Private Boat Tour Venice

A private boat tour in Venice means a boat for your own group, a skipper and a route through the lagoon, usually to Murano, Burano and Torcello. I found three that fit, from $55 to $471, and they are very different value. If you want the whole range first, my guide to boat tours in Venice lists all 12 trips I compared. Prices are in US dollars, checked in October 2026, and the booking links are affiliate links, as I explain on my about page.

My pick for a small group is the Venice Wave private lagoon tour at $111: 4 hours with a skipper, fuel and a glassworks visit included, rated 5.0 from 11 reviews. For a couple who wants door-to-door service, the Vetreria Artistica Colleoni motorboat at $471 includes hotel pickup. The City Wonders trip at $55 is the budget option, but it is a small group, not a private tour.

Private Boat Tour Venice Italy

A private boat tour in Venice, Italy, almost always means the northern lagoon: the islands of Murano, Burano and Torcello. All three listings go to Murano and Burano, and the Venice Wave trip adds Torcello. The lagoon is a shallow body of water, and the private boat tour in Venice you choose decides how much time you spend traveling and how much on the islands. A private boat tour in Venice does not follow a fixed timetable, so your skipper can wait while you browse a shop or sit down for lunch.

The most reviewed of the three is the City Wonders trip: 4.7 from 7,709 reviews, $55 and 5 hours. It is described as a private boat, but the group size is 22 people or fewer, so I treat it as a small-group tour. It meets at Riva degli Schiavoni 4182, and one of three meeting points applies depending on the option. The listing includes round-trip boat transport, an English-speaking guide for the whole tour, glassmaking and lacemaking demonstrations, a headset, and a discount at the glass gallery. Gratuities are not included.

City Wonders Ltd.

Murano & Burano Guided Tour by Private Boat with Glassmaking

• ★ 4.7 (7,709 reviews)
• 5 hours
• Free cancellation

My pick: Small group, not truly private: $55, 5 hours, 4.7 from 7,709 reviews, guide and headset included.

from

$55

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For the lagoon on your own terms, the Venice Wave trip is the one I’d start with: a private boat reserved for your group of up to 6 people and a dedicated skipper for 4 hours through Murano, Burano and Torcello. The listing promises no large groups and no vaporetto timetables. Skipper, fuel and a visit to a glassworks are included, and lunch and drinks are not. It is rated 5.0, but from only 11 reviews, so the evidence is thin. Please check on the date picker whether $111 is per person or for the whole boat, because the listing does not make that obvious.

Venice Wave

Venice Private Boat Tour: Murano, Burano & Torcello

• ★ 5.0 (11 reviews)
• 4 hours
• Free cancellation

My pick: My pick for a private group: $111, 4 hours, skipper and fuel included, 5.0 from only 11 reviews; confirm what the price covers.

from

$111

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Private Boat Ride Venice

A private boat ride in Venice with a hotel pickup is a different product from the skipper trip above. The Vetreria Artistica Colleoni motorboat costs $471 for 4 hours, and it is rated 4.8 from 189 reviews. After a pickup from your hotel, you transfer to a motorboat with shelter from the sun, a soft sofa and a 360-degree view. It cruises to Murano, where you can see the 9th-century cathedral of St. Donato and a glass factory with expert glass blowers at work, then crosses to Burano for a bussola biscuit. The transfer back is to San Marco.

The pickup works from hotels on Venice island only, so a hotel on the Lido or the mainland will not qualify. The listing includes a guide and a glass-blowing demonstration, and meals and tips are not included. Reviews praise the captain and the guide, one of them noting she helped them find shops with real handmade products and places to eat. The price is for the boat, which is why I think it comes out well for four to six people and poorly for a couple.

Vetreria Artistica Colleoni

Murano & Burano Private Boat Tour with Hotel Pickup

• ★ 4.8 (189 reviews)
• 4 hours
• Free cancellation

My pick: Door-to-door private motorboat at $471, 4 hours, 4.8 from 189 reviews; best value for four to six people.

from

$471

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Compared: Private Boat Tours in Venice

Operator	Price	Duration	Boat type	Rating	Cancellation
City Wonders Ltd.	$55	5 hours	Private boat, group of 22 or fewer	4.7 (7,709 reviews)	Free up to 24 hours
Venice Wave	$111	4 hours	Private boat with skipper, up to 6 people	5.0 (11 reviews)	Free up to 24 hours
Vetreria Artistica Colleoni	$471	4 hours	Private motorboat with hotel pickup	4.8 (189 reviews)	Free up to 24 hours

Luxury Private Boat Tour Venice

If you are looking for a luxury private boat tour in Venice, the Vetreria Artistica Colleoni motorboat is the closest thing in my data. The listing does not use the word luxury, but it has the features people mean by it: a covered boat, a soft sofa, a guide, pickup from the hotel and a glass-blowing demonstration. I would not call the Venice Wave trip luxury, although the reviews describe a clean, comfortable boat and one calls it the highlight of their trip.

I did not find a yacht or classic wooden boat among the products I compare, though some Venice operators sell them. If that is what you want, my advice is to ask the operator for the boat type, the number of seats and the exact route before you pay. The time of day matters too: if you want your private boat for the evening, the page on a sunset cruise in Venice shows what the water looks like at dusk.

Private Boat Taxi Venice

A private boat taxi in Venice is a point-to-point ride, and none of my three listings is one. They are tours with a route, a guide or skipper and a stop on Murano, so I would not book them just to get from the airport to a hotel. The Vetreria Artistica Colleoni trip starts with a hotel pickup and ends with a transfer back to San Marco, which makes it taxi-like at both ends, but it is priced as a 4-hour tour.

If you do want a taxi, the useful check is the same as for any private boat: ask the operator what is included, how many people the boat takes and whether luggage is allowed. For the city’s official information on water transport, the Venezia Unica portal is the source I’d start from.

Which Private Boat Tour I’d Book

My short answer for a private boat tour in Venice, Italy, is the $111 Venice Wave trip for a small group, once you confirm that the price covers the boat. Here is how I would decide:

• Private and affordable: Venice Wave, $111, 4 hours, up to 6 people.
• Door-to-door service: the $471 motorboat with hotel pickup, 4.8 from 189 reviews.
• Lowest price and a guide: City Wonders at $55, 4.7 from 7,709 reviews, but a small group.
• A short ride instead: a gondola ride in Venice is $42 to $44 for about 30 minutes.

Before you book a private boat tour in Venice, check the meeting point, which depends on the option for City Wonders, and the cancellation text, which is free up to 24 hours on all three. Choose a trip above and use the booking links to see availability for your dates. For the other trips I compared in the city, see Venice boat tours, or go back to the homepage for my other cities.