Venice: St.Mark's Basilica & Doge's Palace Tour with Tickets
Recommended by 90% of travelers
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Venice, Italy
- 3 hours 10 minutes (approx.)
- Offered in: English
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Overview
Explore Venice with a small-group tour that dives into the city’s history, culture, and iconic landmarks, including St. Mark’s Basilica and Doge’s Palace. With your guide leading the way, skip the lines with pre-reserved tickets and step inside these stunning sites to uncover their fascinating stories. Wander through St. Mark's Square, cross the legendary Bridge of Sighs, and hear tales of Casanova while visiting the Old and New Prisons—then marvel at the grandeur of the Correr Museum, once home to Napoleon and the King of Italy.
- Discover two Venice highlights in one tour
- Utilize pre-reserved tickets to maximize time
- Explore St. Mark’s Basilica and Doge’s Palace
- Learn about history and architecture
What's Included
- Pre-reserved tickets for St. Mark's basilica
- Pre-reserved tickets for Doge's Palace
- Expert local guide with insider's knowledge
- Small group tour for a more personalized experience
- 3-hour walking tour at a relaxed pace
- Tickets for the Correr Museum
- Admission to National Archeological Museum and Biblioteca Marciana
- Guided Tour of Correr Museum, National Archeological Museum, and Biblioteca Marciana
- Transportation to/from the meeting point
Meeting and Pickup
Meeting point
- Colonna di San MarcoP.zt San Marco, 30124 Venezia VE, Italy
We meet in Saint Mark’s Square near the waterfront by the two large columns. Our guide will be under the one with the winged lion on top. Your guide will have a signboard that says, “Walks In Europe.”
End point
This activity ends back at the meeting point.Itinerary
Venice (Pass By)
1
Piazza San Marco
30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
2
Basilica di San Marco
30 minutes • Admission Ticket Included
3
Palazzo Ducale
2 hours • Admission Ticket Included
Bridge of Sighs (Pass By)
4
Museo Correr
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Included
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Near public transportation
- Most travelers can participate
- 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.
- 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.
- Acqua Alta (high tide) in Venice can cause delays in entering the Basilica.
- Sites visited during this tour are subject to occasional closures due to holy observances, high tides, and flooding. If a site closes, your guide will tour the exterior of the site. If time permits, you will be contacted before your tour. For last-minute closures, modifications may be communicated at the tour start time.
- Basilica is a holy place, both men and women must wear clothing that covers the belly, shoulders and knees.
- Religious authorities may decide to suspend skip-the-line priority because of the high number of visitors. We are only allowed to stay inside the Basilica for 20 minutes.
- In case of denied access, you will be provided with entrance tickets to visit the Basilica on your own at the assigned time.
- If you take the 2:00 PM tour, the Correr Museum will be closed before your tour finishes. Therefore, you will have Correr tickets for the next day
- Please note that carrying any type of weapon or sharp objects, such as a knife, is not allowed for this tour.
- Do not bring large bags or luggage. These items are not allowed, and there is no place to leave them, so you will be denied entry.
- Clients must arrive at the meeting point 15 minutes before the start of the tour. This is due to the timed entry of the tickets.
- Please be advised that it is not possible to join the tour after it has commenced.
- Direct ticket costs for the included attractions are as follows: Doge’s Palace (€27.00) and St. Mark’s Basilica (€12.00).
- Tips/gratuities (for your guide) are always appreciated.
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 16 travelers
Supplied by
Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Reviews
4.6
based on 1,347 reviews
Sort by: Most insightful
This is a lovely tour. The Doge is the star. Not that the Basilca wasnt great, but after 9 days in Italy seeing some amazing cathedrals, this one is ok. Plus you only get to spend a limited time because it guides you thru a cue.
Our guide was full of amazing knowledge. Im sorry that I didnt grab her name and remember it. But she answered all our questions and was very excited about the works in the Doge.
My main thought is, it could be a two hour tour. The history is great and can be too much. We did spend a decent amount outside before walking in. Then inside the plaza of the Doge before walking up. All history. When we finally moved inside, the place is amazing.
(Im not saying its not interesting, and the highlights is would be better.)
Finally, I would say we took two hours for the Doge, part of that included a 20min bathroom break. So again, this could be an hour easy.
Then 20 mins ourltside the church before walking in. So you really only can get 30mins inside church. And we have to leave early for travel.....squeezed this one in. So we tipped and left before she was done. Again she was good, just had to keep moving.
Still worth it.
It was a beautiful building with lots of rich history and our tour guide Matteo was one of the best we have ever had, he got to know each guest, was funny and made each room a wonderful experience
It was fantastic. Our guide was funny, personable and made history one alive. Very thorough . Our guide remembered all our names, kept us together and gave us breaks
This was a VERY expensive tour with a guide that was more interested in telling stories than explaining what we were seeing and sharing the vast historical knowledge we expected. Not worth it.
Our tour guide, Clara, was absolutely amazing! She was incredibly knowledgeable and detail-oriented, making sure to point out all the hidden gems, interesting history, and fun facts throughout the tour. Her enthusiasm was truly infectious, and her genuine joy and love for Venice really made the experience special.
One of our favorite touches was that Clara made an effort to learn and remember everyone’s names and where we were from, which made the tour feel so personal. We loved being one of her little ducklings for the morning and would highly recommend her to anyone visiting Venice!
