What to do and see in Venice, Veneto: The Best Literary, Art & Music Tours

-Full day  guided tour of Venice and Murano island on foot & by boat . -Enjoy the city with a professional local guide and art historian. - Break for the lunch or snack. -Discover the Art of Glass Making and admire a glass master -The possibility to discover the best of Venice, its art, culture, the living city and Murano glass island in one day. - A good overview of the city, today and in the past. - A customized tour adapt to your preference. On Sunday morning or religious feasts, due to the services in the basilica, the tour may follow a different order of the visit.

Inclusions: Hotel/station/parking car pickup and drop-off, transfer by water-taxi from Venice to Murano and from Murano to Venice, Local guide, Professional art historian guide, Hotel pickup and drop-off (if option selected), Driver/guide

Exclusions: Food and drinks, Pick up from the mainland Mestre.For hotels in mestre the pick up is in Venice

TOUR HIGHLIGHTS • Admire St. Mark’s Basilica, one of the most majestic cathedrals in the world • Embark on a 2-hour tour with a professional experienced guide for art and history lovers. Feed your eyes • Admire the Pala d'Oro, the treasury and Museum of St Marks: a splendor of religious art collected along the centuries - Enjoy Skip-the-line to St. Mark’s Basilica with a professional tour guided. You’ll discover the art and architecture of the most important and magnificent cathedral in Venice. Full of gold and art-masterpieces, it is in the UNESCO World Heritage list since 1986 with a fascinating history of La Serenissima.

Inclusions: Official certified guide and Radio system to hear the guide, Skip the Line access to the Basilica, Tickets to the treasury, Museum of St Marks and Pala d’Oro, We guarantee "Skip the Line" even during peak season

Exclusions: Hotel pickup and drop-off / Transportation to/from attractions / Food and drinks, Entrance tickets to the attractions, Headphones will not be provided due to COVID-19 (We recommend to bring your own headphones)

We are licensed Italian freelance tour guides with a background of art history and tourism studies. We’re not originally from here but we came to study in Venice and we all fell in love with this incredible city, so we decided to settle in here. We have different interests but we all share our greatest passion of all which is Venice itself and we would love to share this with you on our tours. Living here for a long time allowed us to know Venice under many different aspects, that represent the real soul of our city, clearly famous for its beauty with its stunning churches, the impressive buildings, the crazy beautiful glimpses that make it a permanent movie set, but we like to tell you something more about the local culture. We want to let you feel and behave like a Venetian, a real local, making you life easier even i you are going to stay here just few days in order to let you save as more money and time as possible.

Inclusions: Tour Guide

Exclusions:

TOUR HIGHLIGHTS • Embark on a 3-hour tour with a professional experienced and Skip the lines to enter the Doge's Palace and St. Mark's Basilica without delay • Pass through impressive halls where the Doges ruled the Most Serene Republic of Venice • Admire the golden mosaics and other treasures of St. Mark’s Basilica - Enjoy Skip-the-line to explore two of the most iconic buildings in Venice. Learn the history of the Venetian Republic and discover the masterpieces of art, as you walk the corridors and halls of both the Venetian doges and the St Mark’s Basilica. Drown yourself in the golden mosaics and other treasures as you also walk over the famous Bridge of Sighs.

Inclusions: Official certified guide, Radio system to hear the guide, Skip the Line access to the Doge's Palace and St. Marks Basilica, We guarantee "Skip the Line" even during peak season

Exclusions: Hotel pickup and drop-off, Food and drinks, Transportation to/from attractions, We don't guarantee Skip the Line in event of delays or strike by the Museum & Cathedral management, Headphones will not be provided due to COVID-19 (We recommend to bring your own headphones)

The tour will guide you to discover the central Pavilion curated by the italian curator Cecilia Alemanni and some important national Pavilons. It's possible to choose the visit to the Arsenale venue when you book. Two hours Guided tour, either to the exposition of Giardini or Arsenale or a selection of the two venues of Biennale Arte 2021.

