St Mark's Basilica (Basilica of San Marco)
- Address:Piazza San Marco, Venice
- Hours:Mon - Sat 9:45am - 5:30pm, Sun and holidays 2pm - 4.30pm
- Admission:Free
Cultural Experience, Holy Place, Must-Do Experience, Church / Cathedral, Monument - Historical
St Mark's Basilica (Basilica of San Marco) Reviews
We've found 272 St Mark's Basilica (Basilica of San Marco) reviews from Viator.com travelers and members: what they loved, what they liked and what they think could be improved. It's all here to help you make the most of your next trip.
Both the morning walking tour of St. Marks and the evening gondola tour were excellent. The guide was very good.
The walking part of this tour was ok. The one good thing about it was that we truly "skipped" the insanely long line outside St. Mark's church. I would have enjoyed a bit more visiting time inside. Got that "rushed in/rushed out" feeling. The boat tour which takes place a few hours later, was really good. It's basically a water taxi taking you around the canal/lagoon, while the guide points out various landmarks/sites of interest. Overall, not a bad way to spend a day.
Very enjoyable walking tour of Venice which began at St. Mark's Basilica, ended near the Rialto Bridge and included many interesting stops at campos along the way. There was a nice break in between the walking tour and the boat tour which left time for a leisurely lunch and shopping. Both tour guides were knowledgeable and entertaining.
This was an excellent tour with a very knowledgeable tour guide. He took us through a nice walking tour of Venice,pointing out the little things we might have missed on our own, then into St Marks cathedral and the Doges Palace. Well worth the time and money!
This was a good tour. However, the walking tour ended at the Rialto bridge and we only had 10 minutes to get back to the original starting point WITHOUT THE GUIDE. Considering the streets of Venice this was crazy. All of us that wanted to take the boat trip part of the tour had to nearly run to get there and guess that we were taking the right streets on the way. If the tour has a walking part and a boat tour, the walking part should end where the boat tour is going to depart. Also, the highlight of the tour is St. Mark's Basilica and more time should be given to that part of the tour. A the current pace you don't have any time to really look at all the beauty and you can't take pictures to help you enjoy it better after the tour.
My husband and I went on this tour on our first ever visit to Venice and it was a fabulous way to gain an insight into the history of the city. My husband has a low concentration plan but he too loved the walking tour and the guide was friendly. I would encourage everyone to do this tour on your first day in Venice as it really helps you gain an understanding of the city and its history. As mentioned by other reviewers there was no 'skip the queue' aspect to enter St Mark's. The guide claimed that this was not possible on our particular day- I seriously doubt this and feel that it would be better for Viator not to advertise the trip in this way as it is annoying to pay for something which isn' t actually true. Luckily the queue wasn't that long and the tour itself is worth going on anyway. We then went on the boat tour in the evening with another 2 couples. Our guide for this was also excellent and very entertaining. My tip would be to try to sit at the front or at the end of the boat as I was in the middle inside and it was difficult to see the buildings that were referred to from the windows of the boat in full. It would also be better if the boat owners actually gave the windows a good clean so you could see properly! Otherwise an excellent tour and highly recommended if not a little pricey.
This tour was a great introduction to Venice. Because of our schedule we split the tour and did the boat overview first, then the walking part the next morning. We actually liked it better that way! Our guide, Fredericka was fabulous (and a fast walker!). We especially liked skipping the LONG line at Saint Mark's.
This is the 2nd time I did this tour. I also did it 4 years ago when I visited Venice. When you get there and check in there is a lot of waiting around to get started. The nice thing about this tour is you do get to the skip the line at St. Mark's Basilica, which is worth looking inside. Although it is a quick walk thru of the church, so if you are looking for a more substantial tour of St. Mark’s, this isn’t the tour for you. You do get to see the two sides of Venice – the crowded tourist area of St. Mark’s and Rialto Bridge and then some of the deserted back squares. We were definitely ready for a break after the walking tour and had about 3 hours to eat lunch and explore Venice on our own before the cruise along the Grand Canal. Although there is once again a lot of waiting around for the tour to start once you check in. The grand canal cruise is definitely the highlight, although this time we did take a different route than when I did the tour before, but all go down the grand canal of course. What I really like is that they don’t cram you in the water taxi for the tour and there is plenty of room!
For some reason we didn't skip the line, which was a major factor in choosing this tour. We spent very little time inside St Marks, and we were not able to appreciate the grandeur of the church. The walking tour was nothing special, we saw things that anyone could see on their own. The whole thing was very disappointing.
FANTASTIC!!
This was an absolute highlight and I can't recommend it enough. Our tour guide was a true local Venetian, and was extremely friendly and knowledgeable. We were traveling with our young daughter (1.5 yrs) and pram, while there obviously were stairs it was fine and definitely manageable!
There are some obvious sites to see in Venice like St Mark's Basilica and Square, but there are so many other wonderful places and stories that she was able to tell us. Once we were walking the "backstreets" of Venice, away from the crowds, it was really amazing and enjoyable to hear and learn about how Venice evolved and how the people live.
I think our guides name was Rita - this walking tour was so good it prompted us to book one for our next stop which was Florence!
11 out of 10
Excellent, my only negative comment is that the time spent in St Mark's Basilica was far too short, I would think it was no more than five minutes. The guide was very knowledgable on all aspects of Venice and friendly with it.
Excellent. The guide was very knowledgeable and engaging which made for a very interesting tour. And of course, the star of the show is the interior of the Basilica: utterly amazing.
Tip: once the tour is over, you can go round again on your own - go upstairs to the museum to see the original bronze Horses of St Mark and then outside on to the loggia where you can get some good photos of the Piazza and Piazzetta.
Very nice. Loved our guide who was very knowledgeable and managed our group perfectly. St. Marks was beautiful. The boat ride was super and again the guide was knowledgeable and brought us to wonderful canals, talked of art, museums and past history of Venice. Loved it. I would do it again in a moment.
Great Tour even though it was raining and St Mark's' Square was flooded. Our guide was very knowledgeable and open for any questions we had. I would recommend this tour.
The Skip the Line: Venice Walking Tour with St Mark’s Basilica is a tour of amazing contrasts. The first part covers the most important attractions in Venice around the bustling Piazza San Marco. In the second, you negotiate the labyrinth of alleyways and bridges over the canals to quiet secluded places and beautiful squares (campos) free from crowds. The route ends at the famous Rialto Bridge next to the Grand Canal.
Note from Viator: This review was written by Graham Walker, who wrote a complete summary of the Skip the Line: Venice Walking Tour with St Mark’s Basilica (with video!) on the Viator Travel Blog.
