Highlights of Venice - Roman Guy Tour Review
Based on my parent’s glowing recommendation, I purchased the Highlights of Venice Tour from the Roman Guy. Initially, I chose this tour over the free walking ones as it included a gondola ride and quite rightly so, that was the highlight of the tour!
Logistics:
While I’ve heard this tours sell out quickly in the high season, thankfully, I was able to buy them the weekend before and there was plenty of space! I had been with the same company in Florence and enjoyed my tour so I had high hopes!
The tour would begin in San Marco Square at 9:30am and end around 12pm about 5 minutes from Rialto. It would mostly focus on the highlights of Venice, but it would really be just skimming the highlights of this majestic city. For this tour, it would cost $88 each. For reference, a 30 minute gondola ride is 80 euros so in reality, the tour is about $40 for a licensed guide!
The Beginning
In typical MF fashion, we were quite late to the beginning of the tour. Thankfully, I went ahead and started the tour without her as the beginning of the tour was in San Marco Square. It worked quite well that we were 100 steps away! We were given headphones and guides and listened to our guide, Chiara, describe the very beginning of Venice - all while a cruise ship sailed into the port!
Back in the Roman times, the people of mainland Venice were tired of getting defeated and hiding from the big armies. In response, they continually built on the sandy lagoon just off the mainland. On a clear day, one can still see the mainland from the historical island!
On the sandy lagoon, the people drove giant piles of wood into the ground to lay the foundation. From there, they would build on top of hundreds - possibly thousands - of wooden beams! Our guide said that the main cathedral has at least 150,000 wooden piles supporting the building! While people say Venice is the sinking city, they should recognize it has always been sinking throughout time! Overtime, this combination of over a hundred islands and canals built an empire stretching across the Adriatic and northern Italy!
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Belltower -
The bridge from Doge to Church -
St Marks Square -
St Marks Square
First Digital Clock
Inside San Marco’s Square, we discovered the world’s first digital clock - or so we think! The Roman numerals move with the dials and funny guys with hammers. Throughout time, the digital clock has kept the time! Beside the clock, there are a few fancy cafes with mini orchestras. Each waiter was suited and booted in tuxedos and they appeared very fancy and expensive! However, it would be a great place to grab a drink!
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Digital Clock
Inside St. Marks Church
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St Marks -
St Marks -
Entrance to St Marks
Unlike the Roman Catholics to the south, Venice is a blend of Western and Eastern cultures because of its seafaring might. In response to this unique blend, they built a few classic buildings displaying this culture blend. Firstly, the mighty Diocese palace has both an Italian Reinassisance and Asian architecture. Next, the famous St Mark Church has both an Orthodox and Catholic design even though it is in the heart of Catholicism.
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The Alter -
Is that a gun!? -
Water mark
Unlike some boring Catholic interiors, St Marks Church is absolutely beautiful. Throughout the ceiling, there are gold and mosaic tiles. It paints a very beautiful picture unlike the stained glass in France or sculptures on the exterior in Florence or Milan.
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Beautiful ceiling -
Beautiful ceiling -
Beautiful ceiling -
Beautiful ceiling
Similar to Orthodox churches, St Marks has a few domes in the shape of a cross. This design is very similar to Russian or Greek Orthodox. Nowadays, the main hall is only used for Sunday mass but we still witnessed a smaller mass in the corner. In addition to mass, the church holds the thumb of St Mark!! WOOOOO!!! Back in the day, the church was named after St Mark after the Crusaders brought back his body from the “evil” Muslims in modern day Israel. So, go now to see a thumb!
Um, What?
After the church, we emerged to then stroll around Venice. These were the parts of the tour that I was just really confused on what or where or why we were going to certain places. Plus, the other Americans on tour were incredibly stupid travelers. The highlight was the guide explaining to them to go off the main streets and canals to find local food and how often it was better food. MF and I were simply stunned…
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Tiny Venice alleys... -
Little Canals -
Oh Venice... -
Spiral staircase -
St Marks Square -
St Marks Square
For the remainder of the tour, we just shook our heads and often tried to shake the tour so we wouldn’t be associated with them. No wonder why we have bad reps because they were doing all the things that you learn NOT to do! Anyways, the rest of the tour was a bust outside of the gondola ride!
THE Gondola Ride
For the famous gondola ride, we realized that we would be sharing with a nice older couple… Joy… Because we are savvy and experience travelers, we knew we had to make a move to nab the good seats. Thankfully, great minds think alike and MF slid past them to be the first one in the boat!
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Gondola hangout -
Selfie -
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Once our gondolier set off, I instantly realized why this was the most popular tourist activity in Venice, if not the world! The ride is incredibly relaxing! I have no idea where we were going, but I thoroughly enjoyed taking loads of pictures throughout the journey. I know we went past the Rialto bridge and then through several alleys, but we kept going in some really random places! Thanks to MF’s savvy move, we had excellent opportunities for amazing pictures!
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On the water! -
Savvy captain! -
Rialto Bridge -
Rialto Bridge -
Rialto Bridge -
Grand Canal -
Grand Canal -
Tiny Canal -
The Shot!
The UnChartered Summary
- In hindsight, I probably would not do this tour again. It is designed to provide the highs of the highlights to the cruise ship passengers rather than actual history and local tidbits.
- I would absolutely pay for the gondola ride though! It was entirely worth it and I wish we just did this ride!
- On that note, gondola rides are priced at flat rates throughout the city. The cheap rates are during the day whilst the nighttime rates will cost a little bit more!