Buy time-slot reservation tickets to top sights in Venice to save time and skip the lines for admission to the Doge’s Palace, the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, St Mark’s Basilica, and other top sites in Venice.
Venice is one of the most popular and most crowded tourist destinations in Italy. Avoid long and slow-moving ticket queues by buying skip-the-line tickets online or booking guided tours. Priority fast-track admission tickets with time-slot reservations are available for the Doge’s Palace, St. Mark’s Basilica, and the Peggy Guggenheim Collection. Time-slot reservations are fairly rare in Venice, but when traveling in busy periods, reservations are highly advisable if available for the top sights. Buying tickets online from Get Your Guide or Tiqets is generally the easiest. Visit the most popular sights very early in the morning, in the late afternoon, or book guided tours if your available time in Venice is limited.
Buy Skip-the-Line Tickets for the Doge’s Palace
The Doge’s Palace is the top historical sight to see in Venice. The Palazzo Ducale is justifiably popular, and queues to get in are often very long and slow-moving.
Visitors with tickets use the priority entrance to skip the ticket window waiting line. In busy periods, which is most of the year, visitors with tickets but without specific time-slot reservations may only enter after 12:00 (noon).
Some online sellers offer time-slot reservations for the Doge’s Palace, which is recommended, but of course, tickets without a specific time allow for more flexibility. Entry is faster in the late afternoon (after around 15:00).
Most of the Doge’s Palace may be seen without a tour, but take a good guidebook or an audio guide. The secret itineraries tour is compulsory to see some of the smaller rooms and Casanova’s jail. Shorter tours let visitors explore the main palace alone after the guided tour.
Special Doge’s Palace Tours
At peak season, even priority ticket holders may have to wait to enter the building. Guided tours are a good way to skip the lines. A good savings option is to book guided tours to multiple sites, e.g. combining with St Mark’s Basilica (some combination tours are a brisk two hours, but three-hour tours are less rushed), gondola rides, or a variety of museum passes.
After-hours night visits are very pleasant too but these tours are pricey. Combination tours are possible to see the Doge’s Palace and St. Mark’s Basilica at night. Both venues are beautifully lit and uncrowded for those who can afford the ticket prices.
Admission to the Doge’s Palace is around €30 and also includes admission to the three civic museums on St. Mark’s Square (Correr Museum, National Archaeological Museum, Biblioteca Marciana but not the basilica or the museum inside the church). Tickets are not sold for individual museums.
→ See How to Buy Tickets and Book the Best Tours for the Doge’s Palace for more details and tips.
Almost all Venice Museum Passes include the Doge’s Palace.
Buy Skip-the-Line Tickets for the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice
The Peggy Guggenheim Collection is one of the best-known and most popular art museums in Venice. In contrast to the classic Renaissance and Baroque art popular in much of historic Venice, including the Gallerie dell’Accademia, the art here is mostly 20th-century modern. Peggy Guggenheim bought an unfinished palace on the Grand Canal in 1949 and filled it with art, including works by Picasso, Dali, Pollock, Kandinsky, and Magritte. Don’t miss the lovely sculpture garden.
Despite the fairly expensive admission price, the Peggy Guggenheim Collection is hugely popular — buy ticket online to save queueing time. The Peggy Guggenheim Collection is usually not included in museum passes.
The Peggy Guggenheim Collection is closed on Tuesdays.
Buy Skip-the-Line Tickets for St Mark’s Basilica Church in Venice
St Mark’s Basilica on the Piazza San Marco is the top religious site to see in Venice. Admission to see parts of the ground floor is no longer free, so queues are currently shorter than in recent years.
Time-slot reservation tickets are highly recommended in the busy period, although cheaper direct entry tickets are still sold at the church for those willing to queue. Visitors on busy days are basically press-ganged in less than 15 minutes through the small part of the church that is open to the most basic ticket holders.
In addition to the basic ticket, visitors may add the options to see the Golden Pala d’Oro altar and/or to visit the museum, including the terraces for wonderful views of San Marco and the famous horses.
Guided tours are also a great way to skip the lines at San Marco. Savings are often available when combining with further sights such as the Doge’s Palace (available in 2-hour, or 3-hour versions). A pricy but certainly the best way to experience the magical interior of San Marco is the guided tours at night or a combination with the Doge’s Palace after hours.
→ See How to Buy Tickets for St. Mark’s Basilica for more details.
Tips on Visiting San Marco Basilica in Venice
Saint Mark’s Basilica is generally quieter early morning or in the afternoon, later than 13:00. The basilica and ceilings are beautifully lit at night but the compulsory tours are expensive.
As a working church, a dress code is enforced for Saint Mark’s Basilica: shoulders and knees should be covered, even in high summer. (The same goes for many other churches in Venice and Italy.)
Although seeing the Basilica di San Marco is almost obligatory when visiting Venice, it is worth keeping in mind that most of Venice’s churches are filled with art and many are free, or charge only a negligible admission fee (Frari), and often with very few visitors.
Also take the vaporetto across to San Giorgio Maggiore for some of the finest and cheapest views of Venice — elevator to the top of the bell tower around €8.
Buy Advance Skip-the-Line Tickets for Venice Sights Online
A few further sites for which advance purchase tickets are available include
- Chorus Churches Circuit — 16 churches on one ticket, some filled with fantastic art, others less so but still a good deal. (The churches are also often included in museum passes.)
- Querini Stampalia Foundation — over 400 paintings and frescoes mostly from the 18th and 19th centuries.
- La Fenice Opera House
- Leonardo da Vince Museum Venice
- Jewish Museum of Venice
- Ca’ Rezzonico Museum
- Murano Glass Museum
- Ca’ Pesaro Museum
- Scala Contarini del Bovolo — a spectacular Renaissance spiral staircase
- Negozio Olivetti — a small architecture and design museum near the Piazza di San Marco
Many museums sell tickets online directly but if there is no surcharge, buying from Tiqets or Get Your Guide is a much simpler and less involved process.
Many Venice museum passes are available to save time and money when sightseeing in Venice. Almost all include the Doge’s Palace but further interests should determine which pass to buy.
Online skip-the-line tickets for top sights in Venice such as the Doge’s Palace, the Basilica di San Marco, and the Peggy Guggenheim Collection are great time savers while museum passes also allow for fast-track admissions and may give small savings.