🏨 Venice: St Mark's Basilica After-Hours Tour with Optional Doge's Palace Activity

Overview

Explore St Mark’s Basilica without the crowds on an after-hours tour, and enjoy an optional visit to Doge's Palace, if you wish. Inside St Mark’s Basilica, admire treasured mosaics and a Byzantine altarpiece, and then follow your guide into the crypt where St Mark himself is believed to rest. Upgrade for late access to the Doge’s Palace and learn about the Higher Council Hall, the Doge's apartments, and the Bridge of Sighs as you explore.

Upgrade your tour to include a 2-hour late entry tour of the Doge’s Palace, including the armory, New Prisons, and incredible council rooms and frescos of Palazzo Ducale.
Please note that there may be a break up to 2 hours between your Doge’s Palace tour and your exclusive After Hour Visit, due to temporary earlier closing time at the Doge’s Palace. Your guide in this case will provide bar/restaurant recommendations

What's Included

After-hours St. Mark’s Basilica tickets

Doge’s Palace tickets (if option with Doge Palace selected)

Professional guide

Small groups of 25 people or fewer

What's Not Included

Gratuities

Hotel pickup and drop-off

Traveler Information

INFANT: Age: 0 - 1
CHILD: Age: 2 - 14
ADULT: Age: 15 - 99

Additional Info

Face masks provided for travellers
Face masks required for travellers in public areas
Guides required to regularly wash hands
If you cannot join your tour at the last minute (running late, etc), please contact us. We may be able to reschedule your tour with a small amendment fee depending on availability.
On certain days there may be a short break between the visit to the Doge's Palace and St. Mark's Basilica (never more than one hour). This may extend the overall length of the tour.
Public transportation options are available nearby
Sites visited during this tour are subject to occasional closures due to holy observances, high tides, and/or flooding. If a site closes, your guide will tour the exterior of the site. If time permits, we will reach out to you prior to your tour. For last
Suitable for all physical fitness levels
This is a walking tour. Guests should be able to walk at a moderate pace without difficulty.
Transportation vehicles regularly sanitised

Face masks provided for travellers
Face masks required for travellers in public areas
Guides required to regularly wash hands
If you cannot join your tour at the last minute (running late, etc), please contact us. We may be able to reschedule your tour with a small amendment fee depending on availability.
On certain days there may be a short break between the visit to the Doge's Palace and St. Mark's Basilica (never more than one hour). This may extend the overall length of the tour.
Public transportation options are available nearby
Sites visited during this tour are subject to occasional closures due to holy observances, high tides, and/or flooding. If a site closes, your guide will tour the exterior of the site. If time permits, we will reach out to you prior to your tour. For last
Suitable for all physical fitness levels
This is a walking tour. Guests should be able to walk at a moderate pace without difficulty.
Transportation vehicles regularly sanitised

Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.

This experience requires good weather. If it’s canceled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund.

Piazza San Marco

• Admission Ticket Free

Basilica di San Marco

Basilica di San Marco, Veneto

Inside, take a deep breath. You’re experiencing St. Mark’s Basilica as almost nobody else does, or ever has ever been able to (aside from the Doge himself)—empty! No standing elbow-to-elbow with other tourists, no seeing the church as if through a strobe light from hundreds of popping flashbulbs, no noise from the crowds. Instead, you’re alone with your guide and the custodian. So you can experience the basilica as it should be experienced: in tranquility and peace.

30 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Doge's Palace

The Doge Palace visit is included with the Doge Palace option only.

Upgrade your tour to include a 2 hour late entry tour of the Doge’s Palace, including the armory, New Prisons and incredible council rooms and frescos of Palazzo Ducale. Traveling in small groups of 15 people or fewer, you’ll enter the Palace at the last entry time, finding one of Venice’s most popular attractions much quieter than other times during the day. (Please see seperate prodcut sheet.)

2 hours • Admission Ticket Included

The Bridge of sights visit is included with the Doge Palace option only.

On this guided tour you’ll have the opportunity to explore the massive armory, and the spooky prisons. Finish with a visit inside the Bridge of Sighs, where your guide will tell you why it’s not quite as romantic as you thought.

15 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Torre dell'Orologio

The Torre d'Orologio is included with the Doge Palace option only.

• Admission Ticket Free

Reviews

Exceptional tour and Romy is a fantastic guide!

Nancy L, 16-12-2022

Romy is amazing! Knowledgeable, clear explanations of Venetian history, art and architectural attributes and meanings. We got much more from our tour than if we went by ourselves.

We saw the Doge’s Palace, what once was the largest drawing room in Europe, hidden doorway, prison cells, went through the Bridge of Sighs, then walked to St. Mark’s Basilica for a short overview before taking a one hour 15 min break.

At 9:15, we started the St. Mark’s Basilica tour and it was fabulous! Romy pointed out meanings of the art in the main chapel area, took us behind to the Pala D’Oro, down to St. Mark’s crypt and gave is lots of opportunities to take photos. Excellent presentation.

I highly recommend this tour and this guide!

(There is a good amount of walking and lots of stairs, so wear comfortable shoes.)

Private access tour

Bhumika_P, 14-12-2022

This tour was very a unique experience. Because it was December, there were not many people and only 2 groups inside St. Mark's. It was very private and exclusive. We were able to see the crypt and go up to St. Mark's alter. Marina did an excellent job of making the experience feel exclusive and enchanted. It certainly is a unique experience to be in the church after hours with only a handful of people.

Great experience!

Kimberly_B, 02-12-2022

Our guide was amazing! She was knowledgeable, had a good sense of humor, and set the pace and cadence of the tour perfectly!

A great guide

Anders_S, 30-11-2022

A great experience, definitely worth the money. Martina was an excellent guide and the basilica itself is simply amazing.

Tour itself is excellent - information beforehand could be better

Esther_G, 14-12-2022

Fabulous way to see the palace and basilica without the crowds. Our guide Nico was great, super knowledgeable and full of information - I learned a lot! Especially about the history of art and power in the Venetian renaissance. I am a giant fan of this topic but for people who are not so into art, I'd maybe skip the optional Doge's Palace visit and go straight to the Basilica. Getting to see the Pala D'Oro without a giant crowd is 100% worth it, and being allowed down into the crypt where the original building is still visible is very special.

I would like if the tour operator was more transparent about what to expect though. It was not obvious that we would visit the Palace first. And because of the way timings work it seems that the length gap between the Palace and the Basilica visits isn't known until the start of the tour, which makes planning difficult.

Venice: St Mark's Basilica After-Hours Tour with Optional Doge's Palace Activity - Venice Travel Guide

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