Mantua City Centre Walking Tour
- 2 hours
- Free cancellation up to 24h before
- 4 languages
- Instant confirmation
Highlights
Guided walking tour in Mantua with a friendly, English-speaking local guide. Food, art, nature and a welcoming atmosphere; that’s what makes Mantua one of the best cities to visit in Italy. Discover the Gonzaga family's incredible legacy, where Shakespeare’s Romeo was banished, Verdi’s Rigoletto was set and Opera was born. Discover an amazing Unesco World Heritage Site and the reason why the greatest Italian Renaissance writer, Torquato Tasso, wrote “...Mantua is a magnificent town, worth a thousand mile travel to see it...”
Inclusions
What's included
- Professional guide
- private tour
What's not
- Transportation to/from attractions
Itinerary
Mantua is a little breathtaking gem; little known or barely remembered before, loved afterwards. The beauty of Mantua, however, is not only in its magnificent buildings but also in the beautiful squares and the charming alleys, lined with arcades and pretty houses. Mantua is small but spectacular and surrounded by beautiful natural environment where art, nature, cultural heritage, great food and overall good living aim for making life sweeter. The city centre tour starts in Sordello Square. Sordello Square is a huge square surronded by some of the most important monuments of the city like the Ducal Palace, the Cathedral and the Bishop's seat. From Sordello Square we can access some squares and gardens beloging to the Ducal Palace like Piazza Castello, Piazza Santa Barbara, Piazza Paccagnini and Piazza Pallone
Broletto Square, the political square in medieval times, is surrounded by some communal buildings built in the 13th century like Palazzo del Podesta and Palazzo del Massaro. The square was also the place for execution, it is still possible to see the four iron rings used for torturing people.
Piazza delle Erbe, bordered by the ancient Palazzo del Podesta to the north and the Palazzo della Ragione (court of justice) to the east, takes its name from the medieval fruit and vegetable market. The square is flanked by the typical porticos (arcades), the clock tower, with a 15th century astrolabe, and the Romanesque church of San Lorenzo
On Piazza Mantegna stands the Basilica of Sant’Andrea, a masterpiece of Leon Battista Alberti, one of the fathers of the Renaissance architecture. The square is the right place to admire its beautiful Renaissance façade
The Basilica of Sant'Andrea is still considered to be one of Alberti's most complete works and one of the greatest works of Renaissance architecture of the 15th century in Northern Italy. The façade, made up of classical architectural elements, conceals a single nave with barrel vaults and trompe-l'oeil painted walls. The first chapel on the left contains the tomb of Andrea Mantegna
The portion of the cloister that closes Piazza L.B. Alberti is the only remaining part of the Benedictine monastery complex destroyed when the new Basilica of Sant’Andrea was built
Cancellation
Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the experience starts, for a full refund.
Reviews
5.0
- 52
- 40
- 30
- 20
- 10
Ratings come from 2 reviews collected by our booking partner. They are travellers' own words, in the order they were written — never reordered to flatter the experience.
Know before you go
- Meeting point
- Rigoletto's house at Piazza Sordello 23. The house is located at the corner of the square at the end of a row of houses behind the Duomo of Saint Peter.
- Pickup
- Everyone meets at the starting point; there is no pickup.
- Ticket type
- Mobile or paper ticket accepted
- Operated by
- Alliet’ARTI Tours - Manuela Roversi
- Wheelchair accessible
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Service animals allowed
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- All areas and surfaces are wheelchair accessible
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- Price is for 1 to 10 travelers
- Children must be accompanied by an adult
How it compares in Mantua
- Its from-price is 11% below the median of the 9 city tours we list in Mantua.
- Its length is typical for the group.
- By number of reviews it ranks 7 of 9.
- The operator lists free cancellation on it.
About Mantua
Mantua, in Lombardy, is a Renaissance city of palaces and squares enclosed by three lakes, the seat of the Gonzaga dukes.
Mantua sits on the plain of the River Mincio, which widens into three lakes along the north and east sides of the old city, and the water gives the place a quiet, misty mood. The Gonzaga family ruled for nearly four hundred years, and their Palazzo Ducale is a vast complex of courtyards that holds the Camera degli Sposi, a room frescoed by Andrea Mantegna with a painted oculus open to the sky. The old town and nearby Sabbioneta are listed by UNESCO.
Top-ranked sights in Mantua: Piazza delle Erbe, Ducale Palace (Palazzo Ducale Mantova), Te Palace (Palazzo Te).
