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St Mark's Basilica, and I don't have a ticket

Posted by (Atlanta) on

I know there are a hundred questions on the forum about this topic, but bear with me; I have a variation. I'll be there next week with a friend who has never been to Venice. I want her to see St Mark's during the illumination, and of course, there are no tickets available for those time slots. I've used the "check the backpack down the street" option which I know no longer exists. I'm always there in shoulder or off season and have never stood in line very long to get in. Last November we were probably in line ten minutes.

My question: anybody been there very recently? Have the lines gotten unusually long in the post-covid travel boom? I've checked the cruise schedules for next week, and they're light on visitors. I really want my friend to experience the golden glow. Should I be feeling lucky, that if we show up maybe 30 min before the illumination, we'll get inside in reasonably short order? Grazie for your help!

Posted by
28335 posts

I was there about 2 weeks ago. I arrived around opening time and was in line about 30 minutes. It takes a good bit of time to see the church even if you skip the Pala d'Oro and the Museum (which I very much enjoyed), so I'd plan to arrive somewhat earlier than you've suggested. That will provide some insurance in case the line is longer than expected. If the line is short, you'll just have some time inside before the lights go on. I didn't find it a problem to dally and let other folks walk past me except when viewing the Pala d'Oro.

Posted by
2691 posts

I was there this morning. It’s crowded. The line to buy and enter was about 30 minutes when we used our timed-entry tickets for noon. We also chose the illuminated time frame to enter. It was pretty darn crowded in there.

This is the busiest we have ever seen Venice - over the course of 5 visits. The best part of St. Mark’s was heading upstairs with the full tickets - then we got to enjoy the view over the mosaics in the basilica at our leisure. Downstairs just felt crowded.

Posted by
1001 posts

Thanks, both of you, for your info, though it's not what I was hoping to hear! We'll show up a little earlier than planned. The upstairs is my favorite area. I can happily split my time between the horses and gazing over the balcony at the mosaics. I'm always up there much longer than on the main floor.

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