To avoid the lines at St Mark's Basilica in Venice, Rick Steves suggested booking an entry time on www.alata.it; however, it does not have an English translation!

Has anyone booked an entry time with success? Can you recommend a site at which I can contact them?

Thanks! (Leaving for Italy on Monday!)

go to this web site http://www.alata.it/booking/sanmarco.asp and click on the orange word to the right that says "prenota".

you'll get a pop up window. go to the bottom of the window and click the blue arrow "prenota". select the hour you wish to arrive in the "seleziona una fascia oraria". under "giorno" type in your DAY FIRST , then the month, then 2003. (not June 28th but rather the 28th of June for example.) then type in the number of tickets next to the "n". check the "disponibilita" (availability). it'll tell you if it is available by asking for your nome (name) cognome (last name) and email. then click on "conferma". I hope this works for you. I'll check back to see if you made it.

Dear Wantagig,
I can't thank you enough! With your clear, precise steps, I successfully navigated the reservation form! Grazie!

Prego! and Buon Viaggio!!

I have stood in lines 200-300 people deep at San Marco more than once, and the seemed to all go in in 10 minutes or less.

Best wishes,

Rex

Booking St. Mark's was next on my list, thanks for the instructions -it worked great! Now, I printed off the confirmation. On arrivatl at St. Marks do we skip to the front of the line with this PRN number? Is there somewhere specific to present the reservaiton number?

I agree with Rex...We were there last August, the line was huge, we were inside in less than 15 minutes. The lines in Florence sure don't move that fast!

Anyone who is Catholic or even slightly religious enough (IN ANY BELIEF) to want to say a prayer at a chapel and MAKE A DONATION FOR A CANDLE should go to the side entrance of any cathedral and explain your intention without needing to stand in a tourist line. You must be for real and march right up to the altar should pay for and light a candle for a prayer to whatever your belief and better yet make a donation to the Cathedral in one of the obvious locations obvious (the most appreciated motive) and you are instantly welcomed. Of course, security measures are in force there as welol and even more so. Your religious beliefs are not questioned. Please respect this advice. First and most important,you are entering a sacred place of worship and your attendance and interest is the most important factor. The most important point is that
THIS IS A PLACE OF WORSHIP NOT A TOURIST
TRAP.History or not, please respect this advice and understand that by using this advise any funds go DIRECTLY
to the Bascilica and if you are there to worship, lines are not a detriment.

Last trip to Venice we attended mass, it was a lovely experience and yes it did have the advantage of getting us inside ahead of the throngs. We are not Catholic but we sat respectfully of course during the service, and we enjoyed the pomp and the chanting. We did not buy candles nor light one, but we did make a donation.

While I am less certain about the advice of "side entrance to ANY cathedral" (do they ALL relaly have one?) - - it is certainly true that entrance into San Marco to celebrate mass is on the (left) side (as you face it). Went there for mass in May 2001, and it was standing room only. Excellent in spite of that.

Marbie: Take your printout with you. You will see the main entrance where everyone is standing in line (in the hot sun, when we were there a couple of weeks ago). To the left a few feet, but still on the front side, there is another entrance. If I remember, it had a sign that indicated it was for groups or tours --m I may be wrong about that, as the sign was in Italian, and I struggled. In any case, there was a rope and guard (attendant?) at that entrance. I displayed my reservation and asked "Prenota?" to the guard. He read the sheet I gave him and let us enter. It's really easy, but it's not well marked.

Good luck.

Jspowel, Thanks for the info! That sounds like it will help. I'll bring my dictionary and give it a try.
Thanks again.