Doge's Palace

Visiting Doge's Palace in Venice was an absolute delight! The intricate architecture, rich history, and stunning views of the Grand Canal left me in awe. From the opulent interiors to the captivating stories behind each room, every moment felt like stepping into a Renaissance masterpiece. A must-see for anyone exploring Venice.

A really interesting building and great to walk around. If you like painted ceilings, you’re in for a treat! We waited outside in the general queue for probably around 20 minutes, so I’d recommend buying a ticket in advance because we didn’t go at a hugely busy time of day (around 4pm).

I recommend booking a tour as the queue for ticket entrance is insane. With a group tour, the waiting time is minimal. Also, with the rich history, it is impossible, at least for me, to make sense and appreciate the grandeur. I am amazed how the Venetian, as a relatively small power in terms of numbers is able to do so much.

If you want to be on the Bridge of Sighs, then need to go in through the Doge’s Palace.

An absolutely beautiful palace for the Duke of Venice. The first floor is not exactly all that appealing, but once you get into the "chambers", you will be surrounded by golden ceilings and oil paintings everywhere. In the largest room of the palace, you will find "Paradise", the world's largest oil painting. I think it is a very bad idea to build a prison in the Duke's palace, but it seems to have worked out for them. Located in a great place in the San Marco plaza, and next to the Basilica di San Marco and the end of the Grand Canal.

It's a famous museum in Venice .
There was a long queue for the fast track ticket also. We had to wait for about 20 minutes but the place was worth it .
One cannot carry umbrellas inside ,we were stopped in one section .

Excellent museum. Fine attention to history as each display in 4 languages. Extensive history at each display and very well done. The building is incredible inside and well worth the fee to visit. The armory halls especially piqued my interest. Excellent display. Would definitely visit again. I did a self guided tour but the audio tour would’ve probably been helpful. Excellent indeed.

Must visit to appreciate the symbol of the wealth and splendor of this once great maritime republic. You can actually walk through the famous Bridge of Sighs and visit the new prison across the canal after you see the beautiful gilded halls and stairways of the palace. I would recommend visiting it in wintertime when you can actually take nice pix without huge crowds.

Good museum, but takes a lot of time and very crowded in narrow paths. First you step in inner yard, nice open space surrounded with galleries. Follow the arrow to go up one level, to the balcony. From there one more level up and you'll arrive to Doge's apartment level. Those rooms contains some paintings and status. From apartments level you will go up again, to the chain of big and bigger halls, with nice ceiling decorations. Beware, from large halls you will go down into sort of prison, with very narrow corridors. If you are not lucky and there is a slow walking people in front of you, it can take long time to walk these narrow paths because you can't pass others. Overall, it takes about 1 hour to walk the whole museum + extra time if you stop to enjoy particular things

Beautiful palace. I'd spring for 4 museums in a visit. Each floor is very different from the next. Completely worth it. My photos don't do it justice. Visited in late November so got right in. The normal queue lines were beside us and you can see where it's normally out the door when people go in season so beware 😲

We went here in mid January on a Monday morning - no lines for tickets, no lines anywhere! The palace was so cool to see and it really gets you thinking about the wealth they had hundreds of years ago to be able to have such ornate rooms and ceilings. We skipped the audio tour as we just wanted to look around. Awesome architecture. The prison was really creepy. It was almost like being outdoors with how cold it was, so even though going up (and down) the sometimes steep or uneven stairs got our heart rate up, we kept our coats on. I enjoyed seeing the historic Bridge of Sighs--from the inside out! They don't allow backpacks so be prepared to check yours. There are tons and tons of stairs as you follow the pathway through the building so you will get lots of steps in.

Interesting place. Very pretty artwork. Go with a tour and you can skip the line. highly recommend . Randomly, it had a shared bathroom for men and women. It was fine as each stall was it's own room. I just found it hilarious that they had a Nona standing at the door making sure you used the "right" stall. I asked my husband and his stall was just a toilet as well. cracked me up that she was so diligent about keeping everyone in line, lol. At least there were 3 female and 2 male stalls!

Visited in early November. Impressive ! Went in without any prior research or plan. They will check your bags through security upon entry; it was very fast efficient and friendly process. The whole place Feels like a labyrinth it’s easy to get lost and still enjoy it but I recommend a guide or at least an audio tour of some kind . I used Rick Steve’s but it never lined up exactly for me lol. There is a nice little gift shop and cafe at the end. Don’t miss the bridge of sighs it sneaks up on you a bit.

Very awesome place to visit. Theres lots to do and see in and around this area, they have several museums to check out and various types of historical artifacts, statues, antiques, paintings and artwork. I really enjoyed my time here and it was definitely worth the visit. I would most certainly recommend checking this place out when visiting Venice.

A must see. Absolutely stunning opulent palace. Very golden. Tickets are 25€ if booked 30 days prior. 30€ if book within 30 days. Opening time vary with season. For winter 2024 is 9:00- 18:00. It is wheel chair accessible. Opened every day. This is definitely a very popular attraction so must be crowded on peak season.

I went with my family and it was an excellent visit, there were many amazing exhibits in the palace, however, I recommend buying tickets in advance or the queue can be very long.

Wonderful tour. The entrance fee is not cheap, but it's well worth it - you get a great insight into Venice history, see stunning art and architecture, walk through the chilling prison, and literally get to walk across the iconic Bridge of Sighs. We were here in October and happily avoided the crowds - if coming in peak times you might want to pay extra to minimise long wait times.

The secret itinerary tour was great. Got to see areas not open to the general public, including Casanovas prison cell. Well worth it and the best part of the palace in my opinion. Could have spent hours here after the tour, there’s so much to see.

Amazing palace. It has to be seen to take it all in. Photos don't do it justice. Very poignant going over The Bridge of Sighs and seeing the prison.

Did the Doge palace through a walking tour. Definitely worth paying extra to bypass the line.
We had a great tour guide . Excellent way to understand the history of Venice. If you don’t have a tour guide would recommend the audio guide. Amazing architecture paintings and history. We only did the short prison tour but that was sufficient. The secret tour did not offer much to the experience as all the documents had been removed . So we ended up seeing several “secret”passages and empty rooms.

If you are on a visit to Venice this amazing Palace is a must see. Filled with ornate splendor from the time of the Doge's rule of the city. Frescos adorn the walls and ceilings there is literally too much to take in. The historic relevance of Venice as a superpower trade port for the world is shown in all the artwork.
You also get to see the prison cells where prisoners would be kept before going to trial where they would cross the bridge of sizes to get to the courts in the Doge's Palace.
Also included in the thirty euro admission is entry to the Museum Correr which is across the other side of St Mark's Square, also well worth seeing for the antiquities, including Roman statues and relics from Venice's martime dominance.