St. Mark's Basilica Skip-the-Line Guided Tour
Venice, Italy
- 1 hour 15 minutes (approx.)
- Offered in: English
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Overview
Step inside one of Venice’s prime attractions without the long wait on this small-group, skip-the-line tour of St. Mark’s Basilica. The entrance lines can last for hours, but you'll skip straight to the front of the queue with a reserved ticket so you can spend more time admiring the glittering gold mosaics and masterpieces of Renaissance painting and sculpture that adorn the interior. Learn the history behind the Italo-Byzantine basilica from an expert guide, using headsets so you can hear clearly.
- Avoid the long wait to get inside one of Venice's most popular attractions
- Learn the history and inside secrets of the stunning Italo-Byzantine church
- Headsets provided to hear the guide clearly
- A small group means more attention from your guide
What's Included
- Local guide
- Guaranteed to skip the long lines
- Headsets to hear the guide clearly (for groups larger than 10 people)
- Hotel pickup and drop-off
Meeting and Pickup
Meeting point
- Campo S. Zaccaria, 4683g, 30122 Venezia VE, Italy
Campo San Zaccaria 4683/G, in front of the Church of San Zaccaria: The Tour Shop.
End point
This activity ends back at the meeting point.Itinerary
Piazza San Marco (Pass By)
1
Basilica di San Marco
1 hour 15 minutes • Admission Ticket Included
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Wheelchair accessible
- Stroller accessible
- Near public transportation
- Transportation is wheelchair accessible
- Surfaces are wheelchair accessible
- Most travelers can participate
- May be operated by a multilingual guide
- No shorts or sleeveless tops allowed. Knees and shoulders MUST be covered for both men and women. You may risk refused entry if you fail to comply with these dress requirements
- Because of security checks, you might experience a line to get inside St. Mark's Basilica. You will skip the line for non-reserved tickets, but the security check is mandatory.
- Maximum 25 people on each tour
- On certain dates, most travelers staying outside of Venice who are planning to visit for the day will be required to pay a €5 access fee. For further details (including exemptions) and to learn what days this fee is applicable, please visit: https://cda.ve.it
- Please be at meeting point at least 10 minutes before the departure time
- PLEASE PROVIDE THE FULL NAMES OF ALL TRAVELERS WHEN BOOKING. FAILURE TO PRESENT A VOUCHER WITH ALL TRAVELERS' FULL NAMES AT THE TICKET OFFICE PRIOR TO ENTRY MAY RESULT IN DENIED ENTRY TO THE ATTRACTION.
- EACH TRAVELER MUST PRESENT A VALID PASSPORT OR ID DOCUMENT THAT MACHES THE NAME PROVIDED AT THE TIME OF BOOKING FOR SUCCESSFUL ENTRY TO ST. MARK'S BASILICA.
- St Mark’s Basilica entry tickets are priced at €12 per person
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 25 travelers
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Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Reviews
3.5
based on 53 reviews
Dennis_W, Oct 2024
It was too crowded and hard to keep up with the guide. She talked too fast and her English was not very good. We did not understand much of her narration. The Basilica was beautiful, however, and the tour was comprehensive.
James_M, Sep 2024
Our guide Barbara was the best! Friendly, informative, moved things along without feeling rushed. Highly recommended!
Mervet_K, Aug 2024
She wasn’t very good and she was very rude! She didn’t explain anything of the tour! Not happy with her
Laura_S, Jul 2024
The tour guide explained the historical value of the breathtaking history. In every direction was the wonder of the times
Marina_S, Jul 2024
Going up to the dome was a great experience. Having the tour guide explain the facts made the tour worthwhile.
Dana_E, Jun 2024
I’m sorry that I have forgotten our guide’s name. She had white hair, Hokas, and in great shape! She was wonderful! The tour was excellent.
Suzanne_K, Sep 2023
Where you redeem the vouchers should be mentioned in the booking confirmation. It’s not well highlighted. There is no warning in the confirmation re dress code. I have booked a tour of the Vatican museums and it advises re dress code. I had to buy 2 scarves to cover my shoulders and knees 😱. I checked and re checked the voucher and it wasn’t stated. Guide was difficult to understand in English.
Amy_L, Aug 2023
Our guide was 20 mins late. No apologies, no introductions. Talked very little. As a guide never said things like, ok, we are moving now. People were still looking all around and she would start walking through a very busy square. She didn’t ask who had tickets to the doges palace and who didn’t so we ended up following her (no explanation where we were going) and going through security to learn we were headed somewhere we hadnt purchased tickets for. She didn’t do a lot of talking other than in st marks and it’s not as much as I would have liked. We heard a lot of background noise from her headset, including her phone that kept going off.
