We bought timed tickets to let us in at a certain time. Some technical glitch happened with the turnstile where you scan the tickets and it wasn't working. At that point, things became utterly nonsensical, as we had our tickets printed, with our time clearly visible and they wouldn't let us in and we had to wait. Fine, but then when the turnstile was working again, a bunch of the walk ins were let in before us despite our timed tickets, so that was a bit frustrating. We went in the hot sticky summer months, so there was some haze that dimished the view, but it was still worth it. Plus, the breeze you get up there is such a nice cool off from the oppressive heat.

We went early in the morning and missed he larger queues you see later in the day. We didn't book as we were told there might be little point if the lifts were out of operation. The tower is only accessed by lifts up and down and cost 10 euros each. There was a little queue which quickly moved and we nipped up in the lift to see over Venice. In the tower top itself it is pretty busy and the security mesh seemed quite tight and not the easiest to take good photos out off, but it can be done with a little care and patience. The views are quite good and it is a pretty clear morning so the islands view was good as well. We thought it was worth doing for the 10 euros as with the lift there is little effort required so you can walk longer along the canal streets and Campos.

Well worth a trip to the top for some lovely views over Venice. There is a lift up and down so getting to the top is easy. I would recommend booking in advance as this allows you to skip any queue. The ticket gives you a half hour slot to visit so you are not tied to a specific time. We booked our ticket for a short while after our tour of the palace and basilica. You are able to spend as long as you want at the top so there is no rush.

Great views over Venice. Definitely worth booking a skip-the-line ticket, especially as we went during Carnival. If you wanted to save some money, look into the free Fondaco Dei Tedeschi Rooftop Terrace instead.

We didn’t pre-book - the queue when we arrived about 30 minutes prior to opening was quite short with about 30 people ahead of us. The queue moved very quickly once the site was open. The views of Venice from the top of the bell tower are spectacular! It was a beautiful clear day so we could see forever! Highly recommended!

Amazing views from the top, it's well worth it. We were there on a Friday morning in April, we'd been in the Basilica and then decided to see what the queue was like for the tower (at about 11am). We hadn't booked in advance but it wasn't bad at all, we only queued for about 15 minutes. Lovely views over Venice rooftops and out across the lagoon.

We took the first come first serve line to go up the bell tower. Took about 20mins waiting and costs 10 Euro each. You can only go up and down by lift, which was fine by us. The views all around are quite stunning. Be prepared for it to be busy when you are up there.

The viewing platform of the bell tower provides wonderful views over Venice. It was a bit difficult to get in on the day we visited as we had to negotiate the walkways in place during "acqua alta" in Venice. However, once we had gone up in the lift, we really enjoyed our time looking out over Venice.

My partner and I were in Venice for his 40th and I booked for us to go up St Marks campanile. If you don’t manage to pre-book it I did notice the queues for here were never that bad and tended to move quickly. The views from the top are lovely and we were up just as the sun was starting to set and got some lovely photos. They do ring the bells and it can get pretty loud but it is well worth a visit.

I had a good experience - not too long a queue - stunning views of Venice. Busy though even with hardly a queue so can imagine how crowded it must be at peak times. If its really busy outside - wait until a quieter time. There is only one elevator and there is quite a queue at the top of everyone waiting to get down. It is expensive though - £10 for a student and they don't take cash. Overall, good experience but not a must here in Venice. Nice additive.