• Private Tour
• Family Friendly
• Carbon Neutral

The Adriatic Sea and naval force played an essential role in the history of Venice. Want to know more? Let's discover this city's rich maritime history on a short private tour. Visit the Venetian Arsenal (shipyard) and hear more about the connection between Venice and the sea.

Destination

Venice, Italy

Category

City Highlight Tours

Duration

2 hours

Transport mode

Walking tour

Available languages

English, Italiano, 中文

Included

• Private guide

Excluded

• Drinks

What you can expect

This is the plan

Check out the plan below to see what you'll get up to with your local host. Feel free to personalize this offer with Veronica.

1. Meeting point

   Meet at Arsenale - Venice to start your journey

   View on Maps

2. Itinerary

   This is what our experience could look like, but it’s not set in stone! Once you book, you can chat directly with your host to make small tweaks to suit your preferences.

3. All Aboard!

   Hop on water bus Line N.1 and get off at the "Arsenale" stop. I will be waiting for you there!

4. Arsenal Introduction

   Let me introduce you to the Venetian Arsenal and its illustrious history, from the origins 'till nowadays! Venice's maritime power is a succession of engaging stories and charismatic personalities that will keep you hanging!

5. Unconventional District

   Walk with me along Castello, let's discover some hidden spots away from the crowd!

6. Optional Drink

   Let's make a stop in a small 'campo' and enjoy a drink together like locals do where we can enjoy a drink together if you like

7. Goodbye!

   Before saying goodbye, I'll share with you more personal recommendations to enjoy Venice to the max

8. Make it yours

   Want to tweak the itinerary? Book directly & chat afterwards with your host to adjust highlights, skip stops, or make small changes to fit your preferences.

   Book risk-free: Cancel within 24 hours for a full refund.

   Need something special? Personalize your experience for more time, alternative locations or a completely tailored plan.

I can personalize this tour for you

• Tell me your preferred date and group size
• Tell me your preferences and wishes so I can customize the tour for you
• Wait for my personal offer in your inbox!

Contact me

Flexible cancellation policy

• Feel confident booking

  Cancel within 24 hours for a full refund. Even up to 7 days before your experience, you’ll receive a refund, minus the service fee.

• Change of plans?

  Reschedule your experience to a date and time that works best for you.

• Loved by travelers worldwide

  Simple and flexible – your plans, your way.

Reviews from guests

Susan🇳🇿 New Zealand

17 October 2019

We did the Venice and the Sea tour with Veronica and it was absolutely one of the best tours we've ever done. I was with someone who is vision impaired, and Veronica had clearly put a lot of thought into creating a tour with many opportunities to touch things, bringing the history of Venice vividly to life for us both in a very enjoyable and entertaining way. Veronica also helped us figure out the public boat system afterwards, to the point where she travelled with us on the boat for part of the way! Thank you Veronica for a fantastic tour. Highly recommended. A superb guide!

William🇺🇲 United States Minor Outlying Islands

16 October 2024

Veronica was the best. Her knowledge about Venice, The Doges Palace, and Saint Marks were captivating. We did numerous kinds of tours while in Italy and Veronica topped them all. She took time to get to know us as well. The experience was personalized while still very professional. Communication was superior throughout the entire process. We hope to see Veronica again. Amazing Tour

Jacque🇺🇸 United States

15 October 2024

Veronica was an excellent guide. She was engaged and enthusiastic. She was so friendly, answered all our questions and was extremely knowledgable. We are so glad we met her and highly recommend her as a guide. Tour of Doge Palace and St Marks Square

Melissa🇺🇸 United States

7 October 2024

My husband and I were fortunate enough to choose Veronica for our private tour of St. Mark's Cathedral and the Doge's Palace in Venice. She was so passionate and knowledgeable, and her enthusiasm made us enjoy it more than we ever would have on our own or with an audio tour. The process was a breeze and she touched base with us as we made our way to our meeting point so finding her was easy on a crowded day. Without her expertise, we would never know what we were looking at. She answered our many questions and gave us insight that was fascinating. I can't recommend her enough!WORTH EVERY PENNY!

