Venice Doge's Palace & Prisons Tour
Recommended by 91% of travelers
Badge of Excellence
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 Doge 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 654 reviews
Sort by: Most insightful
An in-depth tour with Lorenzo exploding with facts, theories & gossip. Doge’s Palace was beyond expectations and finally walking the Bridge of Sighs ✅
Alex was an engaging and knowledgeable tour guide. I wholeheartedly recommend joining him for anything Venice!!!
This was a fabulous tour of the Doge's Palace - interesting and engaging the entire time. Our tour guide, Edy, was extremely dynamic and pointed out interesting details about the Palace, the history of Venice, and other facts in a way that kept our rapt attention (including the attention of our 8 and 11 year old, who both loved the guide as well). She is a story-teller and is able to relay the history in a way that made it easy to follow and exciting. This is a must-see site in Venice that was made even better by our fabulous guide - highly recommend!
Cristina was so knowledgeable and chose such interesting information and stories to share. There was no question (about the Doge Palace or Venice in general) that she couldn’t answer. Excellent tour, loved every minute.
This was a very informative tour. Our guide Georgina was knowledgeable and answered all our questions. She did a wonderful job explaining the diverse history of Venice, including the art and architecture.
Lorenzo our guide was very knowledgeable, attentive and happy to answer all the group members questions about the Doge palace.
The tour lived up to all expectations, especially the experience of walking across the bridge into the prison area.
We found the Doges palace tour extremely interesting. The whole history of the Doges is fascinating. The palace is so ornate and the paintings absolutely stunning. If you compare it to the Vatican, we much preferred the Palace. Sorry I can’t remember the ladies name but she was extremely knowledgeable and helpful. Took the time to explain in detail everything we need to know.
This is a very good tour. Our guide had a lot of knowledge to share and kept the tour interesting. If you are not very ambulatory this tour has a lot of stairs.
Wonderful day with Christina
She was a wealth of information and took us for a very detailed and intensive tour. Highly recommend
Exceptionally knowledgeable tour guide. If you want to learn the history of Venice, she was excellent.
Our tour guide was amazing! She shared so much valuable information about the history of the Venician people, the Republic of Venice and when/where/how it all started to what Venice is today. Really impressive tour. Walking across the Bridge of Sighs into the prisons was pretty epic and surreal. Highly recommend this tour.
Tour guide was very knowledgeable and took her time telling us about history and wrangling our 2 young kids! Tour wasn’t rushed and provided an in depth history of the palace. Definitely recommend!
Georgia is a fabulous tour guide. She is very friendly, fun, and so knowledgeable! We very much enjoyed this tour.
We did a private tour with Cristina and it was by far our favorite tour while in Venice. She has so much knowledge and passion for the history and really pointed out things to make you understand what the history and meaning behind the building, paintings, politics of it all. She was incredibly friendly and you could tell she knew exactly how to get the most out of the time in the tour
This was better than I expected! It was obvious the musicians love what they do, and it was so fun to watch their passion come to life.
Having a private tour was the best way to really see the palace and other areas. We booked for early evening when crowds were minimal and we had many areas to ourselves. Our guide was excellent and extremely knowledgeable. We learned so much. We highly recommend the tour!!
We booked our tour pretty last minute and they were able to easily accommodate our group of 4. The tour was super informative and interesting. I loved, Ed, our tour guide. She was funny and had a great way of explaining things. It was money well spent and would highly encourage anyone to book this tour if they want a more meaningful tour of Doge’s Palace!
Doges Palace was unexpectedly closed, but the guide Christine provided an alternative tour that was delightful and educational.
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!
Guide was very informative and personable. Definitely recommend the private tour instead of a large group.
Alejandro was an excellent guide. Superior knowledge, friendly and engaging. We really enjoyed his tour.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
Great tour and informative guide! It was cool to experience doge palace and see all the history. Would recommend.
Alexander was excellent!!!! With his history background he was so knowledgeable about Dodge Palace. Highly recommend him
From $112.31
per personup to 24 hours before the experience starts (local time)
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