Venice Doge's Palace & Prisons Tour
Recommended by 90% of travelers
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Venice, Italy
- 2 hours (approx.)
- Group discounts
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
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Overview
Experience the magnificence and mystery of the Doge’s Palace in Venice with this skip-the-line ticket. Head to the front of the queue with your guide, and then wander through the palace’s ornate public rooms as you learn the history of Venice’s powerful rulers. Admire magnificent interior artwork, including Renaissance masterpieces by painters Tintoretto and Veronese. Explore the palace’s darker side with a visit to the prison quarters and a walk across the notorious Bridge of Sighs.
- 2-hour tour of the Doge’s Palace in Venice, led by a knowledgeable guide
- Skip the long lines and enjoy fast-track admission to the magnificent Venetian-Gothic palace
- Explore the beautiful public chambers and see Renaissance artwork by Tintoretto and Veronese
- Learn about the dogs of Venice who ruled the republic with iron fists
- Walk across the Bridge of Sighs and tour the New Prisons
What's Included
- Local expert English-speaking licensed guide
- Skip-the-line tickets to the Doge's Palace
- Headset to hear the guide clearly when there are more than 8 participants in the group
- Gratuities
- Food and drinks
- Hotel pickup and drop-off
Meeting and Pickup
Meeting point
- Royal Garden30124 Venice, Metropolitan City of Venice, Italy
Entrance to the Royal Gardens, on the waterfront of St Mark's Square - You'll meet Avventure Bellissime tour coordinator outside the gardens, in front of the wrought iron Gate holding a sign with the name of the tour and Avventure Bellissime logo written on it.
End point
- Doge's PalaceP.za San Marco, 1, 30124 Venezia VE, Italy
Itinerary
One of the architectural and cultural highlights of Venice, the Doge’s Palace was the seat of the Venetian Republic and its rulers for centuries. Meet your local guide at Venice’s Royal Gardens for a short walk to the palace in St Mark’s Square. Admire the magnificent Gothic exterior before heading to the front of the long queue with your skip-the-line ticket.
Wander through the palace’s awe-inspiring public rooms, decorated from floor to ceiling with gilded decor and elaborate murals. Admire masterpieces of Renaissance painting, including works by Tintoretto and the striking Juno Bestowing her Gifts on Venice by Veronese. As you explore, listen to your guide’s narration through provided headsets so all visitors can hear clearly.
See the Trial Chambers of the Council of Ten and learn about the powerful and secretive practices the mighty doges used to rule the Venetian Republic for centuries. Walk across the famous Bridge of Sighs that connects the palace to the adjoining New Prison complex, where convicts and enemies of the republic were confined. Walk in the footsteps of the condemned as you explore the foreboding hallways and cells of the prison. Your 2-hour tour concludes back outside the palace in the welcoming, open air of St Mark’s Square.
Wander through the palace’s awe-inspiring public rooms, decorated from floor to ceiling with gilded decor and elaborate murals. Admire masterpieces of Renaissance painting, including works by Tintoretto and the striking Juno Bestowing her Gifts on Venice by Veronese. As you explore, listen to your guide’s narration through provided headsets so all visitors can hear clearly.
See the Trial Chambers of the Council of Ten and learn about the powerful and secretive practices the mighty doges used to rule the Venetian Republic for centuries. Walk across the famous Bridge of Sighs that connects the palace to the adjoining New Prison complex, where convicts and enemies of the republic were confined. Walk in the footsteps of the condemned as you explore the foreboding hallways and cells of the prison. Your 2-hour tour concludes back outside the palace in the welcoming, open air of St Mark’s Square.
1
Palazzo Ducale
2 hours • Admission Ticket Included
2
Scala dei Giganti di Palazzo Ducale
20 minutes • Admission Ticket Included
Ponte dei Sospiri (Pass By)
Porta Della Carta (Pass By)
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking, unless booked within 2 days of travel. In this case confirmation will be received within 48 hours, subject to availability
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Near public transportation
- Most travelers can participate
- Minimum numbers apply. There is a possibility of cancellation after confirmation if there is not enough passengers to meet requirements. In the event of this occurring, you will be offered an alternative or full refund
- Operates in all weather conditions, please dress appropriately
- At times, Doges Palace can close without notice. No refunds are available as these events are beyond our control.
