Venice Grand Tour: Explore Doge's Palace & St. Mark's Basilica with Expert Guide

Discover Venice’s secrets with an expert guide. Explore St. Mark’s Basilica and Doge’s Palace in an exclusive small group tour.

Duration: 3 hours
Cancellation: 24 hours
Highlights
  • Basilica di San Marco - This tour takes you inside the center of the religious power of Venice, the beautiful Basilica of St Marks with our skip-the-line access, where our expert history guide will give you a comprehensive and informative tour of this astonishing landmark-church that boasts a profusion of polychrome domes, walls clad in marbles…
What's Included
  • Skip the line entrance to San Mark’s Basilica
  • Access to the Prisons of the Doge’s Palace
  • Licensed English speaking guide
  • Palazzo Ducale visit
  • St. Mark’s Basilica visit with exclusive access to terraces
What's Not Included
  • Gratuities
  • Hotel pickup and drop-off
Additional Information

Discover the wonders of Venice in just 3 memorable hours. Dive into the essence of this floating city and explore its fascinating history through two of its most renowned landmarks: the Doge’s Palace and the magnificent St Mark’s Basilica.
Join an expert guide in St Mark’s Square and delve into the centuries of political and religious influence. Bypass…

Location
St. Mark's Square
Piazza San Marco
Standard tour: Meet at 1:45 PM in St. Mark’s Sq., under the lion column, in front of Doge’s Palace. Look for the white “Towns of Italy” sign. Full Day Upgrade: • 9:15 AM – Walking Tour & Gondola Ride • 1:45 PM – Doge’s Palace & Basilica Tour Same meeting point. Move independently. Be 15 min early!
Cancellation Policy

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

Customer Ratings
4.5
(31 Ratings)
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Alisonmarymorgan
Aug 14, 2025
Lorenzo was a wonderful guide. - Lorenzo was a wonderful guide. He was very informative. He had a great sense of humour and was very interesting. Wonderful tour!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Eileen_l
Jul 27, 2025
Excellent Tour but shoulders and knees must be covered in St. Marks. - Lorenzo was a fantastic, knowledgeable, and passionate tour guide. Touring St. Marks and the Doges Palace without him would have been a huge mistake. MOST IMPORTANT ..... bare shoulders are not permitted and men must have shorts to the knees and women's knees covered. Unfortunately three ladies did not and had to go to a street vendor to purchase large scarfs to wrap around their waist/legs. St. Marks church was filled with ladies wearing scarf skirts OR Venice tee shirt tops. Towns of Italy should add this bit of information in their reminder email which is sent the day prior. Now onto the tour. The tour walks at a nice pace. There are many steps up to the 2nd floor of the church and Doges Palace. For those with stair issues there are elevators that need to be arranged on the spot with a employee of the Church or Palace. You do get separated from your tour but can easily find them again. This tour is a must if you go to Venice. Finally, do not follow google maps for your meeting place. It is wrong. Towns of Italy will send you an email the day prior with the specific, easy to find, meeting area. Highly recommend Lorenzo and Towns of Italy.
Review provided by Viator
Colinmf7134px
Jul 6, 2025
Warm, welcoming and charming experience. - Ariana was warm, welcoming and considerate to our mobility limitations. Great experience learning all the history of the Basilica and Palace. Highly recommended.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Danielle_r
Jun 1, 2025
Absolutely stunning!! So... - Absolutely stunning!! So glad this tour included the walk to the top of St. Mark’s - definitely worth it! Nice length, 3 hours, which covered the basilica and Doge’s place.
Review provided by Viator
Adventure05189239168
May 8, 2025
Don't miss this tour of St. Mark's Basilica and Doge's Palace! - The tour leader (Monika) was easy to find despite a busy Easter Weekend in St. Mark's Square. She captivated our attention from the beginning with her knowledgeable details and history. We visited on a Saturday (before Easter), which also encouraged us to attend Easter service at the Basilica. The Palace and Basilica were both amazing. The Sky Walk provided a view of Venice and the Square that no other tour can give. Monika was personable and professional and would highly recommend her for any tour in Venice. She was exceptional!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Anniegirl605
Aug 16, 2024
Great tour of San Marco Basilica and Doge’s Palace! - Our guide Monica was excellent. Her knowledge of the basilica and Doge’s Palace was amazing. It was evident how much she loved the history of both . The tour was very thorough and we all enjoyed it.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Mospeedy
May 24, 2024
Interesting historical tour - Our tour guide, Mina Randy, did a great job showing us st Marks Plaza and Doges palace. His knowledge was vast and you could tell he enjoyed his job. He guided us through all the various sights and we never felt rushed
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Stay786446
May 22, 2024
Fabulous- would give 10 stars if I could. - Fabulous tour of the most beautiful buildings with a true art historian expert. Amazingly knowledgeable and enthusiastic guide who bought the paintings to life with his stories of the artists and their subjects. Highly recommend to anyone interested in art or history! Well worth the price.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Chris_a
May 24, 2025
Nice small group tour - Small group of 10 is great. Plenty of time to ask questions. Stairs were an issue for one older participant.
Review provided by Viator
Ypeters72
Oct 5, 2024
Don’t book through TripAdvisor!! - Never got to go. We got to the San Marco Square which was the only instruction on the TripAdvisor app. There was no meeting point given on the app itself. We didn’t think to scroll down on the online tickets because I had printed them out. So we missed the tour and they won’t even consider a partial refund. It was TripAdvisor lack of proper instruction and no fault of our own. Will NEVER use TripAdvisor to book a tour again.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
From $111
up to 12 guests
1 - Adult
Cancellation: Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start of your experience (local time).