15 History Tours in Venice Worth Booking

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

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 2,478 reviews · 3 hours 30 minutes (approx.) · from $129Our pick

Review of Venice’s Best tour with guided Basilica and Doge’s Palace visits, a shared gondola ride, museums, and a clever VR history gallery.

“The tour guide is super knowledgeable, professional and nice! Learned so much about Venice, Basilica, and Doge! The guide made the buildings and paintings much more interesting and significant! Highly recommended! Thank you very much.”

Check availability →Read our full review

2.City Center Historical Guided Walking Tour

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

Explore Venice on foot from St. Mark’s Square to Rialto, with hidden calli, La Fenice, VR history, and an optional gondola ride.

“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.”

Check availability →Read our full review

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

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

Ride Venice’s Bell Tower to 98 meters for sweeping city views, then explore a VR history gallery with skip-the-line admission.

“Splendid panoramic views from the city’s tallest building. Open to the elements so is quite windy.”

Check availability →Read our full review

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

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 586 reviews · 2 to 3 hours (approx.) · from $116Top rated

Tour Venice’s Doge’s Palace, Bridge of Sighs, St. Mark’s Basilica, museums, VR gallery, and optional bell tower with skip-the-line entry.

“A message to our guide - "Thank you so much. for making this experience memorable". One of the highlights of our trip.”

Check availability →Read our full review

5.Natural History Museum Entry Ticket

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

Review of Venice’s Natural History Museum, with dinosaur fossils, a Grand Canal palazzo, family tips, pricing, access, and practical advice.

“Excellent attraction. Interactive and informative. Modern displays for ancient and old artifacts and specimens. Great views of grand canal. Lovely calm garden and internal courtyard. Very helpful and friendly staff. 100 years old this year. They have a dinosaur and lots of great fossils. I always come here for a wander and break from thecrowd's when in Venice”

Check availability →Read our full review

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

★★★★★★★★★★3.5 · 148 reviews · 1 hour (approx.) · from $33

Skip the line at St. Mark’s Basilica, explore its Byzantine art, and add a mobile audio guide, live guide, VR visit, or Doge’s Palace option.

“Even with our reserved 12:30 time slot , we still waited in line for almost two hours. We left due to other plans. As a matter of fact , we wanted a full refund back.”

Check availability →Read our full review

7.Venice, Submarine Enrico Dandolo and Naval History Museum

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

Board Venice’s Enrico Dandolo submarine, explore its torpedo room, and visit the Naval History Museum near the Arsenal.

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

Check availability →Read our full review

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

★★★★★★★★★★4.0 · 62 reviews · from $65

Review of Venice’s Doge’s Palace tour with skip-the-line entry, expert guides, Bridge of Sighs, Correr Museum access, and practical tips.

“My experience with Viator tours has always been positive, well-informed guides with a passion for their work. Their knowledge has been deep and their answers to questions thought provoking. Sadly, today was not the of the same caliber. 1. The meetup was confusing as we had to redeem our reservations at a kiosk, and we were met with a guide from VivaTicket. Is this a division of Viator? 2. When the guide hurried across the Square, many of us were lost as we couldn’t find her as it was very crowded, but there was a belated effort to gather us up again.. 3. Once inside confusion began as we were…”

Check availability →Read our full review

9.Venice Lagoon Tour with Historic Venetian Boat

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 47 reviews · 1 hour (approx.) · from $82

Cruise Venice’s lagoon in a private historic wooden boat, with a guide, San Marco views, and an onboard aperitif for $82.90.

“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.”

Check availability →Read our full review

10.Venetian Watercolors Painting Workshop at the Historic Art Circle

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 45 reviews · 1 hour 30 minutes (approx.) · from $27

Paint Venice beside a quiet canal with master artist Nicola, learning watercolor techniques in a small group and taking home your own artwork.

“Great experience. He was very patient with my mom and helped her to color in her drawing and helped to me understand how to use water colors”

Check availability →Read our full review

11.Entrance Ticket to the Naval Historical Museum

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

Explore Venice’s Naval Historical Museum near Piazza San Marco, with historic boats, ship models, paintings, and Far Eastern vessels.

Check availability →Read our full review

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

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 22 reviews · 3 hours (approx.) · from $112

Walk Venice’s Castello quarter, see Marco Polo’s house, then skip the line into Doge’s Palace, prisons, and the Bridge of Sighs.

“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!!”

Check availability →Read our full review

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

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

Explore Venice through Marco Polo, Bellini, Rialto legends, hidden churches, and St. Mark’s Square on a private art and history walk.

“The history behind the many sites outlined by Alessandro. Alessandro was very knowledgeable and loved his city.”

Check availability →Read our full review

14.Bell Tower Priority Ticket & History Gallery Experience

★★★★★★★★★★3.5 · 20 reviews · 1 hour (approx.) · from $45

Review of Venice’s St. Mark’s Bell Tower priority ticket, panoramic views, virtual reality gallery, price, tips, and potential ticket issues.

“Interesting and recommended. A nice view of the area. You definitely want to pass the line. I would not say must do but definitely interesting to experience and also see the bells up close.”

Check availability →Read our full review

15.two-hour walk from Rialto to San Marco between history, traditions and art

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 14 reviews · from $139

Walk from Rialto to San Marco with Venetian guide Alessandro, exploring markets, Marco Polo’s neighborhood, Gothic art, and local traditions.

“Alessandro was an amazing tour guide whose passion for the city and intimate knowledge of its art, architecture, and history made our experience incredible. His command of English, knowledge of how to get around efficiently, and his sincRead more”

Check availability →Read our full review