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:
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Early Venice
Venice wasn’t founded. Venice happened, and events and reasons behind it happening are rather complex. This series researches the origins of Venice.
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Strada Nova – from the Station to Rialto
Venice changed from a city which primarily existed for its inhabitants to a city dominated by tourism, and the Strada Nova was the first step.
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Le Arti che vanno per via (1753) — Gaetano Zompini
The “Arti che vanno per via nella città di Venezia”, by Gaetano Zompini, is a fantastic source for how people appeared on the streets of Venice in the mid-1700s.
What others said
Interesting and insightful!
We really enjoyed our tour with René. What stood out most was the flexible and conversational nature of it, combined with René’s remarkable knowledge of Venice’s history. He took his time answering our many follow-up questions about the city’s past, politics, and architecture. He also showed us fascinating details and places of historical significance that we would have completely missed on our own.
We appreciated being able to ask questions that had come up during our individual museum visits, and René provided thoughtful, engaging context based on his broad archival knowledge.
This was a very different experience from a traditional walking tour. Instead of covering many parts of the city, we focused on rich details around the square where we met, while also discussing the broader history of Venice. It was both insightful and personal, and we highly recommend it!
Sunshine in the rain
We met with René after a morning of pouring rain in Venice. We were met just outside one of the churches and Rene explained the rise and development Venice with fantastic details and interesting facts. We had 5 adults and 3 children in the group, a difficult group to keep entertained. His broad knowledge ranging from architecture, arts, engineering to the aristocracy was a delight and a wonderful part of the day. We had a great time and would definitely recommend René for any of his tours.
Best experience of our Venice stay!
We did a tour with Rene where he explained the history of Venice, how the water system worked, how ordinary people lived, the historical political hierarchy, trade, wars and many more fascinating things about Venice. It was so enlightening and fascinating that we immediately booked him again to do another tour the next day. His knowledge and ability to explain 1000+ years of history was incredible. He’s also a lovely person who is very easy to talk to and was happy to answer all of our random curious questions. If we come back to Venice, his tours will be a critical part of our holiday. This is not an ordinary tour. This is an experience with a real historian! Our time in Venice was enriched so much and then the following days we looked at things differently, noticing details and understanding some of the meanings in the buildings and design. Thank you Rene!
A must do in Venice
René is a spectacular storyteller and a true erudite — he spoke about history, geopolitical and economic influences that shaped Venice, the wider Adriatic area and the entire Italy, and shared many interesting details from the city’s past. We will definitely take another tour with René on our next trip to Venice.
Highlight of our trip!
René was such an engaging and passionate storyteller with an extraordinary depth of knowledge. Before the tour, we knew very little about European history, but Rene brought Venice’s past vividly to life. It was full of interesting facts and nuanced insights that you’d be hard-pressed to find on any other tour.
Excellent insights into Venetian history and unconsidered details
We have been to Venice many times, so we didn’t want a conventional tour of the usual sights, which was why we were attracted to Rene’s offer. We learnt a lot which we didn’t know and saw details which we have always missed. Very worthwhile.
A great, insightful tour of Venice
I was looking for a tour with a historian that would get me off the main tourist circuit and help me dive a little deeper into interesting stories from Venetian history. René was the perfect guide for that. The tour was interesting, and his passion for history shone through. Highly recommended!
Very informative and interesting
My daughter and I are both interested in the history of places, and the people that formed it into what we see today. René was the perfect guide for this, telling stories and showing us details that helped us understand the essence of Venice a little more. We certainly only scratched the surface, and woke our interest to discover more.