Venice Boat Tour

I would like to know if in Venice they have boat tours for the waterways, not gondolas. like this: http://www.viator.com/tours/Venice/Venice-Grand-Canal-Boat-Tour/d522-2635VENCAN

I am afraid to book this as the port time cuts close. Just curious if there are any walk up kiosks or tours available around the city I have searched and have not seen any . I have a feeling private water taxis would be too expensive

I would love to have a guided tour to tell us history etc. Our back up plan is to ride Vaporettos all around and look, and do a gondola. but would prefer to have a guided tour to tell us history etc

any info appreciated

Thanks so much for posting that link. It seems like an awesome tour and very reasonably priced. We have 2 days in Venice before we sail so this is perfect for us.

that is perfect for what we want to do but afraid , what if ship is late and we can't make it in time....pooh. Hoping there are other tours available

hope it works for ya.

If you go to Piazzale Roma from your ship, then hop on the #1 Vaporetto, Rick Steves has a self-tour listed that corresponds with the vaporetto's path up the Grand Canal to St. Marks. There are pictures of the "key" sites and info about them. This is in his "Venice" guidebook -- very inexpensive on amazon.com

I believe I may have read that he has a downloadable mp3 tour of this as well, if you preferred to listen to commentary rather than read it.

This is the tour that Rick Steves recommended for the Grand Canal AND its smaller back canals. It is priced as a group,per person, so I'm not sure you'd be able to just add yourself to a group booked already.

http://www.tours-italy.com/shore_excursions-venice.htm

Thanks all !