Very very disappointing to pay so much money for so little in return.
We were a part of 4 (family) but kids were older than teens.
Barbara_L, Jun 2023
An amazing church, the mosaics are incredible! And the view of the square from the outside balcony is incredible. And the horse statues….haven’t seen anything like them in a church before. The basilica appears rather gaudy on the outside but seeing inside is definitely worth it.
Michael_R, Apr 2023
Easy to find where to pick the tickets up. And meet the guide who was very knowledgeable about the tour. And took time to answer any questions
Kimberly_R, Aug 2022
It was nice to be shown around, to get to go to the terrace and hear information. The spreader had a thick accent, but was short enough to be informative and short enough for teens.
Nadia_L, Jul 2022
Great guided tour to see the basilica. The guide was knowledgeable and enthusiastic. Would recommend.
Response from Host, Jul 2022
Thank you for your comment
Linda_T, May 2022
Our guide was excellent and we had a small group. However, it was nearly impossible to find the meeting place!! Viator has to do a better job of explaining where to meet their tours. We had difficulty in several cities. Probably we had a small group because the meeting place was so poorly explained!!!
Response from Host, May 2022
Thank you for tour comment
Sharon_W, May 2022
Very informative. I have visited St Marks before but never with a tour. Highly recommend a tour makes it so much more enjoyable plus you skip the line!!
Response from Host, May 2022
Thank you for your comment
Howard_R, Jun 2019
We were completely misled, this tour was sold to us as "guaranteed to skip the long lines" however we were made to wait nearly an hour in 30C heat for the Tour Guide to show up, the tour was supposed to start at 11.50am. The queue was longer than the actual tour, complete waste of money, I wouldnt recommend this tour to anyone.
Douglas K, Apr 2018
Not really skip the line as we still had to wait on line as there had just been a major service, and access was somewhat limited...not really the fault of the tour group, but still unfortunate. The Basilica itself is spectacular, and at end of tour, make sure to also go to the museum upstairs too a few extra euro
John K, Oct 2017
The beginning of the tour was hectic and disorganized. We were divided into groups and ushered to another location, where we waited. No one explained what was going on, even when asked. Our group waited 40 minutes before we met our guide and were led inside St Marks Basilica. Once inside, the tour was very good.
Patricia M, Jun 2017
A great way to see the basilica without waiting in the long lines. Tour guide was very knowledgeable. So beautiful and so much history!
Bryce_m, May 2017
I really loved the whole square around the Basilica there were other museums and restraunts that I would have liked to seen but we had the guided tour booked so we did that. It was a very packed church so it was good that we were with a group and could skip the lines but because the size of our group and the packed nature of the church we kept loosing people. The tour guide was quite fast and moved along regardless of weather or not you caught what she said or were up with the rest of the group. Also you couldnt take photos in most of it so that was kind of a bummer. If you can get in without a long line and just wander through yourself you will have more time to see the other great sights in the area. There is ALOT to see.
Jan E, May 2017
A must-see for all visitors to Venice. The advantage of doing it with a guide is that you don't have to queue up for hours with the general public as you have a pre-booked appointment, and you have someone telling you all about what you are looking at. Our guide was very knowledgeable and was able to ensure that everyone in the group around 20 was able to make the most of their visit even with limited mobility. You have a radio set and an ear piece and can hear the guide clearly all the way round. The Golden Altarpiece is included in the guided tour and is well worth a visit. Lovely views from the balcony and don't skip the museum either for an extra 5 euros.
Alejandra_A, Oct 2024
Excelente guía, muy buena opción para conocer esta maravillosa basílica. Recomendable al 100%
Gracias
Salvo_P, Sep 2024
Prenotato in italiano ma ricevuta guida in inglese. Ho sfruttato il biglietto solo per l ingresso in basilica con salta fila
Batrice_M, Aug 2020
Visite agréable avec un guide charmant rien que pour nous 2. Dommage de ne pas pouvoir visiter l'intérieur de la basilique en raison de sa restauration due aux dommages de l'acqua alta.
Carolina_M, Aug 2020
Muy buena la guia. Contaba cosas súper interesantes. Lo malo es q teniamos una visita en español y al final fue también con un grupo de holandeses, y lo reoetua todo, en ingles y español. Lo demas perfecto
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