I don't hear much on walking tours of Venice. A search here yielded only scant posts. This seemed like a good way to see some of the city on a Saturday night. Any thoughts or reviews of this company?

http://www.tours-italy.com/venice/ghost_walk.htm

Sorry; should have said this is a ghost walk hosted by Avventure Bellissime tours.

We took this tour:

http://www.veniceevents.com

and really, really liked it. The guides spoke perfect english. We took their boat tour as well and that was great. I'm actually doing them both a second time with my mother-in-law in a few weeks. And they are currently having an on-line sale.

A ghost walk sounds fun!

I doubt you'll find anything more intense than http://www.venicescapes.org/

Michael Broderick is a genius, handsome, too. I just wish he could lighten up and have more fun. His custom-made tour books are pure works of art, the finest I've ever seen from anyone. As a collector's piece, it's worth every cent of the cost of a tour, if not more.

Hi, mdtravel!

We took a tour with Avventure Bellisime in March--not of Venice, but of Ravenna. I can tell you the company was very easy to work with, the driver was very good, and the guide was wonderful!

The only caveat: The tour was rather expensive. But we found it more than worthwhile.

I went on the Avventura Bellissime 'ghost walk' two weeks ago. It wasn't really a ghost walk at all but a very entertaining walk in the company of a charming Italian man, who told us some amusing anecdotes about the city. It made a nice change for one evening. Not suitable for anyone with walking difficulties - he set a cracking pace.

I've been on a Secret gardens of Venice walk. You visited three gardens, two of them attached to convents.
I also enjoyed the Frari walk which had a very interesting and well-informed guide.
There were leaflets about them in the hotel. You could book, but it was in May and we just turned up.

This is the website for the Secret Gardens tour
http://tours-italy.com/venice/secret_gardens.htm

the Frari tour is at http://tours-italy.com/venice/polo_dorsoduro.htm

There are others at http://tours-italy.com/venice/walking_tours.htm
but I can't personally vouch for them

Try here:

http://www.walksinsidevenice.com/english/introd.html

I did not wind up booking a tour, but corresponding with them was a very nice experience.

Wow. Thanks for all of the responses folks. We are in Venice for three nights and I'm struggling with this. On this Saturday, do we take an evening walking tour, or just hang out in the square forever and then crash. We will have Friday and Monday nights to hang out as well. The idea of a night walking tour intrigued me b/c it will be in August and very hot. This seemed like a nice way to see some of the sites when the crowds are thinner and the temps cooler.

One of the aspects I liked about the walk we did was that it took us off the beaten track through some small, quiet streets and squares which we might not otherwise have seen.

By "hang out in the square" I take it you mean St Mark's ? We thought it was pretty ghastly & passed through it as quickly as possible whenever we had to go there.

On our last night we considered treating ourselves to a drink outside one of the cafes there (not Florian) until we realised it would be €38 for 2 G&Ts !!

I'm taking my second trip to Venice in a few weeks and this is what we are doing. The first morning we are there we are going to take a walking tour of all the highlights and history of Venice. This really gives you an overview of the place. It gets you used to the geography of where everything is and shows you what you might want to go back and see in more depth. The tour is at 11:30 am. The buildings provide a lot of shade.

Then next evening, we are taking a boat tour around the place. This will be nice and refreshing after being out all day, and the tour shows you so much from the water. The boats are these adorable wooden speed boats. They even give you a cocktail. That tour starts at 5:30 pm.

Right now www.veniceevents.com is having a sale so that if you book ahead on-line, you get both tours for 50 euros total. That is a great deal.

As for hanging out in the square, you will only want to do that in the early morning or late in the evening after all the tourists and pigeon feeders are gone. There are stands that sell pigeon feed, so the place is crawling with flying rats all day. And the drinks and food will be VERY expensive there. If you take a walking tour your first day, you may find other places you want to explore in the evenings.

We did both a day walking tour that focused more on history/politics/religion that was very informative but I prefered the night walking tour for temperature and topic. It was a bit "lighter" in content and the cooler (not cool) temperature was appreciated. I would suggest taking a cold bottle of water with you since there are no stops long enough to pick one up while walking. Although marketed as a Ghost Tour, it was not what I expected. I've been on tours in the US discussing the paranormal and had expected that type of tour. Nope, nothing like that but still enjoyable.

Does a visit to Murano interest you?

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