Kingly Venice: Doge Palace Ticket, Guided Tour & History Gallery
Description
Discover the Doge's Palace like never before with our exclusive guided tour. Tired of long lines like at airport security? Skip them and dive straight into Venetian history, picturing yourself as a guest of the Doge, walking through grand halls filled with opulence and secrets. This isn't just a tour; it's an invitation to step into the shoes of past rulers of one of the most powerful empires the world has known. The Doge's Palace was more than a residence—it was the nerve center of a republic that shaped history. Picture the grandeur of the White House meeting the intrigue of "House of Cards." With a local guide, explore chambers of power, where gold-plated rooms witnessed decisions that ruled the Mediterranean. If Bill Gates had been around, he’d have admired the strategic brilliance behind these walls. Hear stories of Casanova’s legendary escape, secret trials in hidden rooms, and political backstabbing that would give James Bond a run for his money
Tour Options
Itinerary
The Palazzo Ducale represented for centuries the seat of Venetian political power. In its splendid rooms, surrounded by hundreds of painting masterpieces, the Doge and his Council controlled the fate of a thousand-year old republic. The experienced guide will show you the halls of power, plunging you into a very special setting: the European Middle Ages and the centuries immediately following. You’ll be surprised at the rich details of the gold staircase, at the realism of the scenes depicted by many artists who have decorated this building, you will relive the anguish of the prisoners crossing the famous Bridge of Sighs, and entering the Venetian prisons, famous for hosting Giacomo Casanova.
You may visit by yourself the other magnificent palaces around St. Mark’s Square under the name of Procuratie Nuove with the same ticket! You will discover the way of life of the venetians, with paintings, library, coinage, sculpture. You will be entered in the secrets of Venice Empire, with description of Arsenale who produced the famous battleship Galea. You will visit the area built by Napoleon including the majestic Dancing Hall and the the rooms restored for Empress Sissi.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- Tour does not operate in case of exceptional high tide (in these cases it can be postponed the days after; otherwise, it will be refunded)
- For security reasons suitcases, backpacks or large bags are not allowed inside the Doges’ Palace, the storage service is available inside the Palace and it is free of charge.
- Please note that the Marciana Library is closed on Sundays
- 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
- The customers health is the most important matter for us, the tour operates in according to the Covid-19 National directives in order to guarantee the experiences in a safe environment.
- All customer touchpoints are frequently cleaned, and the tour will leave with small groups.
Reviews(67)
Tour guide did not show up, so we just went by ourselves. Also there was no line for general admission tickets so this was a total waste of money.
perfect amount of time to see & learn about the interesting history of Doge & Venice, followed by time to explore at your leisure
Our guide was knowledgable and very good at telling the Venetian story and expanding the story in response to questions.
Really nice tour and very informative guide. We booked at the last minute and it worked out great for us.
We loved our guide Matteo, he was extremely knowledgeable and very funny. He did an excellent job of explaining what we were seeing while keeping it simple and interesting!
Good though not outstanding. Do the tour to ‘skip the line’, see & learn the basics with the guide for the hour, then stay inside and go round again on your own at leisure. The tour involves 30 minutes of waiting at the meeting point to be escorted to a second meeting point, to wait for more customers, and then cross the Square to stand in line at the skip the line entry point. Then it begins. Our guide was informative though delivery was fast, flat & hard to follow, so lost a lot. Going back later to read the info boards in each room filled my gaps in hearing. Our tour was midday & the palace was crowded with tour groups & individuals. It was hard to stay up with the guide. Afterwards the whole place was much quieter & we enjoyed space & time, finally leaving at 3pm.
Dear Guest, we are deeply sorry for your personal comment. We always strive to offer the best experience to our customers. Thanks for your feedback, it will certainly help us to improve our services. At your disposal for further information. Regards, Venice Tours Team
Guide Monica was wonderful. The organization at the start of the tour was not very good. Need to improve the meeting point.
Great tour with Marco! Super knowledgeable and made it a lot better. I would recommend messaging them for the address confirmation prior to going as when I put the address in from the email it was telling me to go somewhere else further away. The tour was quick so if you want more time you can stay at the end but I felt it was good to have a guide because there’s so much history there. I would have given it 5 stars however, there was no VR experience like the title had mentioned, not sure why, and I haven’t had a response on how this will be rectified yet considering it was included but not provided, and I’m leaving tomorrow. P.s. you get to see the prisons (I wasn’t sure when I booked as it wasn’t mentioned) however, would also recommend doing the other prison tour which is seperate to Doge’s palace.
Beautiful palace to visit with lots of history. Interesting collection of weapons and impressive passage through the Bridge of Sighs.
Hello, thanks for your kind review. We are glad to read that you enjoyed the tour. Hope to see you soon in Venice!
UPDATE: 2 months later, I have still not received a complete refund for my tour tickets, and while the company commented that they are here if I have any questions, there is no email contact listed to contact them. Venice Tours SRL, if you are truly available for further questions, please provide a way an international customer can reach you! Original Review copied below: We showed up at the tour location and was told after the tour start time that our tour guide would not be showing up. They would not give me a refund on the spot and said I had to go through trip advisor, sent me on my way without a tour guide while keeping the palace tickets. When I made this request, they only refunded THIRTY PERCENT OF MY TICKET!!! I paid $290 for 5 ppl and they refunded $87. Their justification is that we still got our tickets to the palace. Well, palace tickets alone are 30 dollars each on the palace site. Let’s do some quick math: $290 total cost for 5 ppl on tour $30 X 5 palace tickets: $150 Actual refund received: $87 This means that the tour group held on to an additional $63 from my pocket. Team, I am patiently waiting for my remaining $63. If you can provide documentation justifying this paltry refund, I will take my review down.
Dear Guest, we are sorry for your personal comment, please consider that in case of problems to find the guide, we are always available to assist customers. At your disposal for further information. Regards.
