Venice Day Trip from Milan with Guided City Tour

Everything was well organized. The pace was comfortable: not to fast, nor too slow. The gondola ride was absolutely amazing experience. The one thing to notice, on the way back wasn't considered to make a restroom stop. It's a long ride. Have to ask twice before it was considered to make a stop. I was not the only one. Otherwise it is a beautiful experience.

Very full on, seven hours on a coach was very tiring, pity there wasn’t a rail option. Our English guid didn’t give you time to absorb the beauty around you and moved very quickly. How ever our main guide did point us the right direction for a good restaurant. The optional gondola ride was well priced but we were taken down back street canals which were not very photogenic.

As first time visitors to Venice, my wife and I were excited to see the famed city. The 3 hour bus ride there was expected, as we stopped at a rest stop for some breakfast and bathroom break. Another stop is needed to pick up other tourists as well. Once we arrived in Venice, the boat cruise is not a 'cruise', but just a ferry from the bus drop off to Venice. Closed cabin boat on a very hot day was not a great start. Our tour then split into 2 groups, English and Spanish, which was very helpful and much easier moving forward. Our guide was knowledgeable and answered almost all of our questions, but it was not 2 hours and not very long in distance. After we passed St. Marks Square, we moved to a very brief glass blowing demonstration, which then led to a room with beautiful glassware. There was an attendant explaining the glassware, colors and shapes, but it quickly turned into a 30 minute sales pitch. Not what we expected at all and we couldn't leave that building fast enough. After that, we were set free for about 2 hours on our own, which was nice. Plenty of walking and exploring. During this time we had our lunch. We walked back to the meeting point, in which our guide led us to our gondola ride (purchased separately on the bus). My wife and I shared the gondola with another couple. The ride was very brief, and half the time was spent in the main waters, not the channels through the city. Our gondolier only spoke to his fellow gondoliers and did not speak to us at all. Gondola ride over, we waited for our 'cruise' back to the bus. 2 1/2 hours later, we arrived at our original spot.

The guide on the bus (Eddy) didn’t seem very friendly. He was a little stuck up. He didn’t give any facts or history on the way from Milan to Venice and the trip back. I feel he was just a chauffeur. They also made the passengers pay 1€ for water bottle when it is normally provided for free on other tours I have booked. Eddy then handed us off to another guide who was terrible and had a very heavy accent that you couldn’t understand her much. She was explaining about the mosaics in St Marks Square but couldn’t provide much detail. She then handed us back to Eddy who took us to a glass factory where they were trying to sell us stuff. He then took us on gondola rides which we paid for. It could have been a lot better in my opinion. In all honesty, the only good part about it was the ride to and from.

Amazing tour!! Just be on time for the bus because you don’t want to missed it. They leave at 8:00am sharp.