Skip-the-Line St. Mark’s Basilica: Guided Tour in Venice
Venice, Italy
- 1 hour (approx.)
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
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Overview
Save yourself from the stress of standing in a long line to visit St. Mark's Basilica by choosing this tour with skip-the-line admission included. After meeting your guide at St. Mark’s Square, you can learn some background information and then discover the interior of St. Mark’s Basilica together. Highlights include the first-floor museum, the terrace, and the magnificent mosaics.
- Check off St. Mark’s Square and St. Mark’s Basilica
- Beat the long waiting time with skip-the-line admission
- Clear commentary: Benefit from having a headset provided
- Tour give access to a terrace with outstanding views
What's Included
- Pre-reserved tickets for St. Mark's Basilica (€12)
- Skip the line entrance and guided tour to the Saint Marks Basilica
- Live tour commentary provided in English, French, Spanish or German
- Professional local guide
- Personal audio system and headset for tour commentary
- The tickets for the Basilica allow you to visit (within 6 months) the following sites:
- Basilica di Santa Maria Assunta (Torcello), Sacrestia della Basilica della Salute
- Pinacoteca Manfrediniana, Madonna dell'orto - S. Alvise, S. Andrea de la Zirada, S. Antonin
- S. Beneto, S. Fantin, S. Felice, S. Giacomo dell’Orio, S. Giobbe, S. Giovanni elemosinario
- S. Giovanni in Bragora, S. Marcuola, S. Maria dei Miracoli, S. Maria del Carmelo vulgo Carmini
- S.Luca, S. Maria del Giglio, S. Maria del Rosario vulgo Gesuati, S. Maria Formosa
- S. Martino di Castello, S. Marziale, S. Pietro di Castello, S. Polo, S. Samuele, S. Sebastiano
- S. Simeon Piccolo, S. Sofia, S. Stae, S. Stefano, S. Trovaso
- Santuario di Lucia - SS. Redentore, The Human Safety Net
- Food and drinks
- Hotel pick up and drop off
- Entrance fee - Pala d'oro€12.00 per person
- Museum and Loggia dei Cavalli on the 1st floor€12.00 per person
Meeting and Pickup
Meeting point
- TU.RI.VE. Meeting PointCalle larga de l'Ascension, 30124 Venezia VE, Italy
15 min before in Calle larga de l’Ascension - 30124 (behind the Correr museum on the opposite side of the Saint Marks Basilica). Look for the TURIVE assistant next to the post office San Marco.
End point
- Piazzetta dei Leoncini, 30124 Venezia VE, Italy
Itinerary
1
Piazza San Marco
20 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
2
Basilica di San Marco
40 minutes • Admission Ticket Included
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Near public transportation
- Most travelers can participate
- Check-in is 15 minutes before the tour start time
- Backpacks and large bags are not allowed inside the church
- A dress code is required to enter places of worship and selected museums. 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
- 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 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 matches the name provided at the time of booking for successful entry to St. Mark’s Basilica.
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 20 travelers
Supplied by
Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 3 days in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Reviews
3.9
based on 329 reviews
Kimberly_S, Apr 2026
Nice 1 hour tour of St. Mark's Basilica. Good for children.
Tour does not include Terrace so do not exit with tour if you wish to do this on your own.
Unfortunately the guides speaker was not working but group was small enough to be able to hear her without it.
Response from Host, Apr 2026
Hello Kimberly, Thank you for your feedback. We truly appreciate you taking the time to share your experience.
It was a pleasure hosting you, and we hope to welcome you again in the future.
Vicki_H, Dec 2025
Silvana was a wonderful tour guide. So knowledgeable on the history of St Mark’s Basillica and happily answered all our questions.
Response from Host, Jan 2026
Hello Vicki,
We thank you for the wonderful review and are very happy to hear that you enjoyed the activity. Thank you for choosing one of our tours, and we hope to welcome you again in Venice in the future.
Kindest regards,
Venice Events team
Corina_S, Oct 2025
The guide was very polite but very hard to understand his english. He had a very strong accent. Also there were kids in the group and did not seem to adjust the narrative so they can also be interested. For example he kept talking about the doje but never explained to them who that was.
Response from Host, Dec 2025
Hello Corina,
We thank you for the wonderful review and are very happy to hear that you enjoyed the activity. Thank you for choosing one of our tours, and we hope to welcome you again in Venice in the future.
