Venice Carnival and Casanova Small-Group Walking Tour

Explore Venice Carnival and Casanova's Venice on a 2-hour walking tour led by a licensed guide in a traditional Venetian mask.

Getting started

Meet your licensed guide at the designated starting point and join your small group of up to 20 guests. After a brief introduction to the route and pace of this about 2-hour walking tour, you set off together into the historic streets. From here, you follow your guide on foot toward Casanova's San Samuele district.

What to expect

Casanova's San Samuele district

Walk through Casanova's San Samuele district, the area of Venice where Giacomo Casanova spent part of his life and built his reputation. This neighborhood forms the backdrop as your guide starts to connect real locations with stories of Carnival, masks, and Venetian society.

Features

• Your walking tour with an expert licensed guide wearing a traditional Venetian mask introduces you to Casanova's Venice in a small group, with a maximum of 20 guests so commentary is easier to follow.
• Stories of the Venice Carnival, the masks, and Casanova's Venice bring the streets of San Samuele to life, focusing on how public festivities and private intrigues overlapped in the 18th century.
• Insights into Casanova's San Samuele district help you understand how the local environment shaped his encounters, adding context to the wider world of Venetian courtesans and elite salons.

House of the poet Giorgio Baffo

Continue on foot to the area associated with the house of the poet Giorgio Baffo, a figure linked with the libertine culture of Casanova's time. This stop helps you see how writers and nobles contributed to Venice's reputation for wit and seduction.

Features

• At the house of Giorgio Baffo, your guide explains how this poet's circle intersected with Casanova's life, tying in anecdotes that illuminate the social freedoms of Carnival season.
• The stories of Carnival and Casanova's Venice shared here deepen your view of how masks and anonymity influenced relationships, especially among the literate and noble classes.
• Your guide, still in a traditional Venetian mask, uses this setting to show how themes from Baffo's era echo in modern Venice Carnival traditions.

The Ridotto and the world of Venetian courtesans

Move on to the area of the Ridotto, known as the first casino in Venice, where gambling and masked encounters once unfolded. This part of the walk explores public entertainment spaces and their connection to the world of the Venetian courtesans.

Features

• At the Ridotto, the first casino in Venice, you hear how masked gambling halls operated and why this venue became a focal point of Carnival nightlife.
• Insights into the world of the Venetian courtesans reveal how status, fashion, and secrecy shaped their roles, linking their stories directly to Casanova's adventures.
• Explanations of how Venetian masks are made and why they were worn clarify the practical and symbolic purposes of different mask types, from concealing identity in places like the Ridotto to signaling social roles.
• Throughout this section of the route, the guide's commentary connects the Ridotto, Venetian courtesans, and Casanova's movements, rounding out the approximately 2-hour walking tour through Carnival history.

Wrapping up

Your guided route concludes in the historic center after the final stories of the Ridotto and Venetian courtesans, leaving you free to continue exploring Venice independently or revisit locations from Casanova's San Samuele district on your own.