- On certain dates, most travelers staying outside of Venice who are planning to visit for the day will be required to pay a €5 access fee. For further details (including exemptions) and to learn what days this fee is applicable, please visit: https://cda.ve.it
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 15 travelers
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Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Reviews
4.6
based on 623 reviews
JASON_N, Apr 2026
Our guide Edi was absolutely fantastic. She had so much information and tons of energy! She was engaging and made a point to involve my children (12 & 14). I highly recommend her and the tour!
Terry_R, Mar 2026
Guide was very informative and personable. Definitely recommend the private tour instead of a large group.
Michele_H, Feb 2026
Alejandro was an excellent guide. Superior knowledge, friendly and engaging. We really enjoyed his tour.
Abhisikta_D, Nov 2025
Christina was a great guide! She made us live through the experience. Without her the visit would not have been as meaningful and exciting as it was. Strongly recommend.
Turner_H, Oct 2025
Our Guide Eddy was fabulous. Our transportation plans were changed at the last minute causing our tour to be shortened. Instead of being irritated, our guide got us through an educational and fact filled tour at a rapid place. She kept track of the time and made sure we saw and heard the major points. Then she walked us to our taxi.
Eddy was knowledgeable, expressive and fun.
Jia_Z, Oct 2025
This was excellent. Alejandro - our guide - was so passionate and informative. He’s a historian and told the stories with such Venetian flare. It made the tour so enjoyable, even in wet weather. He was fantastic and allowed us time to admire the beauty of the palace.
Daisy_C, Oct 2025
The tour was kinda boring the way the tour presented the place. I could see all the participants did not seem interested as they were all scattered around in the place instead of listening to the tour.
Amanda_R, Oct 2025
Great tour - good communication beforehand so meeting up was straightforward. Our guide was very engaging and provided lots of insight and interesting information. Easy to hear her with the earpiece. Would recommend.
Nancy_S, Oct 2025
This tour was very interesting & the guide's insights were very helpful & interesting. We had an earbud for the guide's narrative, which helped hear her even up to 30' away from her.
Once in a while, her think accent was hard to understand.
Karen_R, Oct 2025
Excellent and informative tour, with an engaging guide. The Doge's Palace is beautiful and the prison section interesting, particularly walking in the footsteps of the condemned across the Bridge of Sighs
Adam_S, Oct 2025
Great tour and informative guide! It was cool to experience doge palace and see all the history. Would recommend.
Cynthia_B, Oct 2025
Alexander was excellent!!!! With his history background he was so knowledgeable about Dodge Palace. Highly recommend him
Christopher_N, Sep 2025
This tour was long, but wonderful. It was a great last minute booking that gave us quick access to the palace, let by a great tour guide.
Maria_K, Sep 2025
Arianna was amazing. The tour was very educational and interesting. We learned a lot. I highly recommend the tour !
John_T, Sep 2025
A very interesting tour with a lot of information given explaining the workings of the past Venetian Dogos.
Very informative guide answering all questions.
Worth the time to take this tour.
Tamara_P, Sep 2025
Ariana was a great tour guide and very knowledgeable. The tour of the palace and prison was thorough and fascinating. However, the directions took us the the gardens so we were walking around inside the gardens wondering where our tour guide was. A nice gentleman on the tour saw us wandering around and came and told us they were meeting outside the gates. Two other couples were late for the same reason. The meeting point of outside the gates if the garden needs to be specifically communicated!
Response from Host, Sep 2025
Thank you very much for your kind words about Arianna and the tour experience. We are very happy you enjoyed the visit to the Palace and the Prison.
