st mark's

I got the Venezia Unica City Pass and just loaded it with the options I wanted. It allows you to skip the lines.
Venezia Uncia

Kathi

You can skip the line at St. Mark's Basilica by making a €2 reservation online. For the Doge's palace, you can also buy the ticket online up to 2 days ahead, or buy a combo ticket or pass at another location in order to skip the ticket-buying line there, unless you do want a tour.

Thank you. I was not aware of the Venezia pass. I will definitely look into that.

Best time to visit St. Mark's is between 11.30-12.30 when the mosaics are floodlit.

Just a note- St. Mark's is a working church. We attended Mass there in the evening . It was beautiful and we were able to see part of the church. It is expected that you will remain for the entire Mass (about one hour) and you can not wander around for long afterward. The entrance is on the left side of the church as you face it.
We ended up not returning to see the entire church . It was a lovely experience.

We'll be in Venice 10/10 - 10/13. Anyone know times for weekend masses?

Here's Basilica San Marco's mass schedule.

We were in Venice last year in mid-Sept (our 4th visit). Since my mom was with us and had never been, we begrudgingly got in the line for SM that snaked halfway across SM Square. We were inside in 15-20 min. So even tho the line looked horribly long, it just kept moving along.

Our first visit to Venice we did the Doge...and stood in line for at least an hour. Our 2nd trip, we used the hint about buying a combo ticket at the nearby Correr museum (which is lovely in it's own right and def worth a visit) and breezed right by the Doge lineup.

(All trips were 2nd-3rd week of Sept).