VIP St. Mark's Basilica After Dark

VIP St. Mark's Basilica After Dark
Price: $119.00
Ages 1 and under are free.
Choose Options My Cruise Itinerary
Sorry, this excursion is not available for purchase.
Summary
Shore Excursion Size ? Small
Shore Excursion Type Cultural, Scenic, Walking
Shore Excursion Duration 1 Hour 30 Minutes
Activity Level ? Moderate
Shore Excursion Leaves From ? St. Mark's Square, Venice.
Food/Beverage Provided Not Included
Recommended Dress We recommend wearing comfortable clothing and sensible, flat-soled walking shoes. As you will be visiting a religious or memorial site, shoulders and knees must be covered.
Restrictions This tour takes place in historical areas but is wheelchair accessible, with some difficulties. Please let us know at time of booking to make further arrangements for you. Guests must be able to walk on paved, as well as cobblestone surfaces. There are steps and steep curbs in some areas. This tour is not suitable for guests with walking difficulties or those who use partly-motorized vehicles or walkers. For security reasons, backpacks are not allowed inside the Basilica, and all visitors must pass through a metal detector, which may lead to a short line even with skip-the line access. Occasionally St. Mark's Basilica is closed to the public, without previous notice, due to high tides or particular festivities. We are unable to accommodate guests with strollers on this tour.

VIP St. Mark's Basilica After Dark

The excitement begins as you meet up with our guide at St. Mark's Square and learn the history of the church and of Venice through thrilling anecdotes and swashbuckling stories - including how it received St. Mark's relics during a 9th century kidnapping!

Shortly after St. Mark's closes to the public you will draw stares from passersby as a custodian reopens the Basilica's closed doors for you. Once inside you will be one of the privileged few to experience the basilica the way the Doge himself did - in tranquility and peace. While here take the opportunity to admire Pala d'Oro, the spectacular, Byzantine altarpiece that uses more than 1,900 gems, without having to lean around people or wait in line to do so.

Night time is the best time to visit St. Mark's because that's when the mosaics are at their most beautiful; all 43,000 square feet are lit up, glimmering and sparkling in the dark. And as a VIP you will get to go where the public doesn't: into the crypt rumored to contain the relics of St. Mark.

While here, note the stained walls from past floods that would fill the crypt during high tides. Throughout your time in the basilica your guide will share bits of history and stories, including the swashbuckling tale of how St. Mark's became St. Mark's, a story that pivots on a kidnapping and a dangerous sea voyage.

Sign up for this once-in-a-lifetime tour and experience St. Mark's Basilica like almost no one else and without the lines or crowds.