Venice Free Walking Tour
Venice Free Walking Tour
Venice Free Walking Tour
5
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About
Venice Free Walking Tour is organized by professional tour guides and tour leaders. Every tour is both fun and educational, the perfect introduction to the city and its thousands of years of history.
Venice, Veneto, Italy
Awards
Travelers' Choice
2024
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Venice Free Walking Tour
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Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
Popular mentions
5.0
8,014 reviews
Excellent
7,093
Very good
700
Average
124
Poor
41
Terrible
57
AnDRH85
London, UK17 contributions
Sep 2020 • Couples
Complete tour, easy to follow. Simona did a great job and was funny and helpful. It was my second visit to Venice and I discovered few new things. Well done!!
Also I would like to comment the last review as it looks we were on the same group: Of course the tour isn't free... who gives 2 hours of her time to people on holidays? I always do this tours because allows you to pay an amount which you thing is fair, and if you don't like it, you just leave and don't pay, but be polite and tell the guide you are leaving, (please don't be cross and catch the joke. Even if you leave without say anything, I don't think Simona is going to follow you around Venice) and yes, she explained how the tour works and mentioned the average cost of a restaurant, but not pressurising anyone.
Kuddos to Venice free walking tours, and especially, of course, to Simona.
Also I would like to comment the last review as it looks we were on the same group: Of course the tour isn't free... who gives 2 hours of her time to people on holidays? I always do this tours because allows you to pay an amount which you thing is fair, and if you don't like it, you just leave and don't pay, but be polite and tell the guide you are leaving, (please don't be cross and catch the joke. Even if you leave without say anything, I don't think Simona is going to follow you around Venice) and yes, she explained how the tour works and mentioned the average cost of a restaurant, but not pressurising anyone.
Kuddos to Venice free walking tours, and especially, of course, to Simona.
Written October 3, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
bobby
Newbury, UK28 contributions
Aug 2020 • Family
This was our first activity in Venice we were greeted with a friendly warm person who helped us understand Venice as it was our first time. Simona was very kind and made everyone feel welcome she educated us with the history of Venice and gave us more of a background which we did not know. Simona encouraged everyone to take part and be active and answering all questions and helping those who did not understand.
I recommend the walking tour as it is a nice way to get to know Venice and its people - especially Simona as she was kind and friendly.
I recommend the walking tour as it is a nice way to get to know Venice and its people - especially Simona as she was kind and friendly.
Written August 5, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
MKE_Melrose
Milwaukee, WI32 contributions
Aug 2019
Marialaura was an incredible tour guide. She took us all around Venice and explained how the city was laid out, the unique aspects of Venice and how the best way to see the city was just to wander (after all, it's a series of islands, so you really can't get lost). Very informative and quite long for a free tour. Our group was so large, they split us up between two tour guides, which was nice since it wasn't an overwhelming number of people. Highly recommended!!
Written January 6, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
HeatherMegaMauriFan
London272 contributions
Feb 2020
Do we really believe it's free ? So, there's no thing as a "free lunch", so is there really a "free" walking tour ? We have done a few "free" walking tours on our travels and have always tipped at the end. On this particular tour, our names, contact details were taken at the beginning where we were asked to line up in the square. We were told we could not just jump off if we wanted to, but had to report if we wanted to leave. We were told in the introduction to the tour that we should give what we wanted at the end of the tour, but we should consider in terms of what we can afford balanced against how much per hour we would normally pay if we booked an official walking tour. The narrative continued on about paying taxes and how this is a job. In previous walking tours the introduction was less formal and more about offering a 'tip' at the end if you are happy. To be honest, at that point we had had enough and wondered what we'd got ourselves into. It felt like a lecture and a guilt-trip. At the end of the 2-hours we were lined up again to give feedback and pay what we thought it was worth, which was very uncomfortable.
The tour itself was insightful and avoided the main attractions, but has left a bitter taste in our mouths.
Our guide was Simone, no-nonsense, direct, Lithuanian eager to share her own perspective of Venice.
The tour itself was insightful and avoided the main attractions, but has left a bitter taste in our mouths.
Our guide was Simone, no-nonsense, direct, Lithuanian eager to share her own perspective of Venice.
Written March 8, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Jeremy Y
6 contributions
Aug 2020 • Couples
We took Simona’s afternoon st Mark’s Square tour. We have done free walking tours in other cities in Europe and were very excited to embark on this Venetian adventure. The tour started off with a 2-minute long spiel about how much we should pay her at the end which was quite bizarre. Once the tour itself actually began, the stories and anecdotes were not very cohesive and at times quite rambly and difficult to follow (even for native English speakers).
She gives another tour in the morning but we had arrived in the afternoon so we jumped right into this tour which would have been fine but she deliberately omitted relevant historical information adding that this tour doesn’t cover history (even if it would have been relevant) and that it was only covered in her morning tour (I assume to get more people on that one).
Overall Simona seemed fairly knowledgeable and was willing to respond to questions asked between stops, however not all of the information she gave us was accurate. The most bizarre twist of all, however, came at the end when she took out a receipt book and *wrote down the name and country of each person on the tour* which was absolutely wild for a free tour that she emphasized was tips based on how much you thought the tour was worth.
tl;dr: the tour was not especially easy to follow or insightful, the tour guide was friendly, however her behavior surrounding payment was extremely uncomfortable and unprofessional for a free tour
She gives another tour in the morning but we had arrived in the afternoon so we jumped right into this tour which would have been fine but she deliberately omitted relevant historical information adding that this tour doesn’t cover history (even if it would have been relevant) and that it was only covered in her morning tour (I assume to get more people on that one).
