Venicescapes Historical Society

Fantastic historical walking tours. We did the City of Nations" tour. The carefully curated tour had a strong narrative structure

Michael with Venicescapes is my all time favorite tour guide! We had a magical day in Venice and we learned so much. We did the Titian, Tintoretto, and Veronese tour called The Splendors of Piety. Such beautiful art in their original settings (vs an art museum). My husband and I would plan a trip to Venice again just to do another Venicescapes Tour. This is a top notch tour!

This was a great tour. If you really want to learn about Venetian history, this is an in-depth thorough tour. Our guide knew history, architecture, art and much more. Highly recommended.

Our Venicescapes guide was extremely knowledgeable of all things Venice and generous with it. We spent a whole day together and could have listened to more. The guide left us with an understanding of Venice through its history, connecting the what you see of the city with how and why it came to be. Fascinating. We came away with a far better understanding and appreciation of Venice than we could have achieved by ourselves alone. Highly recommended!

If you want an outstanding tour that provides a comprehensive overview of Venice's history as a mercantile empire, then this academic style tour is a must do. Our expert guide led us through the city's development as a trading power, showcasing its unique geography, political structure, and cultural achievements.What sets this tour apart was its comprehensive approach. Our Veniscapes guide covered the city's entire journey from its early days to its ultimate downfall. The tour was incredibly insightful, and our guide's passion for the subject matter was contagious.I highly recommend this tour to anyone interested in exploring Venice's rich history. Whether you're a history enthusiast or simply looking to gain a deeper understanding of this remarkable city, this tour will undoubtedly leave you with a newfound appreciation for all that Venice has to offer.

Venicescapes guided historical tour, Story of a Mercantile Empire, was the highlight of our trip. I highly recommend it and am grateful I learned about it in Rick Steves Venice Guide. With only the two of us on this private tour, we were able to ask questions as we walked and visited the gondola ship yard, a spectacular private residence on the Grand Canal with beautiful frescoes, the Arsenal, and Santa Maria della Salute. Our guide, Michael, shared his expansive knowledge and obvious passion for this amazing city, covering topics ranging from early engineering, city planning, wars, architecture, trade, religion, shipbuilding, eastern expansion, and the end of the empire. I’m not a history buff but I loved every minute.

When my husband and I first traveled to Venice we researched tours we could take to orient us to the history of Venice. After viewing Venicescapes' website we decided sign up for Story of a Mercantile Empire tour. To say it was the most comprehensive, informative two days in a foreign city we have ever spent is an understatement! Michael's knowledge of Venice is outstanding and the delivery was engaging and really made us think about all we were experiencing in Venice. We asked lots of questions and after the two days we felt like we really understood the history and over the rest of our time we kept referring back to everything we had learned. If you are looking for an experience that is above and beyond your normal shallow tour of Venice we highly recommend that you sign up with Venicescapes. It was by far the best two days we could have asked for.

Superb private tour of Venice – a must for history lovers.Michael Broderick gave us the highlight of our trip to Italy with his six-hour private guided tour, “Story of a Mercantile Empire.” As his website suggests, this is an opportunity to learn how “barbarians, crusaders, pirates, popes, emperors, and saints” factored in the rise, development and then decline of the Republic over a millennia. For history enthusiasts, this is a chance to engage with an expert whose extraordinary knowledge and narrative skill leaves you with a deeper level of understanding and appreciation of this extraordinary city. If we weren’t about to leave Venice, my wife and I would have taken more of his tours.Before we signed up for the tour with Michael we looked at the reviews of his tours on TripAdvisor and thought it odd that they all had five stars, something beyond rare. Having now taken the tour, we would be dismayed to see any reviews less than five stars. We told Michael that we wished there was someone just like him in all the cities we visit. He leaves you with an enhanced appetite for learning.