Nick🇩🇪 Germany

19 July 2024

Thank you Veronica for making our kids love to explore Venice. We learned a great many things and our kids couldn't wait to turn the next corner to see what they might find. It was a delight to see them discovering the city. Making learning fun

Nicole🇺🇸 United States

4 July 2024

Veronica was wonderful! She was engaging with our two kids and very patient. My kids are still talking about our time with her!! I wish we had booked more time with her!! Wonderful Guide!

Alison

1 July 2024

Veronica was fantastic! She was so knowledgeable and kept the kids (and adults!) engaged. Highly recommend!!Great family tour!

Jo🇦🇺 Australia

25 June 2024

It takes a special person to engage with teens with history on a hot Venetian afternoon. Veronica’s energy was infectious, and her dynamic and passionate storytelling was the perfect option. She accommodated our requests (including an excellent place to eat straight after), keeping our children actively involved, and impressed both my husband and myself with her incredible knowledge. Highly recommend!Engaging and personal family experience

Bruce🇺🇸 United States

26 May 2024

Veronica gave us (family of 4) a great tour of St Mark’s Basilica and the Doge’s Palace. She was on time and organized. We were amazed by how knowledgeable she was about the art and history of Venice. We all enjoyed her energy and spending the afternoon with her.Great tour with Veronica

Ruthie🇺🇸 United States

9 April 2024

Veronica was absolutely amazing. For a quick day trip to Venice, she was absolutely what we needed to be able to navigate the city and see the major points. She succeeded to taking us to the hot spots with tons of history lessons in between as well as helping us get our gondola ride. I would recommend Veronica to anyone wanting a tour of the city!!! Perfect!

Helen🇬🇧 United Kingdom

19 March 2024

Veronica is a wonderful guide. She was knowledgeable, interesting, kind, and a great communicator. My husband and I thought our time with Veronica was one of the highlights of our Venice visit. We would highly recommend Veronica.Wonderful guide

q4mhsg7n8m🇪🇸 Spain

8 December 2023

Guided tours are always a plus and especially by Veronica who gave my family a knowledgeable and fun guide with lots of information and passionate detail for history, art and all sorts of useful information to get around Venice. Had visited the city before but her guided tour of the Basilica and Palazzo Ducale made all the difference. Makes a difference!

Paula🇺🇸 United States

24 October 2023

Veronica did a great job taking our likes & interests into consideration during our tour! We had a smooth & very interesting experience. Veronica was familiar with the layout that she was able to steer us away of crowds and bottleneck spaces.Intro to Venice history

Kristie🇺🇸 United States

8 October 2023

Veronica is fabulous. We had limited time and she was able to show us the highlights. Her explanations were great and she added humor to the tour as well. She is friendly and personable and made the tour both informative and fun. She is passionate about art and architecture and I learned so much more than I ever expected. I now have a new appreciation for both and desire to learn more. Don’t hesitate to book a tour with her!Excellent guide

Michael🇺🇸 United States

3 October 2023

We couldn't be happier with our experience. Great communication, very enjoyable time exploring the wonders of the Doge palace and St. Mark's bascillica. Veronica took the time to answer our questions in detail, and shared a ton of information during the tour. Would highly recommend her services! Great tour!

Kathryn🇺🇸 United States

28 September 2023

We toured the Doge Palace and St. Marks Basilica with Veronica. She was delightful, energetic, and tremendously knowledgeable. If you’re looking for a guide, I highly recommend choosing Veronica. Exceptional guide!

