Anywhere you look in Venice, history stares back at you.
An inconspicuous sign on a wall tells a story about long forgotten crafts and social welfare in the 15th century. A graffiti under a portico reminds us how public transport worked in the 18th and 19th centuries. An oddly placed altar shows how faith was used to fight crime. History is all over.
The humblest of little signs on a wall hides a story worth being retold.
Even a short walk down the calli with a knowledgeable guide can teach you as much as a shelf full of guide books.
The Hidden History tour
I will meet you at your hotel, or at the restaurant where you’ve had lunch, or wherever it suits you in Venice, and we’ll walk around the city together, searching for messages from the past.
This is not a tour of great monuments and famous places. That’s all in the guide books, and you won’t need to for that. Rather, it is a search for all those little messages past Venetians have left around the city, that we don’t see even if they’re just in front of us.
We’ll talk about how social welfare worked in the renaissance, about the ancient links between Venice and the Byzantine empire, about the Venetian trade on the Levant, and much much more.
The hidden history is in front of our eyes, but we don’t always see it.
What others said
René took the time to understand our level of understanding of Venetian/Italian history and then customized our tour based on that. What he taught us in just 2 hours was incredible. He is very passionate about Venice and history, and this came through in all of the amazing stories he told us. I would recommend taking a tour with him 100%.
Brilliant tour! René is extremely knowledgeable about Venice and Europe history and makes understanding centuries of history easy, accessible and interesting. so many little details would go amiss without his insights. I absolutely recommend this tour.
If you’re into the history of it all, Rene is the right guy for you. He is full of amazing, facts about Venice. Even though it was cold and raining, this tour definitely enhanced our trip.
Prices and booking
The hidden history walking tour can be two or more hours. The more time we spend together, the more we’ll see and explore.
Groups can be from two to eight persons, so everybody can see and hear everything.
The price is €30/person for the first two hours, and €10/person for each additional hour.
You can use the form below to request the hidden history tour and I’ll write you back as soon as I can.