Overall Simona seemed fairly knowledgeable and was willing to respond to questions asked between stops, however not all of the information she gave us was accurate. The most bizarre twist of all, however, came at the end when she took out a receipt book and *wrote down the name and country of each person on the tour* which was absolutely wild for a free tour that she emphasized was tips based on how much you thought the tour was worth.
tl;dr: the tour was not especially easy to follow or insightful, the tour guide was friendly, however her behavior surrounding payment was extremely uncomfortable and unprofessional for a free tour
Written August 26, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
240fran8
Greater London, UK7 contributions
Sep 2020
We did the morning tour from s.Apostoli last week. We were disappointed that our guide Simone made it very clear that she expected good recompense for her tour. She spent quite some time telling us this and used an analogy with eating at a restaurant where you could pay 50 euros if you were happy with the meal. This amount seemed to stick in our mond and I am sure everyone else’s that this was the expectation. She even inferred that if anyone left the group without telling her “she knows who we are and she would find us”.. We felt pressurised to give that amount but at just a two hour two giving a lot of information that was in our Venice guide book we felt it was overpriced.We saw a lot of the 45 people in the group give large sums of money. Next time we will pay up front for a guided tour so we know exactly what the expectations are.
Written September 28, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Jon S
Singapore6 contributions
Feb 2020 • Couples
Was brought around on a cold, foggy and magical morning tour by guide SIMONA (or Simone, I forgot the spelling). She was humourous, witty and shared many interesting stories on the history of the city and buildings that we came across. She was polite as well in crowd and passer-by management and even gave us good tips on how to best explore the city. I would also recommend the map given out at the end of the tour. That is one key to also exploring the city on your own.
Written February 6, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Rhea
Mumbai, India3 contributions
Sep 2019
We took two tours, one was in the morning with Ricardo and the evening with Elena. Both the guides explained the history of the city and the monuments before we reached so that we could really take in the beauty of the place. Since both of us were the youngest in the group the guides really helped us figure authentic places to eat and how to avoid being over charged. The tour was way better than any of the paid tours and the guides are extremely helpful and well read.
Written June 20, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Jens K
Heidelberg, Germany1 contribution
May 2021 • Couples
We have been taking the tour with Simona and we’re very happy! Her style is both entertaining and professionell and she is always able to provide background details due to her profound knowledge about the city and its related history. We would always recommend this tour, in fact for us our benefit was to obtain a concise and insightful reference in order to continue exploring the town ourselves later own. Thanks s lot!
Written June 14, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Bill L
Buffalo, NY276 contributions
Feb 2020
Marialaura was a fantastic guide and host to our tour of Venice. She provided tons of information on the origins of the city and key events through time. Her comments on sustainable tourism were a unique way of encouraging the support of the local community. Her map and tips on favorite places throughout Venice were greatly appreciated and her advice paid off with a wonderful meal after the tour.
Written February 9, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Hello,
How do I book myself onto the Venice free walking tours? Is there a starting point and at what intervals in the day are they available?
Thanks
Written June 25, 2023
Also the tours are daily at 11.00am from campo SS Apostoli but they also two other tours which are on particular days of the week.
Written June 27, 2023
Findet die Tour morgen 26.02. statt?
Written February 25, 2020
Dear friends, thank you for choosing Venice Free Walking Tour!
Unfortunately due to Coronavirus all activities in Veneto Region must be closed until the 1st of March.
We hope to see you the next time!
Best Regards
Venice Free Walking Tour
Written February 26, 2020
Hi guys, I'm looking at tours first week of October. I know these aren't available to book yet, but can you please advise for the afternoon tour North, does this start at the "summer" time of 5pm or the "winter" time of 3pm? Thanks
Written February 15, 2020
I would reserve as soon as available then communicate with the guides directly
Written February 25, 2020
Hey Richraithby, who did you book your tour with?
Written January 13, 2020
Just submitted on the website. My guide was Lu, she is great.
Written February 11, 2020
HI, can you please let me know how you booked the walking tour as the website link is not working. Thanks in advance.
Written December 26, 2019
We booked through the website. Really worth it to try again until the link works. It was amazing!
Written January 1, 2020
Hello! Are the walking tours available in late January early February 2020? Thank you.
Written November 7, 2019
Sorry, no idea, you will have to contact them through their website.
Written November 7, 2019
moshe
Los Angeles, California
Do you offer tours on Saturday in August (are the synagogues open for tourists on Saturday)?
Written November 5, 2019
There is a walking tour on Saturday. I am not sure about the synagogues.
You are better off contacting them directly as you have directed your question to people who have reviewed this tour.
Written November 5, 2019
yes right on their web site but in our case we waited too long and the tour was full. We went to the meeting point anyways. We were able to get in so don't let anyone full group deter you. Go a little early so you can get in the wait line.
Written October 21, 2019
Hola Melisa como estas? Te escribo porque quería consultarte en que pag web hiciste el booking para el free walking tour.
Gracias.
Rosario.
Written October 10, 2019
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