Ravenna Tourist Office — Attraction in Ravenna

An Incredible Guided Tour Experience in Ravenna!

In May 2025, I visited the beautiful city of Ravenna with my two sisters. As we only had a few days to explore, we booked a guided tour through the Ravenna Tourist Office and we’re so glad we did!

Booking the tour was generally smooth. Although the lady assisting us seemed unsure about finalising our reservation on our first visit to the office, everything was sorted.

Our guide, Sergio, was absolutely outstanding on the day of the tour. He was incredibly knowledgeable, passionate about history, and eager to share facts with the group. He patiently answered all our questions and explained everything with great clarity. The tour far exceeded our expectations!!!

We joined a group of around 30 people and explored the city for at least three hours. Considering how many remarkable sites we visited, the price was very reasonable. Even better, being part of the guided tour allowed us to skip the queues at all the major landmarks, saving us valuable time.

One of the things we particularly appreciated was the brilliant audio system used during the tour. Each participant was given a small radio with an earpiece. Sergio spoke softly into his microphone, and thanks to the earpiece, we could hear him perfectly, even from a distance. This made the experience especially respectful and efficient in churches and sacred places, where keeping noise to a minimum is essential.

We learned much, especially about Ravenna’s famous mosaics, and truly enjoyed every moment. Sergio’s passion and depth of knowledge brought the city’s rich history to life in the most engaging way.

We really recommend this tour to anyone visiting Ravenna. It’s easy to book, thoughtfully organised, and offers exceptional value.

Thank you, Sergio, for your passion, knowledge, and patience. You made our visit...

This review concerns the guide we had only. The monuments are outstanding and unrivalled outside Constantinople. However the tourist office's official guided tour was led by a guide whose English was beyond just having a strong accent - it was rudimentary. She spoke English at a level where she should not be leading guided tours professionally.

Additionally the tour was pretty thin on content and alternatively presumed a huge amount of prior knowledge (is knowing who Galla Placidia was really common knowledge is or should this perhaps be explained briefly? Why never mention Ravenna was at a time capital of the Western Empire? Why not explain briefly the nature of Arianism? A sentence would suffice, much time was wasted between monuments when more information could have been provided...) and then treated the visitors as children taking a long time to explain relatively simple points.

She also said some things that were plain wrong such as that the Romans killed Theodoric? Though perhaps this was just a colourful way of saying mention of him was expunged from public buildings. Again, especially to help those in the group not speaking English as a first language, please provide guides that actually speak English...

La nostra visita a Ravenna è stata resa indimenticabile grazie alla guida eccezionale di Serena Zecchini. In tre ore e più, Serena ci ha condotto attraverso i capolavori della città, facendoci immergere nella storia e nell'arte di luoghi emblematici come la Basilica di San Vitale, il Mausoleo di Galla Placidia, il Battistero Neoniano, il Battistero degli Ariani, la Basilica di Sant'Apollinare Nuovo, la Cappella Arcivescovile, la Tomba di Dante e la cripta allagata. Il tempo è volato, tanto che ci siamo ritrovati a desiderare che la visita non finisse mai.

Serena non è solo una guida, ma una vera e propria enciclopedia vivente. La sua sapienza e cultura immensa si riflettono in ogni parola, ogni dettaglio che ci ha raccontato con passione e precisione. Il suo amore per Ravenna traspare in ogni descrizione, rendendo l'esperienza non solo informativa, ma anche profondamente coinvolgente.

Serena è una ravennate autentica, ma con una prospettiva cosmopolita. Ha viaggiato in tutto il mondo, arricchendo il suo bagaglio culturale e riportando a casa una visione globale che arricchisce ogni suo racconto. Il suo modo di comunicare è chiaro, affascinante e accessibile, riuscendo a rendere comprensibili anche i concetti più complessi.

Se state programmando una visita a Ravenna, vi auguro con tutto il cuore di avere Serena come guida. La sua presenza ha reso la nostra esperienza unica, e siamo certi che chiunque abbia la fortuna di essere accompagnato da lei vivrà una visita altrettanto straordinaria. Non posso che raccomandarla vivamente: Serena Zecchini è la guida che ogni viaggiatore...