others were in real nice condition. Not sure why they gave us such a ratty gondola but not happy.

Did the walk and talk tour with Anna. Such an awesome experience. She was very knowledgable we also…read morestopped for a spritz along the way.

VenetoInside.com is an authorized third-party resale site that focuses on activities and tickets to…read moreattractions in the Veneto region. While most people associate the Veneto with Venice, it also covers popular cities Verona (of Romeo and Juliet fame) and Padua (a university town). Most people know about VenetoInside.com if they are doing research for independent travel as they are the authorized retailers of skip-the-line tickets to St. Mark's Basilica and St. Mark's Campanile (bell tower). The tickets are on sale during peak season (April 1 to November 2) and can be booked 10 minutes before the chosen time. Skip-the-line for the bell tower can be booked from April 1 to October 31. When you purchase the tickets make sure to follow the directions exactly. I highly recommend buying skip-the-line tickets especially during peak tourist season. Though the basilica doesn't charge admission, you are not allowed to skip the line. With limited vacation time, it's certainly worth paying a few euros to maximize your sightseeing. https://www.venetoinside.com/attraction-tickets-in-veneto/tickets/skip-the-line-saint-marks-basilica/ https://www.venetoinside.com/attraction-tickets-in-veneto/tickets/st-marks-bell-tower-skip-the-line-entry/ Alternatively I bought a guided tour ("St. Mark's Cathedral and it's Treasures") which is a tour with skip-the-line privileges and admission to the Treasury and Pala d'Oro, which is normally separate from the basilica. They also promote exclusive access to the St. Mark's Baptistery and Zen Chapel. I had no problem with buying my ticket and redeeming it for my tour. My only issue was that the guide's accent was so thick I had to supplement my visit with Rick Steves' audioguide. Not only was I able to understand much more, that audioguide was free. https://www.venetoinside.com/tours-activities-in-veneto/tour/venice-st-marks-cathedral-and-its-treasures-skip-the-line/ The other popular option is skip-the-line guided tours of the basilica and Doge's Palace, the other major attraction in Venice. This makes sense as they are literally next to each other. The only reason why I didn't do this is because I wanted to do the Secret Itineraries tour, which is sold separately and bought directly from the Doge's Palace website. *** Another popular excursion in Venice is visiting the islands in the Venetian lagoon: Murano, Burano and Torcello. There are two options for doing this. https://www.venetoinside.com/tours-activities-in-veneto/tour/half-day-excursion-murano-burano-torcello/ (guided tour) https://www.venetoinside.com/tours-activities-in-veneto/tour/hop-on-hop-off-venice-islands-boat-tour/ (DIY option) The DIY option did not exist at the time of my visit (~July 2018) so I chose the half-day visit. I made the most of my half-day tour as it included a glassware demonstration in Murano and transportation via chartered boat (as opposed to a vaporetto) with information given in English, Italian, Spanish and French. Subsequent visits I will do the DIY option as this will give me time to explore the colorful houses in Burano and have lunch and visit the chapel/climb the bell tower in Torcello. While perusing the reviews of the activities it seems like whoever responds to the negative reviews treats the review writer with disdain, mostly accusing the person for not paying attention to the instructions. I found this quite rude. There is a certain level of decency that should be respected when responding to negative reviews - hospitality 101. I hope they take this into consideration.

Easy to buy skip the line tix for the basilica and just show them on your phone. Very convenient…read more Don't pass up the 'extra' tours inside the basilica. They are all worth the extra few Euros. We especially enjoyed the last one which let you go upstairs to see the amazing gold mosaics up close and most wonderful you can go out on the roof overlooking the piazza- stunning views. No pics allowed inside but the vistas from this roof terrace were super. Can't believe I missed this on an earlier visit.

We booked the Cicchetti of Venice Tour and it was one of the highlights of our trip to Europe! Out…read moreof all the organized tours we took on our trip, this is the only one that 100% delivered what it promised (and then some)! Our guide, Cecilia, was phenomenal! It was like we had an old friend showing us her hometown. It was great to have Cecilia with us because she took us walking along the back streets of Venice where we stopped in and sampled food and wine in several local bars. These were places we would never have found on our own. We didn't have to worry about anything, Cecilia got us a table and handled all of the ordering. We never had to pay another cent out of pocket for any food, wine or transport, making this tour an exceptional value. We sampled many different local wines and lots of cicchetti (vegetables, cheese, meat, fish and more). All were delicious and exciting and the entire tour was a very intimate, educational experience. We even got to try our hand at crossing a canal in a local traghetto (though I wasn't brave enough to stand up during the crossing). We had 5 other couples on our tour and it was wonderful to get to mingle and explore a foreign city with other excited foodies. If you love food and like to experience and learn about different cultures, book this tour; you will not be disappointed! I cannot recommend it highly enough!

We did a good and wine tour with Eisa (Elizabetta) last night and it was amazing…read more A true wealth of knowledge and extremely helpful. This is a must do on your first night, she gives you tips and tricks for navigating. The city and avoiding the true tourist traps (of which there are many). Urban Adventures prides themselves on responsible tourism supporting the local shops and restaurants. She even showed us a local spot that we could get 1.5 liters of amazing wine for only 3.50 Euros. Literally cheaper than water that you can pay up to 4 Euros for at most places. We are now trying to book similar tours on other legs of our stop, great way to get a feel for the really local culture!