A private guide in Venice

Individual tours in English

Access to private palazzi, archives and the quiet end of the lagoon. Logistics handled, context that mass tourism never reaches.

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The city as a code

Venice does not open itself to a casual glance. Behind the palace facades runs a parallel city — an intricate arrangement of power, art and private worlds. Seeing it takes more than looking. It takes knowing where to look.

My name is Evgeny. I am a licensed guide and art historian specialising in the history of the Venetian Republic. For more than twenty years I have worked across Italy with collectors, diplomats and travellers for whom a journey is a form of enquiry rather than a checklist.

Tours run in English and Russian. Where a date is already taken, it passes to a small circle of licensed partner guides I have worked with for years — never to an agency pool.

What the tours buy you is access: closed interiors, private collections, and a conversation among equals. We move around the crowds rather than through them.

Four foundations

Sala del Maggior Consiglio. The largest unsupported hall in Europe of its day. — Sala del Maggior Consiglio
The largest unsupported hall in Europe of its day.

A licence and a specialism, not a rehearsed guidebook

Official guiding licence for Italy and the Vatican. The specialism is art, power, religion, iconography and private collecting. Twenty years at the upper end of the market, with collectors, diplomats and people who come to understand a place rather than tick it off.

Gallerie dell’Accademia. Titian, Veronese and Tintoretto in one route. — Gallerie dell’Accademia
Titian, Veronese and Tintoretto in one route.

Mahogany water taxi. Airport to your hotel door in twenty-five minutes. — Mahogany water taxi
Airport to your hotel door in twenty-five minutes.

Comfort as a condition, not an upgrade

Private launches, priority entry, timing calculated to the minute. In a city with no roads, logistics matter more than the route: two hours lost in a queue at San Marco cannot be recovered by anything.

Canal Grande at dawn. The same view at six and at noon is two different cities. — Canal Grande at dawn
The same view at six and at noon is two different cities.

A workshop in Cannaregio. A gilder in the fourth generation. — A workshop in Cannaregio
A gilder in the fourth generation.

Doors that no ticket office sells

Patrician houses, museum reserves, working studios and spaces closed to the public. This kind of access is not for sale at a counter. It comes out of relationships built over twenty years in the city.

A lived-in palazzo. Five centuries in one house, and the owner receives you. — A lived-in palazzo
Five centuries in one house, and the owner receives you.

Piazza San Marco at seven. The day groups have gone. The square is empty. — Piazza San Marco at seven
The day groups have gone. The square is empty.

Confidentiality as the default

Work under NDA for public figures and private visits. Complete confidentiality over the route, the party and every detail of the trip. Nothing is mentioned anywhere without your consent.

When an interest becomes a profession

Guiding licence: Italy and the Vatican
Over twenty years at the upper end of the market
Specialist in art history and architecture
Founder of ItaProfile and ItaGuide
Languages: English, Russian, Italian

What I build is not a series of separate outings but a coherent stay in Venice, from the arrival at the airport to the last evening.

Venice is part of something larger

Two neighbouring projects. One carries the journey beyond the lagoon, the other stays with you on your phone.

ItaProfile

Private guiding and concierge across Italy

Rome, the Vatican, Florence, Naples, the Amalfi Coast, Tuscany, Sicily. Multi-city itineraries, the flights and transfers between them, access and reservations — settled in one conversation rather than ten.

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A curated map of Venice and Rome

Places chosen by hand: where there is substance, and where there is only a sign above the door. Works on a phone as you walk, with no account and no paid listings.

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Tours

Fourteen itineraries across five directions

First time

If Venice is new to you

Deeper

If you have seen the city already

Craft and table

Workshops and the working city

Venice artisan workshops: a private studio tour3 hours · from €350

Private and family

Boats, islands, whole days

Closed doors

Access that is not for sale

All tours

What is on

September 2026 is the densest month Venice has seen in years: Homo Faber, the Biennale, the film festival and Glass Week all run at once. Each can be built into a route with the access it needs.

1 – 30 September

Homo Faber 2026

The craft biennial on the island of San Giorgio Maggiore: fifteen installations under the artistic direction of Es Devlin. Through September the workshops in the city open their doors as well.

2 – 12 September

83rd Film Festival

On the Lido. Tickets for premieres, and a launch to the Palazzo del Cinema so that the evening does not end in the vaporetto queue.

12 – 20 September

The Venice Glass Week

The tenth edition. The Murano furnaces work in public — visits to workshops that are closed on any ordinary day.

until 22 November

Biennale Arte

"In Minor Keys", curated by Koyo Kouoh, at the Giardini and the Arsenale. Guided routes through the national pavilions and the collateral programme, without pretending it can be covered in a day.

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Common questions

How much does a private guide in Venice cost?

From €250 for a two-hour walking tour. Boat itineraries start at €500, a full day handled end to end at €2,000. The quoted price covers one to three guests; from four upwards it is quoted on request. Museum admission is paid separately unless stated otherwise.

How is a private guide different from a group tour?

In pace and in substance. A group follows a route pitched at the average interest of twenty strangers. Privately we go where you want, when you want, stop where you like and talk about what holds you.

Do you run tours in English?

Yes. Tours run in English and Russian, and I also work in Italian. Where a date is already taken, it passes to a licensed partner guide I have worked with for years.

Can you arrange access to closed palazzi and skip-the-line entry?

Yes. Priority entry is arranged for the Palazzo Ducale and the Gallerie dell’Accademia. A visit to a lived-in palazzo, a private collection or the Basilica di San Marco after closing are separate itineraries and are booked well in advance.

Are the tours suitable for families with children?

Yes. There is a quest-style route for children of eight to twelve built around hunting for the winged lions of Venice. Other itineraries adapt: shorter distances, more stops.

Do you work with VIP guests and confidential requests?

Yes, including under NDA. Confidentiality covers the route, the party and every detail of the visit.

Can a tour be combined with a private dinner?

Yes. Restaurant reservations, private rooms and dinner in a palazzo are part of the concierge service. The bill itself is settled separately.

How long do the tours run?

From one hour on the water to eight hours end to end. Most walking and museum itineraries take two to three hours.

Every conversationbegins a route

Venice does not reward haste. Tell me what you have in mind: a closed dinner in a palazzo, a search for a particular painting, or simply quiet at first light.

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