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!

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.

Incredible depth of knowledge – told the story of Venice throughout the ages through hidden architectural treasures along the streets. Highly recommend

I feel so lucky to have had the chance to walk with René for a couple of hours in Venice. His passion and enthusiasm for this incredible place is infectious and his knowledge and attention to detail unmatched. I felt like a local dodging the crowds to find tiny details of the people and machinations that have made this city what it is today. I don’t think there is a question I could’ve asked that René hadn’t researched the answer to! An absolute treat to be shown the details that hide in plain sight while you sip an espresso. Thank you so much René!

Great tour!

Thank you for your stories and very informative tour of Venice. We really enjoyed learning more of the history. We also really loved the lunch spot you recommended at the end of the trip.

René knows so much about Venice and history in general, he is a fantastic storyteller with lots of knowledge to share. One could listen to him hours on end (which we did afterwards in a café). He showed us that much of Venice’s story is right before our eyes, you just have to look for it. Thank you!

I feel confident no one knows more about Venice than René. There’s so, so much to see on this tour – totally hidden in plain sight – in Campo Giovanni e Paolo that you’ll quickly be appreciative of how much history is embedded all around the full city.

Excellente experience qui permet d’apprendre beaucoup d’elements captivants de l’histoire de Venise! A faire absolument

The weather was bad but overall the experience with René was great. He answered all the questions I have in detail and showed me many little interesting facts and artifacts that might not be found on internet.

I went on this tour on my last day in Venice. René is a well of knowledge, and I’d recommend going on this walk on your first full day, so that you can learn about the history of Venice and artefacts inscribed in the city structures. Highly recommended tour!

René was extremely knowledgable and a great storyteller of Venetian and Italian History. He was friendly and answered all of our questions even those that probably seemed silly. I would highly recommend.

René had an incredible vast knowledge of the history on Venice. He kept us very entertained with all the many insights of the past of the city. So many little details and great stories. He is great at answering questions and has many funny facts. Tour ended at a wonderful residential side of the city, many visitors don’t get to see. This is a must if you are into history and culture of Venice away from the tourist.

This experience is great to get an overview of the history of the Venetian Republic live in a classic public space. René is an expert and fills your time with relatable stories applicable to everyday life.

This was not a walking tour, but a standing in the same plaza tour. rene really knows his history, and we definitely gained some knowledge but we wished to have walked around the area to see things he could have pointed out.

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.

René est un guide sympathique et qui connaît très bien Venise, nous aurions aimé que le « tour » soit un peu moins statique et nous permette de voir plus de lieux différents.

Very insightful. Time well spent.

René gave us a lively interesting walk and talk in Venice. He is so knowledgeable and made it all memorable and funny! Definitely worth every Euro! He even said we could email him with any questions we may have after the walk ended.

René is very knowledgeable and a great story teller.

René brought the history of Venice to life through his thoughtful, interesting explanations as to how Venice came to be, the political and economic background and how to read history through the buildings and their decorations. He was quite brilliant.

René was an excellent guide. He had a great depth a knowledge and knew how to tell the history in concise and interesting ways. The hidden history aspect was very cool, lots of things you wouldn’t expect. I would highly recommend this tour.

René, Very knowledgeable of the history of Venezia../ we enjoyed his tour.

We loved this experienced, we learned so many things about the history and political/social situation of Venice from the beginning of the city until now. Rene is like an open book of history!

This is a very specific tour. I wanted lots of walking and odd facts about the buildings this is more PBS inclined. Detailed and Rene is loud and articulates well.

Aneddoti interessanti, racconti sulla storia di Venezia, spunti e curiosità sulla città. Bisogna colpevolmente ammettere che eravamo dubbiosi sul prenotare una guida danese per venezia, ma la passione e la competenza di René hanno cancellato ogni dubbio. Pienamente soddisfatti.

The visit was very pleasant, rich in historical details that would not be noticed with a « regular » visit, thanks René for The nice tour ??

René made an excellent tour. He knows not only facts and figures – he brings it all together in the bigger picture – history, architecture, science. Highly recommended.

Rene was very knowledgeable and answered every question we had! If you are a history lover it is a great way to learn more about Venice.

Great tour – we learned a lot from Our tour guide. He was fantastic at sharing the history of Venice and the area we were in – really made it come alive! But we were expecting to walk a bit more, we stayed in one area for most of the tour.

