On a budget, weigh it — St Mark's Square Museums Pass / Museum Pass isn't cheap for what it is.
St Mark's Square ticket ~€30; full Museum Pass ~€40
UTILITY / TICKETING NOTE, not an experience — treat it as planning logistics rather than a 'place'. The city-run pass exists in two tiers: the St Mark's Square Museums ticket (~€30) bundles the Doge's Palace, Museo Correr, the Archaeological Museum and the Marciana Library and lets you bypass the Doge's Palace line; the wider Museum Pass (~€40) adds Ca' Rezzonico, Palazzo Mocenigo, the Glass and Lace museums and more. The decision rule: buy the square ticket if you only want the Doge's Palace (it's the only way in anyway and skips the queue); step up to the full pass only if you'll hit three-plus civic museums. The catch: it covers civic museums ONLY — not St Mark's Basilica, the Accademia, the Guggenheim or San Rocco — so check your actual list against it before paying.