Venice

The Doge's Palace opens daily 9 am to 7 pm from April 1 to October 31, last entry 6 pm, and 9 am to 6 pm from November 1 to March 31, last entry 5 pm. Rooms start closing 30 minutes before. The palace ticket also covers the Museo Correr, the Archaeological Museum and the Marciana Library rooms on St. Mark's Square.

Entry to St. Mark's is by timed slot, booked on the Procuratoria's official ticket site. Monday to Saturday the basilica, Pala d'Oro, museum and loggia open 9:30 am, last entry 4:45 pm. On Sundays and holidays the basilica opens to visitors at 2 pm; the museum and loggia open at 9:30 am. Hours can change for services.

Since 2026 a St. Mark's ticket also admits you, within six months, to more than 40 churches across Venice, plus the Basilica of Torcello, the Salute sacristy and the Manfrediniana gallery. Keep your ticket after the visit: it turns a Venice walking tour into a church itinerary at no extra cost.

A Venice food tour is a 3-hour walk between bacari, the standing wine bars where Venetians eat cicchetti, small plates on bread or skewers, with an ombra, a small glass of local wine. Ours picks family-run places away from St. Mark's. It replaces dinner; come hungry and tell us about allergies when booking.

Venice has no cars, bikes or scooters, so walking is the only way around, with the vaporetto for the Grand Canal and the islands. Distances are short but bridges have steps and alleys dead-end at canals. A Venice walking tour with a local guide, or the audio-guided version, saves the hour you would spend lost.

The islands sit north of Venice in the lagoon. Murano is the glass island with working furnaces and demonstrations; Burano is the fishing village of painted houses and lace; Torcello holds the lagoon's oldest church. Our Murano and Burano tour leaves from near the train station and runs about 7 hours with free time.

St. Mark's is a working cathedral: shoulders and knees covered, no hats, no large bags, and silence inside. The Doge's Palace does not admit suitcases, trolleys or bulky bags, and guided tours leave on time; arriving more than 15 minutes late forfeits the tour. Jeans are fine everywhere in Venice.

Venice trialed a day-visitor access fee on selected dates in 2026. The trial ended on July 27, 2026 and the fee is no longer in effect, so day visitors currently enter without paying or registering. Any return of the fee in future years is a decision for the city council, and our guides will tell you if it changes.