Doge's Palace & St Mark's Basilica Guided Tour

St Mark's Basilica, the Golden Church of Venice

Consecrated in 1094 and rebuilt in Byzantine style to hold the relics of St Mark, the basilica is covered inside with around 8,000 square metres of gold-ground mosaics, which is why Venetians call it the Chiesa d'Oro. Marble from across the eastern Mediterranean, the jewelled Pala d'Oro altarpiece and the uneven mosaic floors all speak of the city's centuries as a trading power.

On our St Mark's Basilica tour you also go upstairs to the museum, where the four original bronze horses are kept. Taken from Constantinople in 1204, they were carried to Paris by Napoleon and returned in 1815; copies now stand on the terrace, where you step out for a view over the square and the lagoon. Shoulders and knees must be covered, and backpacks are not allowed inside.

The Doge's Palace and the Great Council Chamber

For almost a thousand years the Doge's Palace was the seat of the Venetian Republic: the doge's residence, the parliament, the courts and the prison in one Gothic building. Its pink and white facades date mostly from the 14th and 15th centuries, and you enter the courtyard beneath the Giants' Staircase, guarded by Sansovino's statues of Mars and Neptune.

Inside, the guide explains how the Republic was governed as you pass the Golden Staircase and rooms painted by Veronese and Tintoretto. The highlight is the Chamber of the Great Council, one of the largest halls in Europe, dominated by Tintoretto's Paradise. Doge's Palace tickets usually mean a long queue in high season; our priority entrance saves that time, and you can stay on after the tour.

The Bridge of Sighs and the New Prisons

Built around 1600 in white Istrian stone, the Bridge of Sighs links the courtrooms of the palace to the New Prisons across the canal. Its romantic name came much later, from 19th-century writers who imagined prisoners sighing at their last view of Venice through the small stone windows.

Walking across the Bridge of Sighs from the inside is one of the most memorable moments of a Doge's Palace guided tour, as you see the canal and the lagoon through the carved grilles. On the far side, dark cells and narrow corridors show the harder face of the Republic. Many visitors then walk to the Ponte della Paglia outside for the classic photo of the bridge.

St Mark's Square and Visiting Tips

Piazza San Marco is the only square in Venice called a piazza, framed by the arcades of the Procuratie, the tall Campanile and the Clock Tower with its bronze Moors. The best time to visit St Mark's Square is early morning or evening, when day visitors thin out; at high tide in autumn and winter, parts of it can flood briefly.

St Mark's Basilica occasionally closes at short notice for religious events. If that happens, our guide takes you instead to the 15th-century Church of San Zaccaria and its flooded crypt, or to the Correr Museum. Bring your passport or ID, as the palace may ask visitors over 13 to show one, and leave large bags at your hotel.