Rene obviously loves history, architecture and Venice. We learned a lot of information and he explained things we would not have noticed. The tour went long which wasn’t a problem for us but could be for others. Much of the tour (over 1 1/2 hours) was spent in the same square because there was so much to see right there. Never made it all the way to arsenal.

Very in depth information. Renè has a wealth of knowledge that can be found in the small corners of one square.

René taught me more than I was ever expecting to learn from this experience. It was nice that he catered the history of Venice and Italy to how it impact the history of the culture I’m from. I would highly recommend this.

Very knowledgeable and interesting facts

René was kind and attentive and has a good knowledge of Venetian history. We were, however, looking forward to moving around and to exploring the city at the same time we observed meaningful details and learnt their meaning as we walked around. Conversely, the host spent one hour and a half just in one location (Campo di San Giovanni and San Paolo), which was illustrative but we were not expecting to spend one hour and a half out of two hours standing on our feet just in this very one limited location. I was accompanied by an elderly person who ask to sit down at one point and René kindly agreed but the idea of a walking tour of discovery did not correspond at all with the experience we actually had. As a historian working at the Ca’ Foscari University of Venice I know many good books that covered a similar information and we could have used these 2-hour tour to move around and actually discover new angles or new museums in Venice. We lost a whole morning of our trip. In conclusion, one hour and a half stading on our feet and staying in one single space learning from facts we could have read about by ourselves did not at all cover our experience expectations despite the kindness of the host.

You don’t initially walk far on this tour as the history is surrounding us. Rene was extremely informative and we enjoyed his tour.

Wir haben viel über die Geschichte Venedigs gelernt. René hat einen unendlichen Wissensfundus über Venedig und die Geschichte Europas. Er hat uns auf viele Details aufmerksam gemacht.

Very knowledgeable from broad strokes of history to tiny details that are not in the guide books.

Thank you, Rene’ for sharing your enthusiasm and expertise! You gave us a great history lesson that made our trip so much more meaningful. The life of the city has had so much turmoil and yet so much good. Rene’ was very accommodating clients and answering questions. He was engaging and easy to follow. His stories grabbed your attention. I recommend his tour for learning about the history of the development of the Venetian Culture, the development of the city, and the many historical figures that made it what it is today. We found many secrets of Venice in our tour. It was fun!

Excellente excursion avec plein de détails.

René is a historian and if you bring history/political-based questions to the tour, he’ll give you details you might have not found in the books you read. He is full of wonderful stories, as he obviously is passionate about this unique city. We had a private tour, and we’re happy we did it at the beginning of our week-long stay— we were able to look at Venice with a much more informed insight. Thank you, Renè!!?

My fiancé went on this tour and loved it. He loves history so it was a unique and interesting way to spend a few hours. René was courteous and knowledgeable and we would recommend the tour to anyone looking for a different way to learn about the beautiful city of Venice.

René was extremely knowledgeable about the history culture and social and economic conditions of Venice and was able to connect everything to world issues and make Venice a place of historical importance and connection to the whole world. His knowledge of history culture and languages was amazing! He truly has an in-depth and detailed knowledge of his subject. He was able to show us in the Square we visited how these facts connected to the actual place, Venice and give examples of what he talked about. he told us so many things that none of the other guides or tours have included so it was a very unique experience. René also was very kind and thoughtful and enable me as a visually impaired person to touch physical parts of the buildings and give detailed visual descriptions of things I could not see. He was able to answer any questions and moved in a way that was easy to follow. I would recommend his tour to anyone who is interested in knowing more about Venice and its historical place in the world and how the Venetian’s have come to be who they are today.

Meeting with Rene is a complete learning experience. He has the knowledge of a university professor with the friendliness of a grad student. We spent the two hours going beyond cute stories from past – and really exploring some of the complexities of Venetian history. In the end this is much better than the typical rote recital of some common history. Probably not for kids, unless they are high school history nerds.

I strongly recommend it to anyone who wants to understand aspects of the city outside the purely tourist circuits. Rene has an extensive knowledge of the city, its construction and secrets that escape most eyes.

Interesting anecdotes and small details that escape the eye. Lots of historical background information on why things are the way they are. we booked a 2 hour tour but ended up spending 3.5 hours together sitting in a small non tourist baccaro drinking and eating.

Excellent tour guide! We didn’t walk much but more importantly, Rene’s insights helped me perceive more of Venice.

We’re very lucky to have René to tell us stories and history about Venice, he is extremely knowledgeable and friendly in person. He could tell us details of one building in terms of it’s history, design and how it was built. Amazing!