Shore Excursions from Port of Venice

• Private Tour of Venice

• Venice sightseeing - Tour 1

• Venice sightseeing - Tour 2

• Venice on foot + Gondola Ride

• Unknown Venice - Tour 1

• Unknown Venice - Tour 2

• Doge's Palace - The secret past

• Venice Islands Tour - Burano, Murano and Torcello

• Venice Panorama - boat tour

• A Visit to Torcello - St. Francis of the desert

Contact us to arrange pick-up and drop-off at the port of Naples or Sorrento for the arrival and departure of your cruise ship.  Shore excursions can be arranged for 2 to 60 passengers. 

Prices depend on:

• Number of hours

• Season of travel

• Number of passengers

Contact: IV Travel

Meeting the official English speaking guide in St. Mark's Square and guided visit to the historical centre of the city.

Itinerary: St. Mark's Square, the Basilica (inside visit according to the queue), its monuments from outside and Rialto Bridge The tour lasts about 2 hours. This tour ends with an optional visit to a glass factory and lasts about 2 hours. Tours includes a private guide.

It can be operated every day at 09.00 h am, 11.00 h am, 01.00 h pm and 03.00 h pm.
 

Meeting the official English speaking guide in St. Mark’s Square and walk through San Zaccaria, Santa Maria Formosa and SS. Giovanni e Paolo Church. Inside visit of the largest church of Venice, called the Pantheon of the Doge’s. Here there are many small bars and restaurants where local meet for a typical drink, the “spritz”.

Then we continue via the famous Corte Botera (a private typical Venetian courtyard – the visit might be not permitted) and via the Miracoli Church to the Rialto Bridge. The tour finishes at the Rialto Bridge after having seen the most beautiful Post Office you have ever seen. The tour lasts about 2 hours.

It can be operated every day at 09.00 h am, 11.00 h am, 01.00 h pm and 03.00 h pm.
 

The Secret Itinerary through the Doge’s Palace covers the rooms and chambers where the delicate work of some of the most important bodies in the Venetian administration was carried out. The tour offers an interesting insight into the civil and political history of the city, its public organisations and administration of justice.

The itinerary starts in the rooms of the Ducal Notary (a sort of secretary to the various magistracy within the Venetian Republic) and the “Deputato alla Segreta” (who kept a special archive for the Council of the Ten, containing reserved material). From here, one passes up to the Office of the Great Chancellor and the beautiful Chamber of the Secret Chancellery, whose walls are lined with cabinets containing public and secret documents.

Then, visit to the Torture Chamber, also known as the Chamber of Torment, a very disturbing place directly linked with the prisons. From the Torture Chamber you pass to the so-called Piombi. The name comes from the lead (piombo) covering on the roof. These cells were used exclusively for the prisoners of the Council of Ten - either those accused of political crimes, those awaiting sentence or those serving short prison terms. Located directly under the roof, the six or seven cells were formed of wooden partitions to which were nailed sheets of iron. Though so vividly described by Giacomo Casanova, the Piombi did in fact offer prisoners much better conditions than those in the pozzi (the wells), the terrible cells on the ground floor of the Doge’s Palace.

From the attic, two long flights of stairs bring one to the Chamber of the Inquisitors, a much-feared magistracy that was set up in 1539 to protect state secrets. From here, one passes through to the Chamber of the Three Head Magistrates, chosen every month from amongst the members of the Council of Ten. The decoration of the ceiling and of the side compartments are by artists such as Giambattista Zelotti, Giambattista Ponchino and Paolo Veronese.

Through a secret passageway within a wooden cabinet, the Chamber of the Three Head Magistrates is linked directly to the Chamber of the Council of Ten, from which one can go on to visit the rest of the Palace. The visit must be pre-booked, and can only take place - at certain times, conditions and limited number of persons - in the company of a special Doge’s Palace guide who will explain all the special features of each individual room. The reservation is subject to reconfirmation by the Doge’s Palace Direction.

This English speaking guided tour lasts about 1 hour and 15 minutes and it is operated everyday. For INDIVIDUALS, only in the MORNING (regular tours at 9:55am, 10:45am and 11:35am). For GROUPS (min. 10/max. 25 persons per group), only in the AFTERNOON (group tours starting from 1:30pm every half an hour according to availability). During the hottest summer months (July/August), the secret itinerary tours in the afternoon may be limited or suspended due to the high temperature under the Doge’s Palace roof.
 

Departure from St. Mark's Square's waterfront with reserved private motor-launch and visit first to the Island of Murano, where one can watch the antique art of making glass in a glass blowing factory. Then one proceeds to the characteristic Island of Burano, with its strong colours and light contrast, fisher island and renowned for the lace making. Last Island Torcello, the first settlement in the lagoon, with its old Cathedral and its atmosphere of remote venation past. The tour lasts about 5 hours. The tour includes a private tour escort and entrance fee to the Torcello Basilica.

It can be operated every day.
 

Departure (departing point to be decided) with reserved private motorboat. Panoramic tour of St. Mark's Basin with view of the most important building and monuments of the historic centre of Venice.

Stop in the Island of San Giorgio Maggiore for a panoramic view of the St. Mark's Basin and for the visit of the Church built by Palladio in 16th C. Continue to Murano for the visit of an old glass-blowing factory with demonstration of the old glass-blowing techniques. Then journey to Burano, famous for its coloured houses and for the production of the “Venetian Lace”.

In Burano a typical Venetian ‘cicchetto' (snack) will be offered to the clients in one of the local bars of the island.

From Burano journey through the Northern part of the Venetian Lagoon to the Cannaregio district, to visit one of the most secret and unknown areas of the city of Venice: the Jewish Ghetto. Walking tour through the old Ghetto, then journey back to Venice (disembarking point to be agreed).

The tour lasts approx 6 hours and includes a private tour escort and snack on the Island of Burano.
 

Departure by reserved motor-launch with your guide on a tour through the Venetian lagoon. Stop at the Island of Torcello and visit to the oldest Basilica of Venice, the 7th Century Church of Santa Maria Assunta with its lovely Byzantine wall mosaics.

After the visit to the Church, you continue to the island of St. Francis of the Desert, a real oasis of peace in the middle of the Venetian Lagoon. T he island is very ancient. Traces which have emerged from the subsoil reveal it was frequented by the Romans, and there are finds from the lst, 4th, and 5th Centuries A.D.. The name is of popular origin and goes back to the fIrst half of the 15th Century, when the island was abandoned for more than twenty years because of the insalubrious state of the lagoon.

The Franciscan story begins in 1220: St. Francis landed there with an anonymous companion on his return from the East and was greeted by the joyful singing of the swallows (the account of the prodigy is narrated by St. Bonaventura in the Legenda Maior). In March 1223 the island was donated to the Order by Jacopo Michiel, who belonged to the doge's branch of the family and was nephew, on his wife's side, to the patriarch of Grado, Angelo Barozzi: at the time of the donation two churches were in existence, of which one was dedicated to the Saint. Guided visit to the Island (gardens and cloisters) by a local English speaking Friar. At the end of the visit, return to Venice.

This tour lasts 4 hours.