Hello All,
I am in the process of purchasing the last few tickets for my trip to Italy in a little over a week. I am trying to purchase tickets for both St. Mark's and the Campanile to avoid lines. On the basilicasanmarco.it website, it says you can only be in St. Mark's for 10 minutes? Is this accurate, am I misunderstanding? (I didn't see that in the RS guidebook). Also, it seems the latest reserved time to go up in the Campanile is 4:30pm (even for dates further into the future, so it is not that they are simply booked out). Should I just take this time slot, or not purchase an advance ticket and risk lines for a sunset viewing (which is around 6:30pm in October). Is there a time limit up here as well? Thoughts? Thanks for the help!
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
16211 posts
The limit is probably for the Pala d'oro, if there is a time limit. But where did you read there is a 10 min limit?
Not sure about the campanile, but You won't need much more than 10 min. A look at the panorama, a couple of photos, and you are done.
Posted by
OP
11 posts
I used the link for skipping the line on basilicasanmarco.it website.
http://www.basilicasanmarco.it/informazioni-per-i-turisti/prenotazioni/?lang=en
"The duration of the visit inside the Basilica is approx. 10 minutes to allow everyone the opportunity to enjoy the monument. Inside the Basilica you mustn’t take photo or videos; silence must be respected at all times during the visit."
Posted by
Forest Grove, OR
11839 posts
We saw this 10 minute "warning" last year. It was in no way enforced.
Posted by
OP
11 posts
Laurel, did you also purchase your tickets online ahead of time to avoid the line? Thank you for your help.
Posted by
Northeast Ohio, USA
707 posts
If you were willing to spring for a Walks of Italy tour (or quite possibly another company's tour), you would get much longer in St. Mark's. Wife and I did the WOI tour and were inside for about an hour, as best we can remember. But for a couple of tour groups the building was empty (this was after-hours), and I think we got to see several areas that are not seen by non-tour visitors.
Posted by
Forest Grove, OR
11839 posts
We did not purchase in advance as we were there in late March before that "season" starts. But they had the sign up, which we had never seen on our many prior visits. Don't fret. And do go up in the museum above. Well worth it!
Posted by
19 posts
Understand the "avoid the line" does not mean you won't stand in line. It means you stand in the long line that moves pretty quicky as opposed to the long line that doesn't seem to move at all. The 10 minute limit is not enforced. You won't see anyone inside moving the crowd along. We used Rick's audio tour inside. It takes about an hour. Didn't have any issues. We used a Combo ticket from the Correr to access the campanile so we did not reserve a time.
Posted by
Houston, TX
487 posts
Make sure to go to the second level in the Basilica, following the signs for the Museum. It costs a couple/few euros per person but we found it very worthwhile. You will be closer to some of the golden mosaics and the original bronze horses from the exterior are on display. You also have a chance to walk out on the balcony/roof with the horses on the front of the basilica which also has good views, although not as high as the campanile.
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area
5697 posts
We were in Venice in early May, stood in the general line to get into San Marco for about 10-15 minutes and spent more than an hour inside (including the museum, which is up a steep flight of stairs) Also lined up for Campanile and another tower. No reserved tickets for anything -- if the line was too long, we saw something else and dropped by later. (This was a return visit and we had three nights to wander.)
In Italy, savor la dolce far niente (the sweetness of doing nothing.)