The 15 Historical Tours in Venice That Earn Their Price

1.Venice’s Best: Basilica, Doge’s Palace, Gondola & History Gallery

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 2,478 reviews · 3 hours 30 minutes (approx.) · from $129.4Our pick

Small-group Venice tour hitting St. Mark’s Basilica, Doge’s Palace, VR history gallery, and a shared gondola ride with app commentary.

“Valentina is a very knowledgeable guide, and we enjoyed the tour. We felt we had just enough time to take in what we were seeing while learning some cool history. Recommend this tour! The gondola experience was slightly disappointing though. The seating wasn't stabilized and the gondolier was constantly on his phone.”

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2.City Center Historical Guided Walking Tour

★★★★★★★★★★4.2 · 1,873 reviews · 1 - 2.5 hours · from $14

St. Mark’s to Rialto guided walk with VR history and optional gondola views. Great value for getting your bearings in Venice.

“Ana is very knowledgeable and we learned so much about Venice in one hour (and for such a reasonable cost) that we were rather blown away. It was a great time and we highly recommend.”

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3.The History of St. Mark’s Basilica Tour

★★★★★★★★★★4.2 · 986 reviews · 15 - 45 minutes · from $34

Skip-the-line entry to St Mark's Basilica in Venice with audio on your phone, plus Museum, Terrace, Loggia dei Cavalli and Pala d'Oro options.

“Ive been living in Scotland for over 12 years, and in last 5 years i was in a few countries(including Italy), but even if was in Bari or Rome, I never been before in Venice. To be shortly with Lila our guide this experience was excellent. Lila was amazing as a guide, she explaind in a fluently English everything what we should know about Venice, also she gave many information about Chiesa San Marco.(Saint Mark's Basilica) By the way, today after 2 hourly finished the experience of visiting St Mark Basilica i saw Lila on the bridge somewhere closer to Chiesa di San Giorgio dei Greci. So, congratulations for everything,…”

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4.Bell Tower & St Mark’s Square History Gallery Ticket

★★★★★★★★★★4.3 · 910 reviews · 1 hour · from $44

Skip the line to St Mark's Bell Tower, ride to 98 meters, then add a History Gallery and VR trip through centuries of Venice.

“Loved the VR experience in the history gallery! Campanile visit was a bit too blowy to enjoy for long.”

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5.Basilica, Doge’s Palace, History Gallery & Bell Tower Option

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 586 reviews · 2 to 3 hours (approx.) · from $116.7Top rated

Skip-the-line guided tour of Doge’s Palace, Bridge of Sighs, and St Mark’s Basilica, with optional Campanile views. Small groups in English.

“Good information, beautiful buildings with so much history! This tour is worth doing if you enjoy learning a little bit of history.”

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6.Natural History Museum Entry Ticket

★★★★★★★★★★4.7 · 312 reviews · 1 day · from $11

Visit Venice Natural History Museum in a Grand Canal palazzo. See dinosaurs, fossils, and a 40,000-book library for about $11.

“VERY INTERESTING AND MAKE SURE TO GET THE VOICE GUIDE IT IS ONLY $10 AND THEY HAVE IT IN ENGLISH IT WAS A LOT OF INFORMATION YOU WILL REALLY ENJOY THIS SELF PACE EXPERIENCE”

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7.Doge’s Palace Historic Mysteries Guided Tour

★★★★★★★★★★3.7 · 238 reviews

Guided mysteries of Doge’s Palace, Bridge of Sighs and prisons, plus VR time travel through St Mark’s Square and an included Correr ticket.

“The tour guide, Elena was wonderful. Charming, friendly, full of knowledge and interesting details. Enjoyed this tour immensely.”

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8.St. Mark’s Cathedral Priority Guided Tour & History Gallery

★★★★★★★★★★3.5 · 148 reviews · 1 hour (approx.) · from $33.72

Skip the line at St. Mark’s Basilica with a mobile audio option, VR Venice Gallery history, and optional live guiding, for about 1 hour.

“Poorly set up audioguide, which was basically the only service provided by this tour. Would not recommend.”

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9.Venice, Submarine Enrico Dandolo and Naval History Museum

★★★★★★★★★★4.8 · 109 reviews · 1.5 hours · from $30

Visit the Cold War Enrico Dandolo submarine in Venice Arsenal, then use your ticket for MUNAV naval museum entries over two days.

“Fascinating place, especially the submarine. Buildings very cold though so wrap up warm!”

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10.Kingly Venice: Doge Palace Ticket, Guided Tour & History Gallery

★★★★★★★★★★4.0 · 62 reviews · from $65.34

Skip-the-line guided tour of Doge’s Palace plus Museo Correr and St Mark’s Square museum access, in a small group around 1 hour.

“The tour was smooth, timely and educational. The tour guide was amazing and used her knowledge to add more to the tour. We wished we would have booked her longer but the tour was great!”

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11.Venice Lagoon Tour with Historic Venetian Boat

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 47 reviews · 1 hour (approx.) · from $82.9

Private Venice Lagoon boat tour with a historic guide, UNESCO lagoon views, and an onboard aperitif near San Marco, in English.

“Tour operator cancelled on us the day before citing technical difficulties. It was suppose rain so I suppose that is why there were sudden technical difficulties. I expect I will never get a refund.”

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12.Venetian Watercolors Painting Workshop at the Historic Art Circle

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 45 reviews · 1 hour 30 minutes (approx.) · from $27.03

Paint Venice with Nicola, a master watercolor teacher. Small-group class in Dorsoduro with easy, hands-on steps and a handcrafted bookmark.

“We couldn’t make the class and there were no other time options. Keep in mind when you book this that it is a long drawn out story to enter. Venice and get around. I have young kids and after traveling were in no mood to get up at 6:30am to start the trek into Venice. We lost out on $350.”

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13.Entrance Ticket to the Naval Historical Museum

★★★★★★★★★★4.7 · 39 reviews · 1.5 hours · from $18

Skip the line at Venice’s Naval Historical Museum near San Marco. Explore a 15th-century Arsenal granary, 5 floors, in about 1.5 hours.

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14.Ducal Venice, Historical Walking Tour & Skip the line Doge’s Palace

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 22 reviews · 3 hours (approx.) · from $112.82

3-hour Venice walking tour with skip-the-line Doge’s Palace entry, prisons, and key squares, plus extra museum access time.

“Amazing, informative and captivating guide, Ilaria, lead this brilliant walking tour including San Marco square, Basilica, Doge’s Palace and prisons. Book now, you will not regret!!”

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15.Tour of Venice between Art, History, Legend and Secrets

★★★★★★★★★★4.0 · 20 reviews · 2 hours (approx.) · from $83

Private Venice tour linking Rialto legend, Marco Polo birthplace, and gold-filled churches, ending at San Marco and the prison.

“Alessandro was fantastic, so enthusiastic and knowledgeable about the things he showed up, a lot of which were off the beaten track. Very welcoming and a pleasure to spend time with. Thank you Alessandro and Happy Birthday again!”

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