Regarding the meeting point, we would like to kindly clarify that in the Viator voucher it is clearly specified that the guide will meet guests at the entrance of the Royal Gardens, outside the gates. We regret that this may have caused some initial confusion, and we truly appreciate your feedback as it helps us make sure future guests double-check the exact meeting instructions before the tour.
We hope to welcome you again on another tour in the future!
Kind Regards
Filippo
Shruthi_T, Sep 2025
Very informative guided tour. Our guide was fun and knowledgeable and made the tour extra special. Would highly recommend this tour
jazmine_j, Sep 2025
The meeting point was easy to get to. Our guide, Franchesca, was great— kind and very knowledgeable. The palace is breathtaking. Definately a must-do when in Venice. We were glad we paid for the guided tour because understanding the history behind the architecture and art makes you appreciate the palace that much more. The pace of the tour was fine, but I wish we were given additional time just to admire the ceiling art. I recommend giving guests an additional 5 minutes in each room just to look around and admire before continuing to the next. As an added bonus, your tour ticket gives you discounted entry to the other exhibitions the palace has to offer. In the summer months, the palace gets HOT AND STUFFY, so bring a hand-held fan and water.
lhs2865, Sep 2025
Beautiful palace and the history surrounding the Doge’s. Our guide did a wonderful job of explaining the meaning behind the paintings and what they represented. Loved seeing the prison and walking the Bridge of Sighs.
Jason_V, Sep 2025
Very interesting and informative tour. Georgina was very knowledgeable and enthusiastic which helped make it a great tour.
Ian_J, Sep 2025
What a great guide. Extremely knowledgeable and detailed and kept it very interesting. I cannot fault the visit, however the only detail that in my opinion can be easily rectified is the location pin of the meeting point. It took us to the Royal Gardens, where we sat for over 20 minutes where a lot of other people were also waiting so we assumed we were in the correct place. No body showed at the tour time so I left the gardens to find a group of people and the tour guide outside the gates, waiting for us. Please correct this location error, it's not difficult
Margie_F, Sep 2025
The history behind the Doge and Venetian government was very interesting. Alasandro, our guide, was very knowledgeable. He filled the tour with interesting facts and antedotes. It's obvious that he loves guiding tours. He was especially kind to an older gentleman in our group who could not climb stairs. I would gladly take another tour with him as a guide.
Lindy_F, Sep 2025
Fabulous and informative tour. We got a good insight into what the Doge’s Palace was used for and learnt a lot about the history of it. So good :)
Tammy_H, Aug 2025
Alessandro was AMAZING! He gave us such an in depth overview of the Doges Palace and Institutions. My son Sean especially loved and learned so much. I recommend everyone to try this tour and ask for Alessandro, he was the best.
Chary_R, Aug 2025
The tour was small and intimate! There were 5 of us which was the perfect amount of people. Cristina was amazing and informative! If you want to check out the Doge Palace then you should book this tour.
Sarit_S, Aug 2025
Great tour! Cristina our guide was so knowledgeable and explained everything so well. The company is also very thoughtful as my husband and I couldnt find the meeting point and they were kind enough to find us. Thank you!!!
Shannon_S, Jul 2025
Cristina our guide was so knowledgeable about the palace and was a great storyteller to allow us to experience the palace. There was so much to talk about but o my so much in a 2 hour tour. This was probably my favorite tour in Venice as I enjoy history and experiencing the stories from the past. Overall highly recommended - I wish we had more then 2 hours to spend there!
Natalia_O, Jul 2025
It was very educational and worth the tour, doing it yourself could not compare to this. Amazing tour guide!
SANDRA_Z, Jul 2025
I can’t remember our guide’s name but she was a delight. Lots of Venetian Histroy told in an engaging way. 10/10
Mark_W, Jul 2025
The meeting place was in a garden… behind locked gates, message sent to company… no reply… eventually found the guide- the trip was really worth it though- guide had excellent English and understanding of the area.
From $113.91
per personup to 24 hours before the experience starts (local time)
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Venice Doge's Palace & Prisons Tour
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