Extraordinary Tour in Venice

Venice's cultural section is built around craft no less than around museums. A demonstration of Murano glass blowing lasts fifteen minutes at 6 dollars — the cheapest and shortest entry in the Italian catalogue. A two-hour lampwork workshop on Murano costs 79 dollars, and so does a four-hour round of Venetian artisans' workshops. Glassmaking was moved out to Murano back in the thirteenth century, to get the furnaces out of a wooden city.

The self-guided formats cost between 8 and 11 dollars. A city quest with tasks runs two and a half hours at 8 dollars, an hour-long game about a relic heist 11, and a 75-minute walk on Casanova's trail 10. There is no guide: the clues arrive on the phone and the walker sets the pace.

The museum line costs more. St Mark's Basilica takes an hour at 55 dollars, the Doge's Palace in private format ninety minutes at 132, and the Accademia Galleries two hours at 139. A combined programme covering the basilica and the palace costs 127 dollars. The upper bound is a private walk through Venetian art and architecture: two hours at 323 dollars. GetExperience lists 11 cultural programmes in Venice, from 6 to 323 dollars.