Evan🇺🇸 United States

25 September 2023

We LOVED Veronica!! She was definitely unforgettable and provided a very enjoyable fun morning. Her deep knowledge of the Doge's Palace and St. Mark's Basilica truly brought these historic sites to life. We would rate her as one of the best and most interesting and fun guides-we have ever had. This tour was one of the highlights of our trip to Italy. We were having difficulty getting a water taxi to the airport & she picked up her phone & we immediately had a reservation. We would definitely recommend her to other travelers. Grazie, Veronica!Awesome Guide

Eun🇺🇸 United States

25 July 2023

We had such a wonderful morning with Veronica. She was so kind and warm, our tour through Murano felt like strolling around town with your best friend. Our three young kids had so much fun with her parents vs. kids scavenger hunt (especially since they won)! This was the perfect tour that was so fun that you don’t even realize it was a tour (and you actually learned something)! We love you Veronica!Perfect!

Allyson🇺🇸 United States

22 July 2023

We had the best time with Veronica. She was friendly, knowledgeable, and prepared. She kept my 12, 16, and 18 year olds engaged for the entire experience. Worth every penny

Dt🇺🇸 United States

14 July 2023

We booked the Doge's Palace & St. Mark's Basilica tour with Veronica for my family of 4. Veronica was a blast to be with and this was our most memorable tour in Italy. Veronica is funny, knowledgeable, cute, and was very entertaining. Since I booked the latest tour time there was to avoid some crowds and heat, Veronica was extremely accommodating and made all necessary arrangements prior to us arriving. There is no question that if you go to Venice, Booking with Veronica is the absolute the best tour guide you will have. If we visit Venice again, there is no doubt we would seek her out for tours. Veronica - BEST Guide you could hope for

Tamar🇺🇸 United States

28 June 2023

We had an amazing time exploring Venice with Veronica. She was so much fun! She generously shared her love and deep knowledge of every canal and calle. We couldn’t recommend the experience with her highly enough!Venice with Veronica

Victoriya🇺🇸 United States

27 June 2023

We had a wonderful city tour with Veronica! She was friendly, knowledgeable and kept our kids engaged the whole time with ‘treasure hunt’ game and prizes while telling us about history and culture of Venice. Her recommendations for lunch were also great. We highly recommend Veronica to all travelers and especially families with kids! Wonderful tour! Highly refommend it!

Cherrylyn 🇺🇸 United States

17 June 2023

Veronica was an amazing, smart, knowledgeable and interact well as a tour guide. We were exchanging emails until we finally met her in person. I’ve sent her tons of email enquiring about the tour and suggestions on what to do, where to eat & all other things not even related with her service. She replied all my enquiries & I was extremely grateful she was our guide. She bought the museum tickets for us and we reimbursed it on the day of the tour. Our experienced with Veronica was truly memorable and the reason we are coming back to Venice next year for another vacation this time we’ll stay longer and for sure we will ask her to be our guide. I found a friend in her. Words are not enough to thank her. Memorable family vacation in Venice

Adam🇺🇸 United States

9 June 2023

Veronica was amazing! She was a true professional from the start. Veronica customized a day for me and my wife to take in as much of Venice as possible. She purchased all necessary tickets and came totally prepared. Veronica took us through the Doge’s Palace, St Mark’s Basilica and the Rialto Bridge. Throughout our tour she added amazing insight and commentary on art, history and culture. We felt so lucky to have her take us through this incredible day. But perhaps even better than all the insight was Veronica’s personality and approach. She is so friendly and relatable, we felt like we were with an old friend taking in all the sights. I really can’t say enough, the day and Veronica absolutely exceeded our expectations. On a scale from 1-10, this was an 11. It was an 11 out of 10 experience!

Diane🇺🇸 United States

24 May 2023

Great communication. We only went for a day time. Veronica worked our short time into her schedule. Allowing the museums to be shared with us. Thank you so much. Highly recommend

Terry🇺🇸 United States

7 May 2023

We have a group of six from California. We thoroughly enjoyed the tour of the Doge’s Palace and St. Mark Basilica with Veronica. She is so knowledgeable, and she gives us both the historical and fun facts about the palace and basilica. She is very passionate about her job. Our tour was supposed to be three hours but she took her time and gave us an extra 30minutes without rushing us to finish the tour. We highly recommend Veronica for tours in Venice.Veronica is the best!

