A little expensive but very convenient. Nice large Mercedes van to the dock. Transferred to…read morebeautiful private wooden boat. We skipped the gondola ride and enjoyed this convenient transportation from the airport instead. Tip: grab some beers at the dock to enjoy your boat ride.

We used Blitz as our VIP Private Transfer while in Venice and staying at the JW Marriott. This…read moreentailed both a private SUV service and a beautiful boat trip to the island (we had the same model Angelina Jolie's character drove in "The Tourist". Exceptional, punctual and courteous service. Each of our Drivers and Captains were top-notch and helped to make our beautiful journey all the better! Everyone was as friendly as can be! We highly recommend Blitz for all your transportation needs while in Venice.

We did the ghost tour. It was very informative and historical. The tour guide was energetic and…read morepretty loud for a big group. This was our first day in Venice so once night fell and we were being lead around very dark corners it was nice to be with a guide as the tourists disappeared. I loved the folklore told and learned a lot about Venice from this tour. I'd highly recommend it!

One of the best tours we had while on vacation. They were very organized and professional. We…read moreexplored parts of Venice on a very nice motor boat that accommodated a group of 8 people. Our tour guide was excellent. He explained the sights and took us through the less touristy areas which was awesome because we experienced the city like locals. It was a wonderful hour long ride and very well worth the price. There's no way we would've covered so much on gondolas and we would've paid double! So glad we experienced the canals with Avventure Bellissime. I recommend them and look forward to taking another tour with them on a return visit!

From the airport, to your hotel, the Water Taxis are the ONLY BEST way to travel!…read more We were there as a tourist, everything almost 90% of the things we did in Venice, were planned by our Tour Company. Tickets are bought, schedule for pick up from the airport to our hotel, or hotel to the airport @ the end of our trip, DONE. Again, we took the Water Taxi, to Marco Polo during our day sight-seeing, and we spend our time (getting lost - they want you to) walking back to our hotel. That's the only way to digest EVERYTHING - well not everything ABOUT Venice, but just the walking part. You can take any type of transportation, it's not 100% made up of water, islands, & bridges, you know!!! They have streets, too! If you're the luckier ones, let someone go first from the airport, specially when it's dark. Just keep your eyes closed (once inside the cabin), you can't see much anyway. BUT, if someone doesn't want to sit outside the cabin, just bring your scarf, cover your hair, and go! That's the lucky part - when someone don't want to sit out back, because it's cold or they don't want to get their hair messed up), but I'm TELLING YOU, that's the best part to sit when you're heading to St. Mark's Square. Some one did offer me the back cabin, and I now have the open space, stand up to take hundreds of shots (thousands if I want to) of Venice & the Grand Canal. I was in Heaven! The first time I saw Venice, 40 years ago, I didn't see much of the water & Venice, and the sight I'm seeing when we went last week. It was mostly nights, and the day was spent inside museums, and the plaza. The Water Taxi are friendly, helpful, and prompt & clean! You won't even have to wear a life jacket! I guarantee you a lifetime of memory, but have your travel agent or tour company make all arrangements!

Venezia Turismo Motoscafi honestly just sucks - avoid at all costs…read more We pre-booked a private water taxi from the Venice Airport to our hotel for 150 Euros. We arrived at the correct dock and met up with the person who was responsible for making sure we got on our boat, Mirko, who told is to wait. We sat there for over an hour and a half waiting, believing naively that there was a boat for us that WE PAID TO RESERVE. Mirko left half way through and when we asked the other staff how much longer we were very rudely brushed off and told 10-15 more minutes. We finally got sick of watching party after party that arrived after us board boats, and called the company. After numerous attempts and even more frustration we finally got ahold of someone and whoops, turns out Mirko had just gone home and forgotten about us. When I asked how this could happen and if there was a manager we could discuss with we were just rudely told "sorry no." They finally put is on a boat after we demanded the next boat from the remaining employee there. It would have been faster and 1000 times less frustrating to just take the water bus and drag our suitcases across Venice. We tried our best not to let this horrible experience ruin our night but it was honestly an extremely rude welcome to Venice and at best wasted 2 hours we could have spent enjoying the city. Show some basic courtesy and respect to paying customers who are trying to support your extremely sh*tty business and f*cking do what we people pay you to do.

I was very disappointed. We didn't get to explore many of the canals, rather spending a large…read moreportion of the tour at the edge of the city and the lagoon. Further, the guide didn't seem to care much about the quality of our experience. She literally said "this is a group of younger people, so we can do a chill tour" -- I took this to mean she would be informal, but it turned out to mean she put minimal effort into educating us about the city or the ensuring we were getting to see the sights. There were people in the tour more interested in taking pictures, but instead of making sure that we stayed on track the guide just sat in her kayak while they took selfies. It was fun to paddle around in a kayak, and doing so at sunset was absolutely beautiful. But overall, this "tour" is definitely not worth the price.

