Saint Mark's Basilica Tours

priority entrance could save you HOURS of queuing! we showed up early fearing we would have to queue for a while and instead we went right in! even without a guide if you use the book they give you and read the explanations placed on the spot, you can enjoy the place independently, stopping more where something particularly strikes you.

The guide (Lorenzo) was very knowledgeable and friendly. I really enjoyed learning from him all the interesting things about Venice and he customized the tour to what I was interested in (lucky for me I was the only guest). And he even helped make a reservation at an excellent restaurant. I learned a lot about Venice and had amazing food.

The ticket gave us access to the Palazzo, the Bridge of Sighs and the prison to view at our own pace and this was what we wanted. We did pick up an audio guide for €5 within the palace but unfortunately the battery on the device ran out halfway through so they gave us our money back. The guide book provided with the ticket was a generic book on the area, not just the Palazzo, but nevertheless it is a good guide providing lots of lovely photos and information that we used to help us during our stay in Venice.

Just follow the meeting point in Google maps and it will bring you right to their newspaper stand (read their detailed description on how to find them). Don’t forget to download the audio guide in advance (either before or the stand has some wifi and a QR code to download) and bring headphones to listen with it. So far, in Italy, most audio guides are done by listening to a cheap phone/device placed beside your ear but having it on your own device /w headphones is much better.