The Original & Best Tours
See Also:
- Reviews The Original Gondola Tour Venice Italy and Tripadvisor Reviews
- Reviews Small-Group Venice tours
- Reviews The Original and Best Venice tour
- Review The Original Grand Canal boat tour
- Reviews Venice in One Glorious Day and Tripadvisor reviews
- Reviews The Original Learn to be a Gondolier Tour
- Video Reviews Venice Tours
- Reviews Venice Tours
- Reviews Doges Palace Tour
Venice Trip Advisor Reviews Collection ArtViva
Venice Trip Advisor Reviews Collection
Read also:
Florence Traveler Reviews
Tuscany Traveler Reviews
Rome Traveler Reviews
"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
What people say about us:
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Lou Reed
Rockstar
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Alex Rodriguez
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Mike Munro
One of Australia's finest investigative journalists and well known media personalities.
Bill Kurtis
Acclaimed documentary host and producer, network news anchor and multimedia production company .
Nat Young
World Surfing Champion
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On
2011/12/09
John Brade said:
cooking class
I took the Cooking Class and Market tour (in San Lorenzo Market). It was awesome! The market had the most incredible fresh ingredients, and the most amazing seafood selection I have ever seen. The cooking class was extremely professional, and the lunch afterwards was great! I recommend this class for anyone.Mark
On
2011/12/07
Aurelija Dugnaite said:
A truly life changing experience
Absolutely amazing.Words can hardly express how much we enjoyed our experience with ArtViva! From the minute we stepped in their lovely office, we felt attended, looked after and taken care of. The friendly staff advised us in detail of what would suit our tastes and knowledge best, and as they have so many beautiful tours to choose from, that help was very appreciated. Florence's cultural richness can be overwhelming, but relying on ArtViva made everything easy and utterly enjoyable for us.The small group walking tour of Florence exceeded all expectations. Our guide Paul was tremedous: a true Florence insider, with amazing knowledge of arts and culture, engaging story telling and great local tips you won't find in a guide book. The memories of the tour will stay with me and my sister for many many years. Booking with ArtViva is the best single thing you could do to have the ultimate Florence experience.Thank you, ArtViva.
On
2011/11/29
Sepideh Emami said:
On
2011/11/24
Eddi Frantz said:
Friendly and Knowledgable.
An essential part of visiting such an historical city as Florence is a smart, knowledgeable tour guide. Artvivas guides are fun, friendly and really know their stuff. Plus they know all those great places not on most guidebooks that only a passionate local world know. Dont even contemplate a visit to the Uffizi or Michaelangelos David without one!
On
2011/11/24
Kathleen Marriott said:
Hightlight of Italian Trip
Thanks so much for the great walking tour we did in Florence in May. It was fun, informative and we were treated like VIPS! The guide made us feel welcome and got to know exactly what we were interested in seeing to make sure all was covered. If we had tried to do everything we did on the tour on our own, we would have spent days getting hopelessly lost! I highly recommend this tour if you are interested in the art, architecture, history and the culture of Florence.
On
2011/11/22
Caroline Beck said:
Feels like you have hired a first-class guide from a first-class outfit – at a fraction of the price.
If you are the type to shy away from “packaged” tours, preferring to go it alone in a brand new city, Art Viva might just be your new BFF (best friend forever) when on tour in Florence. Comfortably small groups - instead of large crowds moving en-masse. Personalized insights by well-educated guides – instead of canned presentations. ArtViva’s walking tours are the next best thing to hiring a private art historian to walk you around this fabulous city – at a fraction of the price. Their 3-hour walking introduction to Florence’s history and a follow-up tour of the Uffizi dispelled all my preconceptions that tour groups were not for me. Even if you’ve been to Florence before, start your vacation off right in 3 quick hours. It will set the stage for a perfect stay.
On
2011/11/22
Brigitte Reynolds said:
Incredible!
My husband and I had the good fortune of taking ArtViva tours of Florence while on our honeymoon. We started with the walking tour, followed by the David tour. We were so impressed we immediately signed up for the Uffizi tour the next day. The guides we had (Sasha/Sylvia & Brenda) were all amazing; they were incredibly knowledgable, friendly and spoke perfect English. What was best was their genuine enthusiam and love of the arts and history of Florence; their excitment was contagious and inspired us to want to know and learn more! I couldn't have asked for a better experience.Brigitte Reynolds
On
2011/11/22
Nadia LaMantia said:
a wonderful experience!
I loved my tour, and the artviva staff were so great and extremely helpful!!
On
2011/11/16
Jade Farley said:
GREAT Tours!
Best tours I have ever been on! The guide's knowledge was just incredible, and I can't wait to come back to do more tours.
On
2011/11/09
Alexandra Buscaino said:
Educational and entertaining!
Our tour was great - very informative, and the guide just fabulous! He not only knew so much about the history, but also had a knack for storytelling that kept us all fascinated.
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