Raquel🇺🇸 United States

28 March 2023

We had a beautiful morning with Veronica - She was so fun and knowledgeable. We had a great time - Veronica is truly delightful and I would highly recommend her to anyone looking to build a deeper connection to the city they are traveling in. Veronica was our highlight of Venice

Dora🇺🇸 United States

15 March 2023

Veronica was very knowledgeable, engaging, and just fun! She felt like an old friend from the start, and was able to perceive of the needs of our group without us telling her. We highly recommend Veronica!Veronica is a rock star!

Unknown

10 March 2023

Veronica makes the tour exactly what you need it. She has a sense of humor that spans many languages and makes learning memorable and enjoyable! After spending three hours with her, you’ll want to invite her to dinner because she makes you feel like old friends. The absolute best

Biljana🇺🇸 United States

7 December 2022

Loved our Murano visit Awesome!

mjborch🇺🇸 United States

25 November 2022

Veronica is a great guide. Besides being warm and personable, she really knows her stuff and is passionate about sharing it with you. If you are wondering if you should take this tour, just do it. Great tour with Veronica!

Dee & Beth🇺🇸 United States

23 October 2022

We loved Veronica. She worked with our wants and needs. We will definitely recommend her to anyone wanting to have a stress free time in Venice!Wonderful Tour Guide

David🇺🇸 United States

22 October 2022

Veronica was so kind and helpful. She purchased skip the tickets for us and made everything so easy and convenient during our tour of St Mark’s and the Doge Palace! She was very knowledgeable and used her IPad to help bring the history to life. She was very friendly and personable. She was terrific! St. Mark’s and Doge Palace tour-Veronica

Paul🇺🇸 United States

27 September 2022

Have been on tours all over the world. I have to say that Veronica was the best guide I ever had !! We had a great day - so good she will be our tour guide again today. What a great person .Fantastic

Maria🇺🇸 United States

15 September 2022

Veronica is personable, friendly, and knowledgeable. We had a wonderful time at the Doge’s Palace and St Mark’s Basilica with her. We asked a lot of questions, and she was prepared to answer them. We skipped long queues with her as she knows her way around. Wonderful experience

Robert🇺🇸 United States

13 September 2022

Me and my two adult sons spent the day with Veronica in Murano and Venice. She met us at the train station and brought us back at the end of the day. Veronica was very knowlegeable about every aspect of Venice and walked us around to see all the sites. We stopped for coffee, gelato, and even cicchetti and a spritz before heading home. Veronica arranged a water taxi to take us to a glass factory in Murano. Definately one of the highlights of the trip, among many. We all would enthusiatically recommend Veronica for any trip to the area.Perfect Day

Jessica🇺🇸 United States

7 September 2022

Veronica was the perfect guide! Not only is she extremely intelligent and knowledgeable, her upbeat and warm energy is engaging and contagious. We booked her for a tour of St. Marks Cathedral and the Doge’s Palace and she had a wide range of information regarding the history, art and culture of Venice. I imagine she would be a great guide for any tour and also with families. Truly highly recommend! Our favorite tour guide ever!

Helen🇬🇧 United Kingdom

2 September 2022

A truly magical morning spent in Murano with our family guide, Veronica. We started with a wonderful hour or so with the glass blowing master and his expert colleague. A fabulous experience for all the family and a sight to behold! Then we moved onto an exciting scavenger hunt for the children! Great fun, lots of laughs and smiles and very engaging and enjoyable for us all. A fun and memorable morning in Murano. Veronica made it special for us all!Magical Murano

Sarah🇨🇦 Canada

1 September 2022

Veronica is such a warm and engaging person that she could tour you through a paper factory and you’d be thrilled. Her passion for her city and its history make this tour engaging and fun. She has a great sense of humour that was laced through her tour, we just adored her 💕An amazing guide

