St. Marks. Venice

No, you don't need a special reservation. There will be a queue of people waiting to get in. Sometimes the line is unbelievably long as the throngs of daytrippers get dropped off from tour buses and cruise ships. Sometimes the square is so jam packed you think there's no way you will even be able to muscle your way through...welcome to a day in tourist ridden Venice. You "can" reserve an entrance time for a small fee and you "can" book a private guided tour but you are not required. If you're the typical Venice tourist a slow meander through the Basilica will suffice. If you don't have a reserved entrance time then come early or late, but know that midday throngs may make you want to throw up your hands and say I give up.

If the line is impossibly long, you can go to the left of the basilica (as you're facing it), and in a separate building there's a place where you can check a bag for 1 or 2 euros. They will give you a ticket that allows you to go right to the front of the line. The one catch is that you're supposedly limited to one hour inside. I've never seen a definitive answer as to whether/how they enforce that limit. But it's a HUGE timesaver.

And if you have a large bag or backpack, they'll send you to check it when you get to the front of the line. Rick Steves has a free audio guide for St. Mark's that is good, about 45 minutes. Do visit the museum as well. The best time to visit is between 11.30 and 12.30 when the mosaics are floodlit.

Be aware that the bag checking trick will only work with a backpack or a really large bag (something you probably wouldn't want to carry around the rest of the day). We tried it last summer with a messenger bag and they refused to check it. Luckily, the line wasn't very long.

The best way to see San Marco is not necessarily the tourist way. If you're in Venice on a Sunday, go to one of the morning Masses at San Marco. Many people don't want to go to church on vacation, and many more are uncomfortable with and/or confused by the Catholic Mass... but understand that this is how the church was meant to be experience and when it is at its best. As the morning sun comes filtering through the windows and hits the mosaics, the whole church sparkles. The interaction of the incense and the light is breathtaking. The Byzantine multi-domed structure helps channel acoustics in a totally different manner, so the singing reverberates and the voices just swirl around you. If you're not keen on doing the Catholic thing, just sit in the back and take it all in. Seeing this church (or ANY old Italian church for that matter!) in action is such a beautifully moving experience. You won't be able to take pictures, but the experience is so much better than any photograph. Easily one of my top five travel moments of all time.

I second the recommendation to go for Mass. The Sunday sung mass (check website for time; I seem to remember 10:30 or 11) is a very powerful experience. Weekday Masses are lovely, but are done in a side chapel, and the church isn't fully lit. Vespers on Sunday evening is also very beautiful, with completely different elements of sunlight contributing. However, if you go, please don't take photos, or talk (including in the prayer time before and after Mass), or get up in the middle to leave or wander around. It's incredibly distracting and rude to those who are there for worship, and I've seen way too many Americans do it.

I am Catholic so staying for mass would be good. I'm not going to be there on a weekend however. Thanks for all the replies

The ticketing process online is incredibly cheap... like 1 or 2 Euro per person. If I remember right, I made the reservation a couple months out and then a week before I got the "bill" and I paid it then and got my ticket. When we got to the church, the line was long and we got to walk right by. If you're there in the summer at all... definitely worth it. know that if it's high tide, they could just close it up though. Deb