Venice Trip Advisor Reviews Collection ArtViva

"Two cities, both with fabulous tours"

Before our recent trip to Italy, my husband and I booked Artviva tours in Florence and Venice. In Venice we did the "Venice in One Glorious Day," which included a gondola ride and walking tour, tour of St. Mark's and Doge's Palace, and an early evening Grand Canal tour (we did not take the boat to Murano). We had Jennifer for the outer portions and Barbara for the middle, and both were excellent guides. My favorite part was the Grand Canal tour, which turned out to be basically a private tour, since the other couple didn't show up. The sunlight on the buildings at that time of day made this magical city even more so! We were especially grateful to Jennifer for her insights (and for waiting for us on the first leg of the trip when it seemed to take forever to get to the meeting place on the vaporetto!).

We also did the "Florence in One Glorious Day" tour, but split it up so that we took the David tour first and the next day the walking tour and the Uffizi. I can't recall the young man's name who took us on the David tour (he was filling in for someone else after working all day himself). He clearly has a passion for art, especially sculpture, and he helped us gain new perspectives on Michelangelo. Our guide for the other portions of the tour was Christine (originally from our home state, Massachusetts). She was wonderful, striking just the right tone between serious and informal.

I will say, at least for us (in our late 50s) that taking multiple tours in one day can be tiring, so if you can split them up, I would recommend doing so. But we would definitely recommend ArtViva and would use them again.

claza_9
Boston, MA
October 13, 2009

"Ride in a gondola and learn about Venice!”

On a recent trip to Venice, we took a tour offered by ArtViva. We took The Original and Best Gondola Tour. We wanted to take a gondola ride anyway so when we saw this tour which did not cost us much more than the ride was going to cost us anyway, we booked it. The ride included part time on the Grand Canal and part time going up the smaller canals. All the while, our tour leader Cynthia told us about Venice, with lots of inside information. It made for a great experience and memory. All of the people we encountered from ArtViva were extremely nice and helpful.

Glencoelad
Cleveland Heights, Ohio
October 9, 2009

"This is the tour to use in Venice"

We loved Artviva's tours. The Gondola tour was so interesting and informative – and so much fun – we decided on the spot to take the Grand Canal tour later that day, even though we had already done the same tour the day before with Avventure Bellissime. The contrast was remarkable – Artviva's tour was wonderful; that one was awful. The guide, for both tours, Cynthia was great – personable and knowledgeable – she made the tour so much fun. She was the reason we took the Grand Canal tour again.

Mike and Dana Sosna
Rocky Mount, North Carolina
October 9, 2009

“Grand Canal Tour”

Cynthia Johnson gave us all the scoop, past and present. It was fun to hear her stories - personal ones and those of the celebrities and past Venetians. It's a good tour to get off your feet and sit in a water taxi. We would take another one. Cynthia had a great way sharing. You felt like you know her almost instantly. She's knowledgable in her field and I love that she lives in Venice. She's a real part of the community, but still a part of ours.

Thanks, Cynthia, hope to see you again in Venice!

DivaCarol
Florida
September 28, 2008

"Favorite Tour in Europe”

All the Venice tours were absolutely amazing! After doing the Walking Tour in Florence we fell in love with Artviva and had high expectations of the Venice tour. I am very happy to tell you that our expectations were met and surpassed. The guides were incredible, personable, friendly and brought the history of the sights to life in a funny, memorable way. What a wonderful experience! Their site is below

P.S. Throughout the tour they made up feel like old friends showing us the town.

Francisco

Robles2010
Boston, MA
October 28, 2008