Venice,
St Mark's

Tickets & tours, St Mark's Square & Basilica.

 
St Mark's Square is the busy heart of Venice, and a guided tour of the resplendent cathedral, the Basilica di San Marco, guarantees you leave with a richer understanding of Venice's illustrious past.
“A great tour! Our guide was knowledgeable & experienced. The behind the scenes & back of altar viewing were magnificent.”

TH, USA.
“We had a guide to ourselves which was quite a luxury. She was knowledgeable, giving us all the information we wanted - and her English was excellent.”

JB, United Kingdom.

For reasons that a visit will make abundantly clear, St Mark's is also known as the Chiesa d'Oro - the Church of gold - and is the best known example of Italo-Byzantine architecture. It was originally the chapel of Venice's Doge, and became the city Cathedral relatively recently, in 1807.

It's a given that a visit to Venice isn't complete without a visit to St Marks Basilica - Basilica di San Marco - but, given the paucity of information supplied inside the building, your visit is likely to be less than complete without the insights, explanations and sheer sense of history that an expert tour guide will provide.

St Mark's is an appropriately opulent symbol of the wealth and power of Venice and has many, many hidden spaces and treasures - we usually have a range of guided tours of the cathedral, all with skip-the-line entrance.

The buttons below will give greater detail on the tickets and tours we usually offer throughout the year, and do use our calendar to check availability!

Opening times

The cathedral is open seven days a week and the opening hours are typically:

  • Mid April to end October: 9.30 AM to 5.00 PM. Sundays and Holidays, 2.00 PM to 5.00 PM.
  • End October to mid April: 9.30 AM to 5.00 PM. Sundays and Holidays, 2.00 PM to 4.30 PM.

The interior of the Basilica is usually illuminated from 11.30 AM to 12.45 PM Monday to Saturday. There is no charge for entering the cathedral independently, but queues can be very long - our tours are all skip-the-line during high season, no matter what queues there may be outside.

4.6 stars out of 5 from 16 ratings. See all 10 reviews

5 stars
LD, Australia
14th Dec 2018
The best tour ever! Lucia was a brilliant guide for this very intimate tour, which was one of the highlights of our holiday. She was extremely knowledgeable and made the tour so interesting with her insights and detail. We were mesmerised upon entering St Marks, when the lights turned on. I cannot recommend this tour highly enough and encourage people to book early to avoid missing out!
5 stars
MP, United Kingdom (Great Britain)
18th Aug 2018
Very good tour, learned a lot of new things.
5 stars
TH, United States
20th Jun 2018
A great tour! Our guide was knowlegable & experienced. The behind the scenes & back of altar viewing were magnificent. Tourists wearing shorts or sleeveless tops can purchase disposable gowns prior to entry. You will not be able to enter without the appropriate attire: knee length skirts & fully covered shoulders, no midriffs exposed.
5 stars
JB, United Kingdom (Great Britain)
29th Apr 2018
We had a guide to ourselves which was quite a luxury. She was knowledgeable, giving us all the information we wanted - and her English was excellent.
5 stars
SC, United States
30th Mar 2018
One of the best tour I have taken!
5 stars
TB, United Kingdom (Great Britain)
8th Mar 2018
again a great experience
St Marks Basilica, Venice