Departing from the San Mark's Basin, we will set off with our private boat and driver for our first breathtaking glimpse of the the Doge's Palace, the Campanile, the Clock Tower and of course the cupolas of St Mark's – from the water – just as it would have been seen by kings and princes arriving to pay a call on the Doge. What better way to see a city whose waterways are it's highways!

We'll take a detour and explore some of the inner canals and see Venetian houses up close from the water perspective for which they were designed. We'll glide past the magnificent front doors of everyday homes and magnificent palaces – always built to open directly onto the water – and you will appreciate the fundamental difference between Venice and any other city.

Travelling onwards through the winding canals we'll emerge into the open lagoon, the broad expanse of water that has protected Venice for a thousand years. On a clear day it appears to stretch all the way to the Dolomite mountains.

By now you will be ready for the main show – the Grand Canal. On our Venice Canals tour we'll travel at a stately pace to match the stunning setting so you can enjoy the passing parade of dazzling urban magnificence unequalled in the known universe.

Palace after palace waits to impress you and each has a story to tell. The exquisite, gothic Ca' d'Oro, for example, is so called because it was decorated with pure gold. There's Peggy Guggenheim's house, or Palazzo Barbaro where Henry James wrote his masterpieces, or Palazzo Mocenigo, home to Lord Byron... It is a very long list and you will have your own favourite.

 

By the time you have cruised this extraordinary stretch of water, passing underneath the Rialto Bridge and arriving back at Piazza San Marco, you will know that you have truly been to Venice on one of our most spectacular Venice Day Tours.