About
The tours
- Bespoke, private history walks
- Small groups only
- Experienced tour leader
- In English or Italian
- Children very welcome
The guide
I’m René Seindal, a Danish historian living in Venice. With these tours and walks I want to share with you my passion for Venice, its traditions and history, especially the lesser known parts.
Tours on offer
Hidden History
A walk around Venice, exploring the many messages from Venice of yore, often hidden in plain view.
Plague Island
A guided visit to the island Lazzaretto Nuovo, where quarantine was invented to fight the Black Death.
What others said
Rene beats all other guides here 10 to 1
I took every available tour of Venice during my three days here. Rene beats all other guides here 10 to 1, he is simply the BEST story teller, accurate research, curious facts and attention to detail, very passionate about the city and loads to learn even for a book worm like me. If I could give him ten stars I would. He will definitely be my guide next time in Venice. You can miss out on all the other tours here but you will not have seen Venice if you don’t go on his tour. Thank you so much Rene for making this visit so special!
— Anna (Nov 2021)
Book this experience, you’ll thank me later!
Rene is a phenomenal story-teller and possesses such a wealth of knowledge on the history of Venice. If you want something more beyond the basic facts you learn on the mainstream history tours, this is the experience for you. He opened our eyes to a Venice we would have never seen otherwise and kept us engaged the entire time and even long after we finished the tour. From climate-change and political/socio-economic forces that shaped the city to ancient graffiti and chips on a blank stone that mean way more than you would think they do. This was, hands-down, one of the most valuable experiences we had as first-timers and lovers of history in Venice.
— Michael (Nov 2021)
Rene is incredibly knowledgeable
Rene is incredible knowledgeable about history in common and Venice in particular! he knows a lot about The history but also how it is to live in a city that is so special! ask questions and you will get tons of answers and he is someone who won‘t stop after the time is over, when he has time he will go on telling you stories about things you probably would not notice. we have done another typical tourist tour which wasn‘t good at all, so we can only recommend this kind of tours, if you are interested to hear something off the beaten path and where you don‘t have the feeling to being ripped off.
— Jörg (Dec 2021)
The History Walks blog
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High tide season
High tide has always been a part of life in Venice, but modern changes to the lagoon has exacerbated the problem.
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Strada Nova – the end
The Strada Nova was not a single project but rather a series of incremental changes which became the start of mass tourism in Venice
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From SS Apostoli to Rialto
Strada Nove #7: The part of the Strada Nova between Campo SS Apostoli and Rialto has seen comparably fewer changes, just a bit here and there
Venetian Stories on Substack
Read the Venetian Stories Substack here
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A day in the Lagoon
What do you see when you go shopping for ninety kg of dog food in Venice? The Venetian Lagoon is full of overlooked small wonders.
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Venice rhymes with Wine
Wine is all over in Venice, and always has been
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The acqualta of 2019
The high tide on November 12th, 2019, was the second highest ever measured.