Full Venice Experience: St. Mark’s, Doge’s Palace & Islands

Our Experience - Full Venice Experience

We decided that if we were going to experience Venice, we might as well go for the whole thing. This full-day tour packed an incredible amount into a single day, combining some of the city's most famous landmarks with a gondola ride and an afternoon exploring Murano and Burano. The experience was essentially divided into two halves, with the morning focused on historic Venice and the afternoon taking us across the lagoon to the islands.

Our morning guide, Roberta, led us through the Doge's Palace and St. Mark's Basilica. The Doge's Palace was beautiful, and the tour was well paced and informative, giving us a much better understanding of the history surrounding the building and the Venetian Republic. But St. Mark's Basilica was unquestionably a highlight for us. After learning so much about Venice's history throughout our visit, stepping inside such an important part of that story was an incredible experience. One important thing to know before visiting: the basilica requires shoulders and knees to be covered, so make sure you're dressed appropriately before arriving.

The morning also included an approximately 30-minute gondola ride. It wasn't particularly long, but it gave us the classic experience of seeing Venice from a gondola without having to figure out the arrangements ourselves. The tour company handled everything, allowing us to simply climb aboard and enjoy the ride before having some free time for lunch.

In the afternoon, we met our second guide, Gaia, and headed across the lagoon toward Murano and Burano. On Murano, we watched a glassblowing demonstration before having time to explore the gallery and shop. The demonstration itself was relatively short, but watching the glassmakers work was fascinating and a lot of fun. Some of the finished pieces were absolutely incredible — although with several costing more than a car, we were perfectly happy appreciating them with our eyes!

Our one wish in Murano was that we could have spent more time exploring the island's wider glassmaking community. The visit centered around the particular glassmaker included with the tour, and we would have enjoyed seeing some of the other workshops and shops around the island as well.

Burano gave us more time to explore independently, and Gaia offered some fantastic suggestions for making the most of it. She pointed us toward local bakeries, told us about Burano's traditional lacemaking, and even introduced us to another Italian leaning tower — and no, this one isn't in Pisa! Wandering among Burano's famously colorful buildings made for a completely different experience from central Venice and a great way to finish the afternoon.

Looking back, it's kind of amazing how much we managed to experience in a single day. We explored the Doge's Palace, stepped inside St. Mark's Basilica, rode through Venice by gondola, crossed the lagoon, watched glass being made on Murano, and wandered the colorful streets of Burano. It's a packed itinerary, but if you want to experience several completely different sides of Venice in one day, this tour delivers exactly that.