Venice Tour: St. Mark’s Basilica and Doge’s Palace

Discover the beauty of Venice on a 2-hour walking tour, visiting the iconic Doge’s Palace and St. Mark’s Basilica. Explore the highlights of St. Mark’s Square and immerse yourself in the rich history and culture of this exquisite city.

Duration: 2 hours, 30 minutes
Cancellation: 24 hours
Highlights
  • Piazza San Marco - The principal public square of Venice
  • Basilica di San Marco - The most famous of the city’s churches and one of the best known examples of Italo-Byzantine architecture.
  • Enter St. marks’s Basilica through the St. Peter’s Door
  • Visit the Basilica interior and hear a detailed description of the gold mosaics
  • Visit to…
What's Included
  • Professional guide
  • Headsets to hear the guide clearly (for groups larger than 10 people)
  • 2.5 hours tour
  • Guaranteed to skip the long lines
What's Not Included
  • Hotel pickup and drop-off
Additional Information

The greatness of Venice has always been reflected in the richness of St. Mark’s Basilica, the perfect synthesis of Venetian art and a unique blend of Byzantine, Romanesque and Gothic elements. Five Oriental-looking domes crown the shadowy, mysterious interior gleaming with golden mosaics, coloured marbles, precious stones and pearls, and guarded by the…

Location
Campo S. Zaccaria, 4683g
Campo San Zaccaria
Departure Point: Campo San Zaccaria 4683/g in front of the Church of San Zaccaria
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
4.0
(244 Ratings)
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Karensv9874zh
Aug 31, 2024
Brilliant history narrative ! - Brilliant tour of St Marks and Doges Palace. Rebecca was amazing, great local knowledge and knew all the best places to take photos and brought to life the history in such an interesting way. Whole trip was 2.5 hrs and we were gripped the whole way.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Dianne_b
Aug 15, 2024
Beautiful - St. Mark's basilica was beautiful and the four horses were amazing. The Doges Palace was over the top in beauty and grandeur!
Review provided by Viator
Carmen_c
Aug 2, 2024
Doge’s Palace, Basílica San Marco - Again a wonderful experience! Amazing sites accompanied by the interesting narration of our knowledgeable tour guide -Rebecca- which put all we were seeing into historical context. Fabulous!!
Review provided by Viator
Amanda_c
Jul 30, 2024
Must do! - Meeting Point easy to find. Our guide Donata was exceptional! She was able to answer many detailed questions about the palace and Basilica and was very attentive to our group's needs
Review provided by Viator
V6305vtdenisem
Oct 2, 2024
Amazing places to see - Was still very busy in late September so good to have Skip the Line tickets and a tour guide. He was very informative. Both the Basilica and Doge Palace were incredible.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Patricia_s
Jul 28, 2024
Wonderful experience - The experience was wonderful although we actually missed our tour as we had difficulty locating the "Tour Store". The representatives encouraged us to see the palace and St. Mark's on our own which allowed us plenty of time to explore the two sites. There are many people and tour groups in the square so finding locations and navigating the water ways is a challenge until one does it once or twice. Being at Doge's in the evening is wonderful with the muted colors and few people present. Would recommend as there is so much to see that one can have sensory overload which a guide would help to minimize. It is important to know you have to leave the square to sign in at a Tour Store that is off the square.
Review provided by Viator
Merin_d
Jul 31, 2024
The best part was we got to skip the lines - We had mixed reviews on this tour. I need to preface by saying it was incredibly hot and I loved the passion of the guide. However, it was very difficult to understand her as her accent, though beautiful, was very strong. A bunch of people on the tour left because they couldn’t understand the guide and didn’t like all of the detailed information. We stuck it out but it was difficult because we both felt like we missed a lot of info. Going with a guide was very helpful though because it allowed us to skip the lines. This tour was very long and I would recommend breaking it up. Unfortunately we did race through the rooms in Doges palace (one of my favorite palaces in the world as this was my second time there) which made me feel like I wanted to go back again with a different guide.
Review provided by Viator
Mark_b
Sep 15, 2024
Very poor joining instructions, guide's commentary difficult to understand - Why didn't the joining instructions say "Go to the Tour Shop kiosk (with very inconspicuous Viator logo amongst others) in S Zaccaria Square to register, pick up the headset and be allotted to your tour party."? So simple to say but not explained on the ticket. The guide had huge knowledge but spoke fast in a strong accent. The headsets were problematic and the signal broke up a lot - especially in the prison!! However, the enormous heavily-decorated rooms in the Palace are extraordinary. St Mark's is also richly decorated and beautiful with so much history. The terrace and museum display of the four horses are a must-see.
Review provided by Viator
Michael_d
Oct 6, 2024
Terrible customer service! - Did not go on the tour, the local ticket agent did not give me all the required tickets, so we blocked from the tour. The local agent said it was not his problem, the tour guide did nothing to resolve the error. I the contacted Viator and was informed no money back, not their problem. I missed the tour Viator keeps the money. Will vent my concerns on line.
Review provided by Viator
Jacob_k
Jul 29, 2024
Sorry to write this review but have to warn future client not to use this company Very Viva Venice - I have never written a review although I have used many private tour experiences in multiple cities and countries. In Italy alone I have had multiple. This review is about a private family tour for Doge Palace and St Marks Basilica. I also want to mention I tried to deal with both Viator and the Vendor, Very Venice Tours but neither were willing to speak with me. I had this tour with my family and was beyond disappointed. The guide was very nice but had a great deal of difficulty with speaking English, especially with a younger audience. Frequently whispering when no one was around in large building made the visits both wasteful but also disappointing. The content provided was weak and not suitable for a family. Multiple family guides were around us at times and we found ourselves wishing over and over we were with them instead of our guide. Once the tour ended we redid both locations ourselves and were able through the internet and YouTube piece the information together. Sadly we wasted an exorbitant amount of money and time beforehand. Repeated attempts to speak to the tour operator VERY VIVA VENICE TOURS ignored sadly.
Review provided by Viator
Select Date and Tickets
up to 15 guests
1 Adult
November 2024
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