I had SO much fun! Instructor and guide, Anna, was so knowledgeable and patient. She was such a…read morepleasure to talk to, it felt like a local friend was showing me around Venice. She had a friend with her--Andrea--who was also a local and SO NICE and KNOWLEDGEABLE! When I could not hear Anna, Andrea would relay the information back to me. As well as ask her in Italian really fast if I had any questions. She may become a guide as well so if you can somehow request either of these two girls you will get your full money's worth! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED and will 100000% be back next time in Venice!

We had such a wonderful time kayaking in Venice!! Review is a little late... went kayaking in June!…read moreBut it was so so amazing to be able to go inside all the small canals and really look up close. We also went in the grand canal which was a little scary at first... but it was really incredible! Thank you for giving us a once in a lifetime experience!!

This is a MUST DO while in Venice! Nicola made us feel like true locals. We learned so much from…read morehim regarding the history of rowing. He took us to the Grand Canal to row as well as small quiet canals. He took wonderful photos for us too! We could not have imagined how great this experience would be! Forget the touristy gondola rides and absolutely book this lesson to row! You will not regret it!

What a wonderful day we spent on a "topo" and a "San pietro." Our group of five adults and six…read morechildren from 10-17 had an amazing day seeing islands of Venice and sights tourists don't normally see the certosa and the fort andrea(?) that kept Venice safe. Making it the world power it was in a be past due to its small manoverable ships. The knowledge of the young men made us see what entice was like and shared with us their passion that it would control bye to exist even with the encroachment of the huge cruise ships and continue inued dreggung if the canals. bravo to Venice on board

VenetoInside.com is an authorized third-party resale site that focuses on activities and tickets to…read moreattractions in the Veneto region. While most people associate the Veneto with Venice, it also covers popular cities Verona (of Romeo and Juliet fame) and Padua (a university town). Most people know about VenetoInside.com if they are doing research for independent travel as they are the authorized retailers of skip-the-line tickets to St. Mark's Basilica and St. Mark's Campanile (bell tower). The tickets are on sale during peak season (April 1 to November 2) and can be booked 10 minutes before the chosen time. Skip-the-line for the bell tower can be booked from April 1 to October 31. When you purchase the tickets make sure to follow the directions exactly. I highly recommend buying skip-the-line tickets especially during peak tourist season. Though the basilica doesn't charge admission, you are not allowed to skip the line. With limited vacation time, it's certainly worth paying a few euros to maximize your sightseeing. https://www.venetoinside.com/attraction-tickets-in-veneto/tickets/skip-the-line-saint-marks-basilica/ https://www.venetoinside.com/attraction-tickets-in-veneto/tickets/st-marks-bell-tower-skip-the-line-entry/ Alternatively I bought a guided tour ("St. Mark's Cathedral and it's Treasures") which is a tour with skip-the-line privileges and admission to the Treasury and Pala d'Oro, which is normally separate from the basilica. They also promote exclusive access to the St. Mark's Baptistery and Zen Chapel. I had no problem with buying my ticket and redeeming it for my tour. My only issue was that the guide's accent was so thick I had to supplement my visit with Rick Steves' audioguide. Not only was I able to understand much more, that audioguide was free. https://www.venetoinside.com/tours-activities-in-veneto/tour/venice-st-marks-cathedral-and-its-treasures-skip-the-line/ The other popular option is skip-the-line guided tours of the basilica and Doge's Palace, the other major attraction in Venice. This makes sense as they are literally next to each other. The only reason why I didn't do this is because I wanted to do the Secret Itineraries tour, which is sold separately and bought directly from the Doge's Palace website. *** Another popular excursion in Venice is visiting the islands in the Venetian lagoon: Murano, Burano and Torcello. There are two options for doing this. https://www.venetoinside.com/tours-activities-in-veneto/tour/half-day-excursion-murano-burano-torcello/ (guided tour) https://www.venetoinside.com/tours-activities-in-veneto/tour/hop-on-hop-off-venice-islands-boat-tour/ (DIY option) The DIY option did not exist at the time of my visit (~July 2018) so I chose the half-day visit. I made the most of my half-day tour as it included a glassware demonstration in Murano and transportation via chartered boat (as opposed to a vaporetto) with information given in English, Italian, Spanish and French. Subsequent visits I will do the DIY option as this will give me time to explore the colorful houses in Burano and have lunch and visit the chapel/climb the bell tower in Torcello. While perusing the reviews of the activities it seems like whoever responds to the negative reviews treats the review writer with disdain, mostly accusing the person for not paying attention to the instructions. I found this quite rude. There is a certain level of decency that should be respected when responding to negative reviews - hospitality 101. I hope they take this into consideration.

Easy to buy skip the line tix for the basilica and just show them on your phone. Very convenient…read more Don't pass up the 'extra' tours inside the basilica. They are all worth the extra few Euros. We especially enjoyed the last one which let you go upstairs to see the amazing gold mosaics up close and most wonderful you can go out on the roof overlooking the piazza- stunning views. No pics allowed inside but the vistas from this roof terrace were super. Can't believe I missed this on an earlier visit.