Kindest regards,
Venice Events team
Joanna_S, Oct 2025
This tour was nicely paced and very informative. Our guide, Loredana, was very informative and knowledge. Make sure you wear something to cover your shoulders and knees ladies!
Response from Host, Oct 2025
Hello Joanna,
We thank you for the wonderful review and are very happy to hear that you enjoyed the activity. Thank you for choosing one of our tours, and we hope to welcome you again in Venice in the future.
Kindest regards
Venice Events team
Dawson_C, Oct 2025
Great if you like over paying to go into a church and not understand a thing the tour guide is saying. Would highly recommend just buying the $12 tickets into the church and looking yourself.
Response from Host, Oct 2025
Thank you for your kind review. The cost is for the insight of the guide, along with the service of reserving the ticket in advance and radio. This is a complete service. If you buy alone you are not guaranteed a similar experience. Thank you for your kind understanding.
Ada_L, Oct 2025
Our guide was very pleasant and knowledgeable. On time and easy to find. We really enjoyed the tour!
Response from Host, Oct 2025
Hello Ada,
Thank you for your kind and thoughtful review. It means so much to the Team. Thank you and sending kind regards from Venice. We hope to welcome you again in the future.
Team Venice Events
Susan_A, Sep 2025
The guide was lovely and funny. She told personal stories that added dimension. The church was beautiful and learning the history added meaning. You should go up the clock tower. We did not.
Response from Host, Sep 2025
Hello Susan,
Thank you for your kind and thoughtful review. It means so much to the Team. Thank you and sending kind regards from Venice. We hope to welcome you again in the future.
Team Venice Events
Mikala_G, Sep 2025
Rebecca, our guide was wonderful. The tour does not include the Terrace as described and that was the only reason I booked this tour.
Response from Host, Sep 2025
Hello Mikala,
Thank you for your kind and thoughtful review. It means so much to the Team. Thank you and sending kind regards from Venice. We hope to welcome you again in the future.
Team Venice Events
Pam_P, Sep 2025
It was just ok. We got in quicker. The guide was somewhat informative yet somewhat impatient with other travelers. The audio equipment seemed dated and it was not clear.
Response from Host, Sep 2025
Hello Pam,
Thank you for your kind and thoughtful feedback. This helps us improve our beloved tours. We are grateful for your kind insights and will be sharing them moving forward.
Sending kind regards,
Team Venice Events
Nuala_D, Aug 2025
Rebecca was a fantastic guide. Very knowledgeable and friendly. Really enjoyed our hour long tour. Just the right amount. Highly recommend.
Response from Host, Aug 2025
Thank you very much for the wonderful review, much appreciated.
Sending Kind regards,
Team Venice Events
Jo_H, Aug 2025
I only paid the exorbitant price for the opportunity to visit the terraces on the st Mark’s basilica tour. The guide said this wasn’t an option but admitted it should not have been included in the advert. It ruined my holiday as to see the horses on the terrace was a lifelong dream. There were 3 of us on the tour. My friend’s ticket was cancelled just before the tour and she was devastated. I would like a refund of at least half the ticket price. Your company is dishonest.
Response from Host, Aug 2025
Hello Jo,
Thank you for your kind and thoughtful review. Your kind feedback helps us improve our tours and experiences with our suppliers.
Sending kind regards,
Team Venice Events
Teo_S, Jul 2025
Great tour of the St. Mark Basilica. Very informative and interesting tour with a knowledgeable local tour guide.
Response from Host, Jul 2025
Hello Teo,
Thank you for your kind and thoughtful review. You kind feedback helps us improve our tours and experiences. We look forward to welcome you back in Venice.
Sending kind regards,
Team Venice Events
Lisa_W, Jul 2025
Very informative but the time in the basilica was rushed compared to the time outside listening and waiting for our tour to start. Our 2:45 tour did not start til 3 with a required checkin time of 2:30.
Response from Host, Jul 2025
Hello Lisa,
Thank you for your kind and thoughtful review. Your kind feedback helps us improve our tours and experiences with our suppliers. Our Team with each and every tour try to improve and try to find where mistakes are.
Sending kind regards,
Team Venice Events
Susan_M, Jul 2025
We bought skip the line and we waited on the longest line Ive ever been on????
