Shadows of Venice: hidden Venice walking tour by night

Experience the splendor of Venice at night with a 2-hour guided walking tour of the city's most captivating sites. With a professional guide, explore tucked-away neighborhoods and haunts and learn intriguing stories about the nobles and merchants who shaped and scandalized medieval Venice. See gems such as the Church of Santa Maria dei Miracoli and the spiral Bovolo staircase during the romantic nighttime hours, when Venice takes on a truly magical aura.

With churches and palaces casting shadows on the waters of the city's famed canals, Venice is at its most alluring after dark. Starting from St. Mark’s Square this 2-hour guided walking tour will showcase the most atmospheric sights of Venice by night. Your expert guide will take you beyond the tourist hotspots to discover another, often overlooked Venice: a place of tucked-away corners, palazzos and haunts associated with some of the city’s most intriguing tales, love stories and legends.

Start with a stroll along the cobbled streets to Campo Santa Maria Formosa. Pass the former home of the 16th-century noblewoman, Bianca Cappello, a famous beauty who, at the age of 15, eloped from Venice with her lover, only, as rumour has it, to have him murdered and then to be murdered herself by arsenic poisoning.

Work your way to Campo San Giovanni e Paolo, a small square packed with architectural treasures. Admire the equestrian statue of Venetian mercenary captain Bartolomeo Colleoni, designed by Leonardo da Vinci’s master, Andrea del Verrocchio, and see the exquisite Church of Santa Maria dei Miracoli, home to a reputedly miracle-working painting of the Virgin Mary.

Pass the site of Marco Polo’s family home and walk to Rialto Bridge as your guide recounts tales of the long-ago merchants who made it Venice’s commercial hub. Admire the illuminated Grand Canal from here and then take in other sights, including the ill-fated Teatro La Fenice, which famously burnt down in both 1836 and 1996.

Stop for photos at the stunning spiral staircase at the Palazzo Contarini del Bovolo. Marvel at this 15th-century gem and learn how its wealthy owner may have used it to climb to his apartments on horseback.

Your walking tour then comes to an end near St Mark’s Square.