See Venice and die, they say.
Well, it’s taken me almost a whole lifetime to reach the city. I’m not planning to pop my clogs anytime soon, but am grateful I got to see this strange, awe-inspiring and sometimes troubled city before it sinks further into its marshy bed.
This is a gifted post – we were the guests of LivItaly for this tour, but all the opinions below are our own views.
Venice is amazing but can be overwhelming.
The crowds, the cruise ships, the vaporetto fumes, the shops packed with everything from expensive designer handbags to cheap tourist tat.
The queues of gondolas in each tiny canal. Restaurants with menus in every language under the sun.
Much of Venice is mass-produced and little is truly authentic. It’s hot and humid in summer and crowded at almost any time of the year.
So before we went, we read up the advice from dozens of other experienced travellers, who all had the same key message:
Don’t try and see everything in Venice
Pick just one thing and do it well.
We planned to focus on St Mark’s Square with its magnificent Basilica and the Doge’s Palace.
But how to make sure we ‘did it well’?
The choice of tours and ticket options is huge, each offering something a little different.
On a tight budget? Take your place in line (and the line is loooong) grab the audio guide and go gawp at the magnificence.
Got a little more time and money? Take a tour featuring one aspect of this fascinating and tiny city – history, art, food, culture, you name it there’ll be one for you.
LivItaly Tours
But then we heard about LivItaly Tours – not the cheapest but the very definition of ‘doing it well.’
For a start, your group is no more than six people, guaranteeing you’ll be able to hear every word the guide says.
Audio guides can be great – we loved the one at Eastern State Penitentiary narrated by Steve Buscemi – but there’s nothing like having a real human being to give you personal insights and who’s on hand to answer any questions, no matter how obscure.
Another big plus is that in a small group the guide needs no amplification, even in the hustle and bustle of St Mark’s, nor a brightly coloured umbrella to lead the charge! So you feel a little less conspicuous and touristy. A small thing, but it adds to the experience.
There’s also no sense of rush or urgency. The guide handles all the tickets, eases you through the many barriers and gives you discreet advice on what to wear, how to behave and best of all, where to stand for the perfect view.
St Mark’s and the Doge’s Palace
Our hostess for the Doge’s Palace and St Mark’s Small Group Tour was Marie, a long-time resident of Venice.
Friendly and knowledgeable, she was fluent in English, Italian and German and probably a few more languages besides. She certainly knew her stuff, but her narrative was much more than a list of facts, figures and art history, providing us instead with quirky stories and a real insight into the life and style of the early Venetians.
And boy did they have style!
The signs are all there. From the golden mosaics, through the stolen statues, to the great renaissance masterpieces of Tintoretto and Titian commemorating Venice’s great and glorious past. The early Venetians were brash, outward-looking, money-wise traders and unashamed thieves.
Yes, thieves.
They even stole the body of St Mark to add lustre to their burgeoning home. And were so proud of it they created frescoes telling the tale of how they tricked the authorities in Alexandria and smuggled the saint’s remains back home.
More politics than piety, it was a deliberate move to challenge the authority of Rome.
Challenging Rome
They created the most extraordinary entrance to their city – unfortified, free of gates and welcoming to all, as long as they had money to spend.
Free markets, pomp, parades and a form of democracy that declared ‘Look at us – peace and prosperity for all.’
The dark side of Venice
But, as always, there’s a dark side to the history.
The Venetians had a huge and well-trained army, available to hire as mercenaries to anyone who needed them.
The Doge was a nominal head of state, a virtual prisoner in his palace, and they deliberately elected someone elderly to ensure a short term of office.
The ruling senate, whilst changed regularly to avoid any one faction having too much influence, was hedged about with secrecy, open to bribery and could act swiftly and brutally with no chance of appeal.
The prisons in the Doge’s Palace were soon so full they had to build an extension, reached by the romantically named Bridge of Sighs.
Few returned from those cells, although famed seducer Casanova escaped, the only person known to have managed that feat.
Secrets and lies in Venice
Secret post boxes were dotted all over the place.
Venetians were positively encouraged to inform on their neighbours, and in a city of narrow lanes and overhanging balconies it was easy to eavesdrop.
In this ancient world of wealth and power, the tip that got the immediate attention of the rulers themselves was any suggestion of tax evasion!
Of course, you can read all of this up before you go or watch innumerable films on YouTube, but nothing quite prepares you for the size, scope and impact of all this splendour and secrecy like a personalised tour.
LivItaly’s tours have more than just their intimate size to recommend them. A small, family-owned company, they draw on the expertise of local guides, rooted in their own communities, to offer more than 200 tours in over 25 Italian cities.
Their ethos is Don’t Just Visit Italy, Live It! which means they aim to hit the right balance of classic, must-see sites and personalised adventures.
Our tour took two and half hours, which was just right. Plenty of time to stand and stare, glean little snippets of unusual information without being overwhelmed with a shed-load of facts and figures.
I particularly appreciated the time to just stand in awe of the amazing four horses, statues that date back more than 2,000 years by craftsmen using techniques that were lost for centuries. Stolen, of course, and brought to adorn the front of St Mark’s Basilica they’re now housed inside to protect them from wear and tear while magnificent replicas have taken their place on the outside.
Venice today
I was also curious about Venice today, the threats it faces from climate-change and over-tourism.
Marie was frank about the good and the bad of living in a city which is gradually sinking into the sea and risks losing its own unique identity in a flood of travellers.
LivItaly does its best to promote eco-sustainable tourism, respecting and supporting local culture, art and traditions, but the dilemma exists for those of us privileged enough to explore far-flung places. Even if we travel mindfully and respectfully, are we contributing to the eventual downfall of the very thing we’ve come to see? In Venice, this question cannot be dodged and bubbles up as regularly as the high water tides that flood the Square.
Not so much ‘see Venice and die’ more ‘see Venice, before it dies’.
More about LivItaly Tours
The Doge’s Palace and St Mark’s Small Group Tour cost in 2024:
Adults €139, Students €134, Teenagers €129, Children €124
They try to limit numbers to no more than six, unless that would break up a family group.
You need to be able to walk and stand for more than two hours, and there are some steep steps involved in accessing parts of the Basilica.
Respectful dress (no hats, bare chests or shoulders) is essential.
Large bags are not allowed in the Basilica – even my smallish backpack-style handbag had to be handed over.
All photography is banned in the Basilica interior and this is enforced politely but firmly, but in the Doge’s Palace you can take pictures without flash.
Where to next?
• Terra Botanica
• Holiday Competitions
• Richard of York gave battle in vain