Watch Viator bookings Its more like a scam
Response from Host, Jul 2025
Hello Susan,
Thank you for your kind and thoughtful review. Your kind feedback helps us improve our tours and experiences with our suppliers. Our Team with each and every tour try to improve and try to find where mistakes are.
Sending kind regards,
Team Venice Events
Kathryn_G, Jun 2025
Booked specifically for the ‘Skip the Line’ and were told upon arrival that sometimes the Basillica decide not to uphold this. I mean, maybe that’s plausible but there was nothing in the booking that states this possibility. So we had to endure 50mins in the blistering sunshine (35degrees) before we got in. The guide gave us a History of Venice whilst we waited which was good but not what we had paid for.
Response from Host, Jul 2025
Hello Kathryn,
Thank you for your kind and thoughtful review. Your kind feedback helps us improve our tours and experiences with our suppliers. Our Team with each and every tour try to improve and try to find where mistakes are.
Sending kind regards,
Team Venice Events
Tamara_L, Jun 2025
One of the most amazing places I have ever seen. Tour guide was awesome. Made the tour very enjoyable with great information
Response from Host, Jul 2025
Hello Tamara,
Thank you for your kind and thoughtful review. You kind feedback helps us improve our tours and experiences. We look forward to welcome you back in Venice.
Sending kind regards,
Team Venice Events
Nancy_J, Jun 2025
It does not skip the line. We still waited an hour in the hot sun - it was very disorganized with having to buy tickets once we got in. We paid for English speaking tour guide but unfortunately we could barely understand him. Would have been better to just go in and read all the signs. This was a terrible guided tour and waste of funds.
Response from Host, Jul 2025
Hello Nancy,
Thank you for your kind and thoughtful feedback.
All guides are all licensed language experts in the tour that they give. We thank you again and send kind regards,
Team Venice Events
Isabel_S, Jun 2025
When we showed up to the meeting spot, there was no direction on which guide to go with and we ended up with the wrong guide. Then we did not get our tickets from them and were taken to another guide that told us they stopped doing the skip the line tickets, even though we bought them ahead of time. The only reason we booked this was to skip the line and we ended up needing to wait in a long line. It was so long that we just left and did not even go through the tour. Completely false advertising, no communication about the change ahead of time (I think they overbooked), and no help while we were there. Do not recommend whatsoever.
Response from Host, Jul 2025
Hello Isabel,
Thank you for your kind and thoughtful review. Your kind feedback helps us improve our tours and experiences. Our Team with each and every tour try to improve and try to find where mistakes are.
Sending kind regards,
Team Venice Events
Daniel_K, Jun 2025
This was NOT a skip the line option. We began our tour by walking to the back of the standard line and the tour guide killing time by telling stories of Venice. After about 30 minutes of waiting in line, and only getting through half the distance to the door, we elected to leave because of the time commitment(it says one hour, we invested an hour in our total committment) and we were leaving Venice. Although the guide was nice she was really hard to understand. Complete waste of time and on our last day so we couldn’t reschedule. Really disappointing and I hope Viator makes it right.
Response from Host, Jun 2025
Hello Daniel,
Thank you for your kind and thoughtful feedback. Guests book before in order to have a guarantee for entrance into the Basilica. As tickets sell out. The time slot you selected also gets you in before others who did not purchase said ticket. We thank you again and send kind regards,
Team Venice Events
Don_H, Jun 2025
Terrible tour. Couldn’t understand the guide. Communication of poor audio equipment and tour guide’s poor language skills. Was not a skip the line tour. We stood in line for 20 minutes
Response from Host, Jun 2025
Hello,
Thank you for your kind and thoughtful feedback.
All guides are all licensed language experts in the tour that they give. We thank you again and send kind regards,
Team Venice Events
Rosalia_R, May 2025
Found it a little difficult to find the place of check in but made it in time. Very informative guide Marco, and very knowledgeable. Architecturally amazing as were the mosaics. Very ornate and spiritual.
Response from Host, May 2025
Hello ,
Thank you for your kind and thoughtful review. You kind feedback helps us improve our tours and experiences. We look forward to welcome you back in Venice.
Sending kind regards,
Team Venice Events
Tamara_L, Mar 2025
The Basilica was beautiful and I wish we would have had a more extraordinary experience. The guide we had was lovely but was uninteresting and didn't give a very good tour because of the dry material she shared.
