Italy is out of this world…the food, the architecture, the people, the history, the wine… I could go on! We loved our recent trip to Italy, but Venice was our absolute highlight.

There’s something completely magical about a city of islands on stilts, connected by tiny bridges. Our children loved skipping over them, munching on cicchetti (Venetian tapas) and dancing to the jazz music in Piazza San Marco. Venice is an absolute feast for the eyes too, whether the kids were hunting for lion statues, singing gondoliers or the best animal mask in a shop window, there’s no shortage of things to look at and therefore to keep them entertained!

We were lucky enough to have 3 days in Venice, so we wanted to soak up some history and culture too. We decided to do a LivTours Private Family Tour of the Doge’s Palace and St Mark’s Basilica, which was absolutely brilliant.

Our LivTours Family Tour was excellent for the following reasons:

– Tullia, our tour guide, had a wonderful manner with our children (aged 6, 8 and 10). She was kind, engaging, patient and really tailored the tour to our children. The kids loved hunting for animals in the mosaics, stonework and frescoes, they loved hearing her talk about the Greek Gods Poseidon and Zeus and they enjoyed hunting for secret doors and letterboxes, which of course none of us would have spotted without Tullia’s knowledge.

LivTours activity pack. At the beginning of the tour our children were presented with gifts! A cute tote bag, pin badges, felt tip pens, activity booklets and a gorgeous book called “Venice the basics” which I loved as much as the children.

Skipping the queues! We got priority access to St Mark’s and the Doge’s Palace, which is a joy under any circumstances, but especially with children in tow.

Tullia made the tour engaging for us adults too. My husband and I asked her plenty of questions which she answered with expertise. I’ve never learnt so much about art history before. If we had gone into the Doge’s palace by ourselves, we would have just shuffled from room to room saying “wow” at frescoes. Instead we learnt about the hidden symbolism within the artwork and left the palace far more knowledgeable about the politics, history and religion of Venice’s Doges, as well as renaissance art.

This Tour includes:  

•  Skip-the-line access to Doge’s Palace

 

•  Skip-the-line access to St Mark’s Basilica

 

•  Major Halls and paintings of the Doge’s Palace

 

•  Armory of the Doge’s Palace

 

•  Prison of the Doge’s Palace

 

•  Bridge of Sighs

 

•  Saint Mark’s Basilica main floor

Mask Making Tour

In addition to our tour, we did a mask making workshop, which was really fun and memorable.
Tullia guided us through the winding streets of Venice to the workshop (just as well, or we would have got completely lost!)

All five of us got to select our masks and then our teacher taught us how to paint them.

I can’t think of a time when all five of us have ever learnt a new skill together like that before. It was lovely for the kid’s to craft with their dad for the first time, and for us all to have a wonderful memento of our holiday to take home with us.

Our teacher, a graduate in fine art, was lovely with our children, and we all felt very comfortable and relaxed around her. In fact, Venetian mask making is pretty therapeutic and I’d highly recommend it!

LivTours provide small group tours and activities all over Europe. LivTours is dedicated to providing outstanding experiences, works hard to make tours accessible to all and is committed to sustainable tourism by supporting local businesses and giving to local charities.

The Private Family Tour of St Mark’s and the Doge’s Palace for 2 starts from €489 and includes all entry tickets. The Mask making workshop (which is an add on to the tour) costs €170 for 2 participants.

You can book your LivTours adventure here.