Inclusions: Professional qualified art historian guide

Exclusions: tickets entrance 25,00 euro per person

What does it mean being a Master Glassblower? The best Murano Glass experience, with the opportunity to meet a real Master Glassblower! Explore one of the oldest authentic Murano Glass factories, where the only exclusive "furnace" of the island was created. You will live the glass blowing art, with the chance to see a Master Glassblower and his team working following our millenary tradition. And then.. Maestro Fabio Fornasier will surprise you with a secret exhibition part of the project "Fantasy has no limit", usually not open to the public.

Inclusions: Private transportation, Welcome Drink, Private Glassblowing show, Private Glass Factory entrance, Secret exhibition entrance

Exclusions: Gratuities

Hear about the stories about the cross-dressing in cat masks, exploring the places of cruising from middle ages through the later centuries up to the tolerant attitude of nowadays Venice. Take a trip over the centuries through the gay history of Venice, which is as labyrinthine as the city’s convoluted system of canals. Travel back to Middle Ages, when the practice of sodomy was deemed a sin. Learn about the history of Rolandina, a transgender who was burned at stake, as several other men of all social statuses have being condemned for their same-sex relations in the following centuries. Visit the city as a European tourists did during their discovery trip "Grand Tour" in the 17th century and how Thomas Mann and Frederick Rolfe made Venice a place of homosexual imagery during Belle Epoque. Learn about the fascist attempt to “clean up” the city, while following the location of a music video by a gay-icon as Madonna and checking out how is gay life nowadays in the floating city.

Inclusions: Tour Leader & Nature and Interpretive Guide

Exclusions: Gratuities

The best parts of Venice are always the secret and inespected ones. In my opinion in fact, "traveling" means "discovering". Travelers should therefore feel a constant urge to learn new things and see ... "more". In Venice, they would try to discover the whole city and live it at fullest. They would have to look at customs and traditions, support the arts and crafts, taste the local food ... in short, they would have fun. And in doing so, but also the emotions felt (and the eyes of those who led them). I would like to show you off-the-beaten-path, discovering the mysterious, the hidden corners of Venice which is not JUST St. Mark's Square: it's ALSO St. Mark's Square . I look forward to meeting you! Nadia, your "Friend in Venice"

Inclusions: Coffee and/or Tea

Exclusions:

If you want to live a real experience in the heart of Venice that's the right choice! A Venetian Master Artisan will explain to you, in 1 hour course, the traditional art of making or decorating a mask, an artistic personal event which will make you live the preparation for the Venetian Carnival. Create your own unique masterpiece and following your artistic streak, a special memory of an amazing experience and keep your artistic creation of the most emblematic icon of Venice!     An unconventional and handcrafted moment to live with your family or friends! If you want e personal class, you can choose the private option (up 3 persons).

Inclusions: Course of production (you will keep the produced mask) and/or Course of decoration (you will keep the decorated mask), All necessary paints and supplies, Live commentary

Exclusions: Hotel pickup

Discover the fishbone-like shape Giudecca island, known to be Venice’s unofficial seventh sestiere, once an aristocratic retreat, later the city industrial centre and nowadays a trendy artistic district. Let’s walk through the largest and closest island to Venice, from which it is separated by the broad and deep Giudecca Canal enjoying breath-taking views on the splendid city. The peacefulness of the island also made it popular among religious communities and with patrician families who built palaces with lovely gardens and allotments there. You will see how after the fall of the Republic, these areas were converted into warehouses, barracks, prisons, factories and workers’ quarters, some of them nowadays converted for artistic ad modern purposes. You will be walking not only through the long pedestrian quay running the length of its Venice-facing side but also wandering its hidden lagoon-facing side with gardens, art galleries and residential neighbourhoods.

Inclusions: Tour leader & nature and interpretive guide

Exclusions: Gratuities, Water bus ticket to Giudecca island. Tickets will be purchased on board