Joe🇬🇧 United Kingdom

28 August 2022

What can I say? Veronica was outstanding. She instantly put our tired children at ease (two 11yrs and 7yrs boys) and was authentic, entertaining and really interesting. We had a really positive time and Veronica made our time so special. We all learnt lots in a really enjoyable way. She was brilliant by instigating mini quizzes and generously providing small prizes. Even our cynical 11yr old was completely won over. Thank you so much. Doge’s Palace and Morano

Unknown

24 August 2022

We absolutely loved Veronica. She was very pleasant, kind, and informative. She also gave us recommendations and helped booked us a taxi and translated for us. Highly recommend her for your private tour.Awesome

Rasila🇺🇸 United States

22 August 2022

Veronica was fun, great and had interesting information to share. Her English was very good! She was awesome! Highly recommend her and Withlocals. Absolutely great experience

Alan🇺🇸 United States

10 August 2022

We use guides all around the world and have to say that we truly enjoyed our time with Veronica…From the moment we met her, she was our type of guide…entertaining, funny, knowledgeable and your local friend… it was never a struggle..her English is great, she is not looking to get away, she knew her stuff in depth but she was so engaging the time just flew by and some…Thank-you Veronica…May your dreams come true..Ciao..More than 10 hearts

Deepak🇲🇾 Malaysia

19 July 2022

Veronica is just brilliant…she is knowledgeable, adaptable and more over just a very very nice person. I would highly recommend her to host your next visit to Venice for local attractions and the history of the city, cathedrals and palaces. Truly a Magnificent Tour

Jeff🇺🇸 United States

10 July 2022

Veronica was exceptionally personable, knowledgeable and passionate about Venice. We learned a lot, she paced the time very well, and we were able to see all the highlights of the Basilica and Doge’s Palace efficiently and enjoyably! We would highly recommend Veronica for any sightseeing desires in Venice. Fantastic local experience!

Ryan🇺🇸 United States

8 July 2022

We enjoyed every minute of this tour and felt like we learned a lot but not in a dry way. My kids are 13 and 17 and they were engaged the entire time. She made it fun for all of 6 of us which aged from 13-72. ❤️❤️❤️❤️ Highly recommend a tour with Veronica. Loved loved loved this tour with Veronica!

Amy🇺🇸 United States

5 July 2022

Veronica was amazing! We missed our morning water taxi to Murano Island and then once we got the next one, I made a rookie mistake and got off on the wrong stop, making us an hour late. Veronica was very patient with us and was still able to complete our tour as scheduled. It was a hot day and she made sure we took water breaks and had a great experience. She happily shared some amazing history and fun facts with my son (8yr) to keep him engaged. Thank you for sharing your amazing city with us!Murano Island

fawzia🇺🇸 United States

4 July 2022

Our family recently traveled to Venice with 4 kids 7-12, never having visited and not speaking the language I was nervous about how to engage the kids and show them around. One night I came upon this website and was excited to see that we could tailor the visit for the kids and that it would also be affordable I was really looking forward to this part our trip to Europe. All I can say is WOW! What a wonderful experience for the kids and adults alike. Veronica crafted an incredible scavenger hunt through Venice and Murano Island (we had 2 days with her) Not only was she a veritable fountain of knowledge, but she was kind and funny and we absolutely loved her. We learned so much and as a parent it was a huge relief to be able to provide this very worthwhile experience. For sure we will be using Withlocals services for our next trip and if lucky enough to visit Venice again will definitely seek out Veronica as our guide again. Do it you will absolutely not be disappointed….in fact you will pay yourself on the back for your excellent planning!🤣Best part of a fabulous vacation!

Unknown

27 June 2022

Thank you Veronica for a wonderful time! You are knowledgeable and fun. I highly recommend you!Simply the best

Patricia 🇮🇹 Italy

27 June 2022

Veronica was fantastic. She is very knowledgeable, she explained the fascinating history of the Basilica and the Doge's Palace. Friendly, she answered all my questions before and during the tour, a very pleasant lady. She made our visit to Venice so wonderful, I can't write enough about how great she is. I have family coming to visit next month and I will definitely book her again. Excellent tour!