Hidden History — Private tours

Byzantine art on the walls in Venice

Your tour, your interests

A private Hidden History tour can be anywhere in central Venice, at any time of day, and concentrate on the topics which interest you.

I can meet you at your hotel in the morning, 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.

If you have any particular interests, we can concentrate more on those subjects.

A two-hour private tour is minimum €200 for the group, or €40/person. Longer tours are charged at €75, or €15/person, for each additional hour.

Payment is normally at the end of the tour. I accept most credit cards (Visa, Master, AmEx, etc.) and, of course, cash. Payment in advance is also possible, but not a requirement.

You can book by email to info@historywalksvenice.com.

Alternatively, you can browse the available times, and book your private tour directly in my calendar. You’ll get a confirmation email, and I will be notified immediately when you click the link in that email.

These articles are examples of some the topics we can discuss on a private tour:

  • Prostitution in Venice

    Prostitution in Venice

    In ancient Venice prostitution was considered a necessary evil, where more harm would come from a ban than from a de facto acceptance

  • Differentiated rubbish collection in Venice

    Differentiated rubbish collection in Venice

    Venice had an organised system of differentiated garbage collections from the 1400s, to keep the city clean and the canals open.

  • Palazzo Morosini

    Palazzo Morosini

    Palazzo Morosini is a mixed Venetian Gothic and Renaissance palace in the Castello Sestiere which is unfortunately inaccessible to the public.

What others said

A must tour to take!

August 8, 2022

We learned so much about Venice and its history, plus Rene could answer all our questions about the city or events that happened.

Alba
Verified

Book the tour! 🙂

August 8, 2022

It’s the perfect tour to get to know the history of the city, and in a small group. Rene was a wonderful, knowledgeable guide. Answered all our questions and we enjoyed every minute of it. Would def recommend.

Rad
Verified

Thanks for the highly detailed tour

August 8, 2022

Our tour with Rene was fascinating, we chose it because we wanted to avoid the most touristy areas and really learn about the history of Venice. The tour with Rene did not disappoint, think of it as looking at Venice with a macro lens focusing on minute details. Rene will explain, how Venice develop led and changed throughout history, changes to canals and bridges as well as governance and wealth. He offered unique perspectives we did. It receive on other tours we did in Venice. As we were first time visitors to Venice we also did a “wide angle” tour of the touristy highlights. To even remotely understand the city, I recommend both.

Waren
Verified

Thank you so much for a lovely tour!

August 8, 2022

René’s tour will change the way you look at Venice – he showed us a lot of small details that you can only understand once you know the history that he shares. He was incredibly generous with his time and knowledge and willing to answer questions in great detail. Definitely different than the typical walking tour – we didn’t go very far but got to do a deep dive into the smaller details that you can’t see without someone knowledgeable to point them out to you!

Bree
Verified

No Title

August 8, 2022

Rene has a wealth of knowledge and clearly enjoys sharing the historical significance of Venice. For us, the pacing was a bit slow and the “hidden” aspects weren’t as interesting as the history itself, which was the best part of the tour and quite interesting.

Jackie
Verified

Thank you

August 8, 2022

Rene is a historian who modified the information based on where we are from. We enjoyed our time together and felt like we learned a lot.

Sara
Verified

Rene is a wealth of knowledge

July 26, 2022

We would point at a building, statues, etc and would receive an extremely detailed answer. We were very impressed with the level of detail and knowledge shared by Rene. As we are American, he also tied in America’s connection to Venice’s political processes. We also appreciate that Rene was always positioning us in shade (it was a very hot day!)

Kaylee
Verified

Rene gave us a great tour

July 21, 2022

He’s very knowledgeable about writings and various other hidden clues to the city. He’s passionate about Venice and will continue the tour if you have additional questions. I’d recommend his tour to friends.

Christine
Verified