Response from Host, Mar 2025
Hello Tamara,
Thank you for your kind feedback. We are grateful you were able to participate in this beautiful tour. Your feedback is useful for optimising the tours with our suppliers. It can be rather difficult as the crowds are big and the guides try their best to keep everyone interested and can be hard to give everyone what they want. If the guides were more loose and gave less information someone else would complain, unfortunately, the tour is marketed to give guests the information as described in the tour offering. Next time, we would recommend a private tour, where it is tailor made for your needs and you can request less information.
Thank you and sending kind regards,
Team Venice Events
Lauren_S, Mar 2025
Laura was a great tour guide! She was extremely knowledgeable and did a great job explaining and showing us everything about St. Marks Basilica. The only thing that was a little hard was the meeting spot. There was not a
Clear sign, flag, or anything like other tours have, therefore it was hard to find out meeting spot. Overall, great experience!
Response from Host, Mar 2025
Hello Lauren,
Thank you for your kind and thoughtful review. You kind feedback helps us improve our tours and experiences. We look forward to welcome you back in Venice.
Sending kind regards,
Team Venice Events
Beverley_P, Jan 2025
The tour was amazing accompanied by our guide. She had a wealth of knowledge regarding all things St Marks Square and St Marks Basilica.
Response from Host, Jan 2025
Hello ,
Thank you for your kind and thoughtful review. You kind feedback helps us improve our tours and experiences. We look forward to welcome you back in Venice.
Sending kind regards,
Team Venice Events
Valerie_M, Nov 2024
It was extremely hard to know where we were supposed to meet.
There were no clear signs, and directions that we needed to meet outside of the designated tour site BEFORE the tour.
The places we did meet were not the specific area stated in the meeting directions.
Also, the tickets we had were not the tickets we needed to get in.
That would have been appreciated to have known before getting to the tour destination, and being told that we couldn't get in because we didn't have a ticket.
The tour guides were fine.
Our first and last guides were the best.
Also, it would have been good to have known that Viatour is not the name of the tour company we were going to be escorted by.
Response from Host, Nov 2024
Dear Valerie,
Thank you for your kind and helpful feedback. We are very grateful that you could join our tour.
We look forward to welcoming you back in the future.
Kind regards,
Venice Events
Richard_W, Oct 2024
Very knowledgeable guide who also navigated the crowds well. That's all there is t I say. The Baslica is amazing.
Response from Host, Oct 2024
Hello Richard, thank you for your kind and honest review. We are grateful you could join us for our tour. We hope to welcome you back again in the future.
Sending kind regards,
Team Venice Events
dimitra_p, Oct 2024
Guide was knowledgeable and friendly
Beautiful church with mosaics
Fantastic view from the balcony
Must see in Venice
Response from Host, Oct 2024
Hello Dimitra , thank you for your kind and honest review. We are grateful you could join us for our tour. We hope to welcome you back again in the future.
Sending kind regards,
Team Venice Events
Louie_L, Oct 2024
We had a MOST INFORMATIVE GUIDE. She was wonderful and helped us to understand many things about the Basilica that my wife and I as Protestants had not understood previously. I would highly recommend this tour. It was a treat not to have to wait in a long line to get into the Basilica as our tour guide took us right in through a special "Skip the line," entrance.
Response from Host, Oct 2024
Hello Louie, thank you for your kind and honest review. We are grateful you could join us for our tour. We hope to welcome you back again in the future.
Sending kind regards,
Team Venice Events
John_R, Oct 2024
This may be one of the most stunning churches you'll see in Italy. Meeting point was easy to find, tour guide was excellent, and the skip the line access is a must.
Response from Host, Oct 2024
Hello John,
thank you for your kind and honest review. We are grateful you could join us for our
tour. We hope to welcome you back again in the future.
Sending kind regards,
Team Venice Events
Therese_L, Oct 2024
My 88 year old mother took ill and we couldn’t make it so we lost our $157.00 spent on the trip. We did not attend the event
Response from Host, Oct 2024
Hello,
Thank you for your kind and honest review. Your kind feedback helps understand how our suppliers can improve their offerings. We often deliver this feedback to our suppliers in effort to improve every day the quality of the tours that are offered. The cancellation policy by the supplier is noted at the time of booking. Guests are able to cancel 24 hours prior to the booked tour date.
Thank you again and sending kind regards,
Team Venice Events
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