Venice Tour: Doge’s Palace and St. Mark’s Basilica Tickets with Small Islands Visit

A single day. A unique opportunity. Discover Venice and its two small islands including the most interesting sites and experiences. Rialto Bridge, St. Mark’s Basilica, a bird’s-eye view of St. Mark’s Square, and the Doge’s Palace are some of the larger, most famous things to see on this tour. We’ll also visit quieter, lesser-known locations including hidden streets and picturesque piazzas. 

From these off the beaten path spots, you’ll get a feel for what it is like living life on the floating city. Then we’ll take you to the small but world-renowned islands of Murano and Burano – and we’ll do it all in one unbelievable day.[readmore]We begin your adventure at the Rialto Bridge then embark on a journey through the winding Venetian streets and over its tiny bridges. Marvel before Renaissance architecture with unmistakably Byzantine influences amidst modern edifices, a stark juxtaposition of styles that showcase the eclectic approach to the city’s design and development. Now on to the Bridge of Sighs and St. Mark’s Square (once named the “finest drawing room in all of Europe” by none other than Napoleon himself).

 With our Skip-the-Line Access, you’ll be whisked past the lines of tourists waiting to enter St. Mark’s Basilica and go straight inside. Stand in awe below the famed onion dome, the perfect blending of eastern and western design then admire the beautiful frescoes housed within.

Our mainland tour continues at the Doge’s Palace, former home to the Duke of Venice and the city’s courts. You’ll see the best sights of the palace open to the public including masterpieces by Tintoretto and Veronese. It is a wonderful way to wrap up the initial portion of your guided tour before setting off for 1 hour and 30 minutes of free time to explore the area on your own. Visit local stores, peruse artisanal offerings, enjoy an authentic Venetian lunch – the choice is entirely yours. Or simply rest and relax and people watch as throngs of tourists and Venetian locals stream by.

For the second leg of this unrivalled tour, you’ll board a comfortable water taxi across the lagoon to the timeless islands of Murano and Burano. Your expert, local English-speaking guide will continue to entertain you with stories of the sites you’ll be passing and before you know it you’ll be disembarking on the shores of Murano, our first stop. 

Today these incredible artisans can come and go as they please but they still craft their work with the original authenticity of their ancestors. Watch them in action as they go about their business, your guide bringing the process to colorful life as vibrantly as the glass creations you’re witnessing.

Jump back onboard the boat and we are off to Burano, our final island destination. See the area’s famous multicolored houses huddled tightly together along canal streets with laundry strung between each facing window. Then be treated to Burano’s centuries-old tradition of lacemaking. You’ll see women, passing their trade down for generations, working feverishly stitching lace like their mothers and grandmothers before them. Watch as they work painstakingly designing every detail – a dying art in the age of sewing machines and mass production.