Venice

Small-group Saint Mark’s Basilica Skip-the-line Tour

Badge of ExcellenceVenice, Italy
Saint Marks cathedral guided visit
Likely to Sell Out

From $53.61

Select Date and Travelers

up to 24 hours before the experience starts (local time)

  • 1 hour
  • Mobile ticket
  • Offered in: English

Overview

Waiting in long ticket lines can be tiring—especially if it’s at one of Venice’s most visited attractions—Saint Mark’s Basilica. Save yourself the trouble, and make your trip seamless and stress-free by choosing this prebooked entry ticket. After meeting your guide, skip the long lines and head straight into Saint Mark’s Basilica to discover the magnificent architecture, statues, and panoramic terrace.
  • Enjoy speedy admission to Saint Mark’s Basilica
  • Easy-to-find meeting place at Saint Mark’s Square
  • Get access to the basilica, terrace, and museum
  • A guide enriches your visit with captivating narration

What's Included

  • Licensed guide
  • Entrance ticket to St.Mark's museum and basilica
  • Hotel pick up and drop-off

Meeting and Pickup

Meeting point

  • P.za San Marco, 145, 30124 Venezia VE, Italy

    Your guide will be in Piazza San Marco at number 145. The exact location is under the arcade, under the blue clock tower. Next to the meeting place you'll see a money change. The guide will be at the meeting point holding a yellow sign with "TOUR" written on it.

Start time

02:00 PM

End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

What To Expect

Basilica di San Marco

1 hour Admission Ticket Included

Additional Info

  • Confirmation will be received at time of booking
  • Not wheelchair accessible
  • Service animals allowed
  • Near public transportation
  • Most travelers can participate
  • This Tour runs rain or shine.
  • Saint Mark's cathedral can be closed to the public in case of high tides. In this case, we will communicate it to the participants as soon as possible and we will arrange an alternative.
  • Minors must be accompanied by an adult
  • This tour is guaranteed with a minimum number of 2 participants
  • Please remember that you have to follow a precise dress code for the Basilica entrance: shoulders, knees and thighs need to be covered so please avoid short dresses, tank tops, shorts and hats (for men). It is not allowed to enter with large bags, animals, weapons, lighters and scissors
  • We kindly inform you that the Skip the line service for St. Mark's basilica during certain periods of the year is NOT AVAILABLE
  • Please note that in case of adverse weather conditions (eg. bad storms, unexpected extreme events), or unforeseen circumstances (eg. monuments sudden closures, train/flight cancellations or delays) we do not guarantee a full refund. The company will examine each case and act accordingly.
  • 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 note that some parts of the tour may not be easily accessible for people with reduced mobility (or any kind of disability), if you are unsure of the details, feel free to contact us.
  • This tour/activity will have a maximum of 16 travelers

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

  • For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
  • If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
  • Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.
  • Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.
  • This experience requires a minimum number of travelers. If it’s canceled because the minimum isn’t met, you’ll be offered a different date/experience or a full refund.