Very good tour with a lot of factual information. Our tour guide, Clair, was exceptional!!! She was very knowledgeable, personable, interesting and fun!! Best tour guide, ever!
There is a lot of history and art to take in. Our tour guide had an incredible amount of information for us. She also had suggestions for things to do after the tour. You get it all with this tour.
Please note that the tour is advertised as English, however our operator had to repeat the same sentence in 3 languages
So if this had been in English only a person would have the opportunity to learn more and ask questions
Lively interaction from the guide, very clever at learning the groups names and countries prior to tour. Good explanations and bonus that a small group.
Our guide was fantastic! It’s a long tour but she kept it interesting. The palace and basilica are gorgeous!
We enjoyed the tour of the doge Palace and the Basilica. It felt like the tour was more of an art history tour than a tour of the palace necessarily.
An informative but not overwhelming tour. You get the highlights of the Doge’s Palace and the Basilica. Daniella was lovely!
Best tour guide we had while in Italy! Easy to understand, extremely knowledgeable, provided so much detailed information on the buildings, history & artwork. Also appreciated her super useful tips for us on the city, even after the tour. We skipped all the lines into the palace & basilica, so no standing in the heat waiting, definitely a 10/10!
The guide was unorganised and very hard to understand and seemed to not know what was happening. Don’t know if it was her first tour , but wouldn’t recommend it unfortunately and it wasn’t cheap .
Clear instructions on where to meet, by email and text a couple of days before and once again on the day .
Guide was bubbly and infectious which made her extremely interesting.
We enjoyed the tour .
Wonderful guide, great tour of Doge Palace which included Bridge of Sighs and new prison. Saint Marks Basilica was beautiful with its Biblical narrative mosaics. Tour guide was thorough in her presentation.
This was the best guided tour we did while in Italy! Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and took the time to answer questions as we were going. I would recommend this tour to anyone looking to slow down and actually take their time to experience the history of Venice.
Be careful with location and timing. No flexibility in rescheduling. Hard to find location with no visible signs or operator. I wish I could offer 0 stars.
Response from Host, Aug 2026
You arrived 17 minutes after the scheduled start time. The tour instructions explicitly require all guests to arrive at the meeting point at least 10 minutes before departure. The group waited for the five-minute grace period before leaving.
Our admission tickets are timed and expire if they are not used within the allocated entry period. Once the group has departed, it is not possible to join the tour at a later stage.
The meeting time, location and arrival requirements are clearly stated in the tour description, booking confirmation, reminder messages and the information available through the app.
When joining a scheduled group tour, it is the customer’s responsibility to be at the correct meeting point at the correct time. As you arrived 17 minutes late, your booking was recorded as a no-show. Under the applicable cancellation and no-show policy, we are therefore unable to issue a refund.
Lots of walking though there are elevators in the Doge palace. Beautiful art. Interesting history! GO ON THIS TOUR!
Our guide some simply amazing and well versed in the history of Venice. A must do experience. Book it now!
Excellent tour guide who was enthused by his subject and as a Venetian very proud of his city
Without him we would have been totally overwhelmed as there was so much to see and comment on
Ana was a wonderful tour guide! She was very passionate about Venice’s history! The tour wasn’t too much walking! A lot of information! Great for history lovers!
Alex was an incredible guide. His wealth of knowledge and passion for history was second to none. Without him, we wouldn’t have known all of the incredible history about the prisons, the Senate, the judging room and even Casanova. I can’t recommend Alex enough!
Christina was well informed and very patient when questions were asked. It was evident that she loved what she was doing. I would recommend this tour and Christina to anyone considering this tour.
Elisa was a fantastic guide. Highly recommended. She was knowledgeable and entertaining enthusiast and engaging
A full tour of great information and tidbits I wouldn’t have gotten if going on my own! Our tour guide with Walks of Europe was amazing!! As with all tours in foreign countries, I suggest taking time before going to listen to podcasts or audios of their accent while speaking English. I did well but my son had a hard time understanding them
There is so much history that I never realized. The amount of wealth the Venecians had was staggering! The guide walked us through everything with so much energy and a real love of sharing her knowledge. Highly recommend!
This tour was an incredible way to experience two of Venice’s most iconic landmarks. Having the tickets included made everything seamless, and we were able to skip the hassle of waiting in long lines.
Our guide was knowledgeable, engaging, and brought the history of St. Mark’s Basilica and the Doge’s Palace to life with fascinating stories and details that we never would have learned on our own. The Basilica was absolutely breathtaking, with its stunning mosaics and architecture, while the Doge’s Palace offered an amazing glimpse into Venice’s rich political history and beautiful artwork.
The pace of the tour was just right, giving us enough time to admire the highlights without feeling rushed. I left with a much deeper appreciation for Venice and its incredible history.
I highly recommend this tour to anyone visiting Venice. It’s well organized, informative, and truly one of the best ways to experience the city’s most famous landmarks.
Our Guide was very knowledgeable. If we had walked through tthe Doge palace and saint Marcos basilica we would have missed so much. She made the experience come alive
Amazing experience in a small group with a wonderful guide who will take you back in time and emerge you in a history of Vatican
From $117.04
per personup to 24 hours before the experience starts (local time)
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Venice: St.Mark's Basilica & Doge's Palace Tour with Tickets
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