Discover the floating city of Venice without following the beaten routes with bustling crowds. We will walk in selected hidden alleyways and paths that lead to hidden jewels and we will wander through local neighbourhoods, stunning palaces overlooking the canals and beautiful gardens.
As you take in the peaceful vibes, you’ll get a glimpse of day to day Venetian life, before stumbling upon a church that was used as the setting of a movie. Head towards the canal where locals love to buy their fruits and vegetables straight from a boat.
Every corner you will explore has something unique in store for you. Like a hidden 14th century church with a calming ambiance and a very beautiful and richly decorated inside.
Continue strolling around between narrow "calles" and "campos" where local kids play. Follow your local guide among beautiful palaces, must-see hidden churches in quiet corners, ending up in one of the most scenic spots of Venice.
- The university district: we will meet in a charming Campiello close to Ca’ Foscari, a gothic palace on the Canal Grande housing the headquarters of the Venice University.
- The largest canvas in the world close to a Banksy graffito: Before looking at the only graffiti by Banksy in Venice mirroring on a canal, we will admire the largest painting on canvas in the world in a superb church.
- One nightlife hub: We will cross a large campo, hosting a quiet market in the morning and one of the main hub of the venetian nightlife from the late afternoon.
- Indiana Jones in Venice and Katharine Hepburn falling into a canal: The neoclassical facade of the church is very familiar also to visitors on their first time in Venice. This place became famous because of some scenes of the film ‘Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade' (1989) and "Summer time" (1955).
- A 14th century church: A 14th century cathedral which has preserved its original Gothic character. This church worked together with the Scuola Grande just beside it, both belonging to Carmelites and therefore dedicated to the worship of the Virgin of Mount Carmel in Palestine (Santa Maria del Carmelo).
- House of Othello: In this square stands what remains of an ancient palace inhabited in the distant past by the Moro family and known as the "​house of Othello"
- Where Madonna shot Like a Virgin video: This Palazzo is considered to be one of the most significant examples of Venetian late Baroque design, both architecturally and in interior decor. Throughout the XVIII century the Palace became a venue for intense intellectual life. Since 1993, after a complete restoration, it now serves as a research centre for Armenian studies.
- Freedom of artistic expression: One of Venice’s leading art venues thanks to its magnificent cycle of paintings by a major painter in the 16th century, who started the battle for freedom of artistic expression. Next to the Church there was the convent which now houses the humanities faculty of Ca’ Foscari University, re-designed by the famous Italian designer Carlo Scarpa in a dialectic twist with the old church.
- The only church in Venice with two bell towers: This church is the only one with two bell towers, tradition says it was built in 416 to fulfil a vow. This part of the city is very much Venetian and you can find kids playing in the calle in the afternoon.
- The poor fishermen church: A 12th Century church with a Veneto-Byzantine tower bell and the interiors all in wood. Early Venice was an aggregation of independent communities, each with its own individual characteristics. This church is an extreme case: its inhabitants (all fishermen) gathered in the church we are going to enter in a while to elect their own doge, who would have dressed in scarlet and following a symbolic ritual, go to the Doge’s Palace in Saint Mark’s to receive the embrace of the true doge.
- A mill transformed in a luxury hotel: We will walk along San Basilio - once the maritime terminal where all the steamers used to arrive back in the 19th Century. It overlooks the Canale della Giudecca and we admire the Giudecca Island on our right with the magnificent building, an important example of 19th century industrial archaeology now housing a hotel.
- A large promenade: This wide fondamenta was once called “Carbonaia” (because of the coal - carbone in Italian - that used to be unloaded here). Paved in 1519 was then called “delle Zattere” because the rafts - Zattere - with wood for the Arsenale arriving from the mainland by river and then by lagoon used to be docked here.
- A Fortune goddess over the Dorsoduro triangle tip: We will walk along an amazing building, which now an art museum in one of Venice's old customs buildings, a triangle-shaped scenic area in Venice where the Grand Canal meets the Giudecca Canal with a collection of buildings: an impressive baroque church, the Patriarchal Seminary of Venice, and a Fortune Goddess statue over the triangle tip.
- Design and creation of the tour
- Authorized Guide service
- Nature and interpretive guide & tour leader
- Insurance
- Admission tickets
- Personal expenses