Traveler Photos

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Reviews

4.5
56 reviews
Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews
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Reviews by Viator travelers.
Showing 1-10 of 56 reviews
Waste of money
David_S, Apr 2024
Worse tour ever operator didn’t provide headset and kept repeating herself couldn’t hear her we left half way through this tour I wouldn’t recommend to anyone waste of money and terrible.
Response from Host, May 2024
Dear Davide, thank you for taking the time to share your feedback with us. We're sorry to hear that the experience didn't meet your expectations. Please know that headphones are typically provided when there are more than 8 participants per tour, and in your case, there were 5. With smaller groups, it's usually easier to hear and communicate with the guide. We're sorry that you felt the need to leave the tour halfway through, we're sure that your guide would have been more than happy to understand the difficulty in listening and create a more enjoyable situation for everyone. Hope you'll consider giving us another chance in the future for a better experience! Kind regards, WaysTours team
Glad we had the tour
Ross_W, Dec 2023
We had a fun and informative tour. Laura made our experience great. In addition to making us laugh, we learned, and received great photos on balcony.
Quick skip the line tour
Patricia_E, Oct 2023
Had to wait for 15 min for another person on your who never could find meeting point. Don’t know if that was fair. But good. Tour guide knowledgeable and friendly. Very steep steps. For people with mobility issues might be a problem
See above
rebecca, Sep 2023
Lara was an excellent tour guide, very professional, knowledgeable and engaging! Lara was sensitive to the group needs and kept an eye for each member of the group. We will really recommend Lara if you are interested in a tour of Saint Mark Basilica !
Great tour
Keith_B, Sep 2023
Poor tour guide was having difficulty with her microphone but she did great throughout. Guide very knowledgeable about the basilica
Recommend
katrina_M, Sep 2023
Great guide, one of the most beautiful places I have visited. I would recommend this tour. Steep steps to the balcony
Overwhelming
Karen_G, Sep 2023
Good information but spoke very fast. So many people it was difficult to appreciate the experience. She seemed very knowledgeable about things
Laura was excellent guiding the tour.
Maria_H, Aug 2023
The tour was run by Laura and she was excellent - five stars for her performance and knowledge. I would recommend it to any of my friends.
Must Do in VENICE!
Tom_B, Aug 2023
What an incredible tour! Our guide was so knowledgeable and personable, and really added to an already moving experience.
Good Short Basilica Tour
Mary_P, Aug 2023
We enjoyed this tour very much. Only 1 hour, skip the line, and great highlights of the Basilica including terrace access. Unlike the other churches in Italy this one did not provide a covering for shoulders/knees.
Convenient to skip the line but no audio!!!
Elisa_S, Jun 2023
The tour guide was kind but the audio devices were malfunctioning so our tour group couldn’t hear most of what she said throughout the tour. It was not her fault necessarily, but I think care should be taken to be best prepared ahead of time to make sure equipment is working properly before charging for an experience that was not fulfilled. We were able to see the basilica and all its marvel. If I had known, I would just buy skip the line tickets and use a self tour audio guide that you can purchase at the basilica or do it on the iPhone. No need for a tour guide on this one after this experience.
Response from Host, Jun 2023
Hello Elisa! Thank you for sharing your feedback regarding your experience. We apologize for any inconvenience caused by the audioguides' functionality. We strive to ensure that all aspects of our tours meet the highest standards, unfortunately the issue you encountered is beyond our control as it stems from the service provided by our external provider. We understand the frustration this may have caused during your visit and we will be addressing this matter with our provider to ensure that such issues are minimized in the future. We hope that despite this inconvenience, you were still able to enjoy the other aspects of the tour!
Overall worth it!
Ambry_T, Jun 2023
Tour guide was nice and informative. Two people out of the group of 15 were late and we waited for 10 minutes before leaving without them. I thought that was too long to wait. A lot of stairs to go up which I believe should be noted in the details as we had an elderly person with us and it was very difficult for him.
Great scenery, terrible guide.
Jan_S, May 2023
Our guide was terrible. She was uninterested, sarcastic and snarky. It felt like she did not want to be there and was just patronizing us.
Wonderful guide throughout… You could tell she was passionate about all things Venice.
Suzanne_P, Apr 2023
Our guide was friendly, competent, and very knowledgeable. We thoroughly enjoyed the tour. It seems like she was continuing to learn as we had a Spanish speaker with us and asked for language corrections. Our guide was clearly experienced… Very professional. From beginning to end, it was a pure pleasure.
Excellent tour of the basilica
Jennifer_S, Mar 2023
Gabriella was a personable and knowledgeable tour guide. I really enjoyed her tour and the information she shared with us.
Skip-the-line entry worthwhile
Mary_M, Mar 2023
This was my first trip to Italy and to Venice. When we checked in to our hotel, the hotel staff informed us we would become lost during our visit. They went further to state they still become lost on occasion even though they have lived in Venice more than a decade! Double or triple your travel time in order to find the meeting point on time. The meeting point for this tour is near the YEX exchange. We were early but were not sure of our meeting point. This tour guide waited for us as we circled back around, stating she understood visitors become lost in Venice. Our guide was so passionate. She brought extra photos to assist our understanding of Venice as a port city. She patiently explained the importance of St. Mark's basilica to the culture of Venice during its long history, and the relationship of government to religion in the development of this city. We discussed the journey of St. Mark's horses, and she even suggested further areas we could explore on our own. She was well prepared and well versed in the subject of St. Mark's basilica. The line to enter St.. Mark's basilica remained long all day. Skip-the-line entry is worthwhile to get the most out of your holiday. One of my favorite tour guides on this trip. Definitely recommend.
Amazing.
Shane_M, Mar 2023
Laura our guide was so amazing, I really appreciated all the knowledge she had. She made our experience so amazing. The group only included my fiancé and I and Laura still gave it her all. So we both appreciated her very much.
Great tour with small group of St Mark’s Basilica
Petra_W, Feb 2023
We loved Lara’s tour! Lara was informative, approachable and friendly, and she shared many interesting facts with us.
Interesting and enjoyable!
William_F, Feb 2023
St. Mark’s is beautiful and our tour guide, Lara, brought it to life for us. Great tour, very thorough and extremely informative. We had plenty of time to enjoy while we learned a great deal about the history and got to see the incredible mosaics.
The tour guide can make or break your visit and Susy 100% made ours great!
Lisa_M, Jan 2023
Our tour guide, Susy, made this tour unforgettable. She was friendly and knowledgeable, pointing out small details that we would have never noticed on our own. Her english was clear and she was able to answer all of our questions about the Basilica and Venice in general. Susy's enthusiasm made an already fantastic visit to Venice even more magical!
Response from Host, Feb 2023
Dear Lisa, our guides goal is always to provide the best experience for all customers and it is a great pleasure for us to receive such an wonderful appreciation for Susy's work, Thank you!

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