I've seen two numbers on this site for reservation-011 39 041 520 9070 and 041-271-5911. Which is the correct one and does anyone know the operating hours to make reservations? Assume that you go to a ticket window to pick up your the tickets

Thanks

Hi
You can ask your hotel to do it for you if you like.
the number I had is 520 9070

According to the official Web site, it's 041 520 9070.

More information here:

http://www.museiciviciveneziani.it/f...;sezione=musei

The booking service is open from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Monday to Friday and
from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on Saturday.

Thank you.

If you don't have reservations, make sure you don't wait in the general line for tickets- you must keep going to the last "room" where the counters are to buy the Secret Itin. tour tickets.

In the area we'd like to see the following- Torre dell'Orologio,Campanile,SM Basilica (10 minutes), and Palazzo Ducale (1.5 hours). Is there any particular order you'd recommend of seeing these sights?

The Secret Itinieraries Tour is about 1 hour and 15 minutes. I suggest you spend some time walking around seeing the rest of the Palace BEFORE you do the tour. You only see a particular part of the Palace on the tour. Perhaps arrive about 1 hour before your tour time to explore.

I expect you will spend more than 10 minutes inside St. Mark's Basilica. Be sure and go up the Campanile - there are incredible views. Give yourself time to enjoy the views from all four sides. Be prepared to wait in line for St. Mark's and the Campanile (depending on what time of year you are going.)

I would suggest the Doges Palace first, get a mid morning time, then St. Mark's, then the Campanile. They are all just steps from each other. We have not been to the Torre dell' Orologio so I can't comment on that.

Thanks for the suggestion. If you don't mind, let me know if the following sounds about right or not...

1)Are reservations recommended for the Doges Palace and would 1 hour be sufficient to see it?

2)We'll make the reservations for the Secret Tour at 00415209070.

3) Is making a reservation for reservation for SM Basicilia at www.alata.it the best way to go or is there a phone number?

4) Campanile- How do I make a reservation for this? Can't seem to find a thread making any suggestions.

5) Does anyone know when the restortion of Torre dell' Orologio will be completed? Just says 2005 on the website.

Thanks again!

Can the Doge's Palace Tour be paid for with a CC or will I need cash?

Thanks in advance for your help.

If you want to make reservations online for the Doge's Secret Itineraries tour go to www.weekendavenezia.it. For a small service charge, you can make all your reservations for museums, tours, etc. by credit card. Then you just go to the head of the line and pick up your tickets the day of the tour, or the day you want to visit any of the museums.

As far as the Torre d'Orologio, it's still under restoration. If you go to this live webcame site: www.comune.venezia.it, you'll see a live shot of the Piazza San Marco, and in the background, you can see a white covering with a full-length representation of the Eiffel Tower on it. Underneath that white covering is the Torre. Now, because there is a corporate sponsor for the undertaking, the corporation got to choose whatever covering they wanted, so, very oddly, one of the first things you'll see when you walk into the Piazza is -the Eiffel Tower. The Venetians find this is as incomprehensible as I do, I mean, pretty much the last thing you would expect to find in this ancient square would be a huge picture of the Eiffel Tower-indicating that the Eiffel Tower was underneath the covering- now isn't it?

The Secret Itineraries tour lasts around 90 minutes; it does not cover certain major rooms in the Palace which you might also want to see. I suppose you could just do the tour and nothing else, but we spent about 4 hours in the Doges, including the tour. It's quite a large place.

I never had any luck with alata.it. We managed to get into BSan Marco with only about a 5-10 minute wait at around 15:30, although I've no idea if our experience is typical.

I'm almost certain there is no reservation system for the Campanile. Try going in the last hour before it closes.

I'm sure you know this, but make sure to have your shoulders and knees covered for the Basilica. We saw a 50ish woman in a very conservative skirt get turned away because it just barely brushed her knees! Also no backpacks.

Great information here. If you do have a backpack at various locations is there a place to have it checked in?

rohani,

You should know that the Secret Itinerary Tour ticket includes the full admission to the Palace.

When we went, we did the Secret Itinerary Tour first, then browsed through the areas of the Palace that the tour didn't cover. The Secret Itinerary Tour takes you to places in the Palace that are not viewable with the regular admission.

So...allow enough time either before or after your tour to view the Palace.

I think you can make reservations at St. Marks online at www.alata.it. You print out your booking time on your computer. Look for the shorter line (or, if you're lucky, no line) outside the Basilica for the reservations line. This will definitely save you time.

rohani- I think that there is a place to check your backpack, but it isn't in the Basilica. If I remember correctly, if you are facing the Basilica the storage place is up the alley to the left (past the lion statue, by the under renovation belltower). I would check it before you get into line, I don't know if they will hold your place in line. Have fun!