Visiting St. Mark's Basilica in Venice

was just watching this last night, an excellent introduction to Venice and a lot of info on St. Marks

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6QYsMvRbDk

Venice is banning large cruise ships from the lagoon. But that doesn't mean they're not docking in cities north and south of Venice and riding in on trains at the end of their cruises.

We were there in June, and things were busy enough. Late afternoons are great times to see travel sites.

On a Venice visit, (before Covid...) I wanted to take some sunrise pictures. I got up really early and left my travel companion sleeping.
St Mark's square was deserted. There might have been a few shopkeepers going to work, but that was all. It was thrilling to be there alone with my camera. I could look at everything closely.....the morning light was gorgeous. I know the cruise folks go back in the afternoon, but you will not be disappointed if you are first in line when the Basilica opens. It will be wonderful for you no matter when you visit....but that solitude was a glorious thing!!!

Please pay the €5 or 10 euros to go up to the museum. It is worth it. You will see the original horses (outside are replicas) and can walk outside along the promenade for nice views. Upstairs was the workshop where all the tiles, mosaics were made. It is very interesting. So many people just pass it by.

Agree with Barbara that the museum is very worthwhile.

I don't know whether they'll be doing it in April (fewer visitors might make it unnecessary), but in the summer you can pay a modest fee online to bypass the ticket line for the basilica. Waiting till the day of visit didn't work for me, so I was in line for 30 minutes. It as a scarily long line, but it moved very fast.

I liked the extra light around midday and didn't find the crowds all that bothersome other than the 30-minute wait outside. (That would have been unpleasant if it had been raining.) A lot of what you're looking at is overhead; it's not like an art museum with everything hanging at eye level.

Thanks for the different perspectives. I think I'm going to try for the hour when the lights are on - 11:30 to 12:30. I will definitely get reserved entrance tickets. I was in Venice in early Nov 2021 and did not get in as I didn't want to wait in line - and didn't know about the reserved tickets. It was amazing though how many people stood in line, even though there was high water at the time! It was an interesting sight though to see tourists waiting in line AND attempting to keep their feet dry by climbing a foot up on the baricade that surrounds the Basilica. That lasted only about 20 minutes though until the Polizia came and made them get down.

We enjoyed the Secret Itineraries tour at the Doge's Palace- you get to see dungeons, courtrooms, and offices not available with general admission. Must reserve well in advance. After the tour they dump you in the Palace to see the things the general admission ticket would get you.

The only thing I will say about the Secret Itineraries tour is that I took it last October when Covid was still of concern particularly since I was on a RS tour and needed to stay negative. I hated being squashed with 30 people into small, airless rooms with me and a couple of others being the only ones masked. I'd take that into consideration depending on what the Covid situation is in a couple of months when you visit and what your personal travel health plan looks like.

For other readers, when I was in Venice again last August, I purchased reservations for St. Mark’s for the earliest time as it first opened in the morning. I’ve been inside it several times, but this was probably the most enjoyable. There were only a few people, and we could pause and enjoy it because there wasn’t the thick line of people moving through. I’ve been inside it multiple time-of-day to see the different lighting, and this was fine. I have some nice photos of the ceiling, etc. from it.

And as Pam mentioned, some of the activities can be in crowded locations. I was also in Venice last June (yes, making up for lost Covid-closure years!), and even though I had a ticket to see one of the main sites, there were just too many people coughing at that time, so I didn’t participate.