Doge's Palace (Palazzo Ducale)
- Address: San Marco, 1, Venice
- Hours: Open Summer 9am - 7pm (until 6pm in Winter)
- Admission: € 13 for a Piazza San Marco museum pass
ATTRACTION Keywords:
Cultural Experience,
Monument - Historical,
Museum,
Palace
Doge's Palace (Palazzo Ducale) Reviews
We've found 59 Doge's Palace (Palazzo Ducale) reviews from Viator.com travelers and members: what they loved, what they liked and what they think could be improved. It's all here to help you make the most of your next trip.
Review by tlgram, May 2013
Doing what: Skip the Line: Best of Venice Walking Tour including Basilica di San Marco
This tour too was longer than it should've been. It was nice to see the Marco Polo home, but otherwise the walk through Venice was uneventful and not very interesting. The group was much too large and the ear plugs were of poor quality, which made it difficult to hear. The tour itself was rushed so when we did come upon sites that generated questions we only stopped briefly but then had to keep going to stay on schedule. The highlights of the tour were the Basilica and Doge's Palace, only I wish we had more time to explore at a slower pace and ask questions. We didn't get any history of the Palazzo or the bell tower. I do think the itinerary was too much for the amount of time devoted; it would have been better to spend the whole time just in and around the Palazzo, Basilica, and Doge's Palace, rather then spending the first part of the tour walking around the city.
My recommendation is based primarily on the fact that we didn't have to wait to enter the Basilica or Doge's Palace, which was nice. The lines to get into both were very long; if you can arrange another tour or purchase your tickets to these sites in advance, it might be more worth it than taking this specific tour.
Review by masspell, April 2013
Doing what: Skip the Line: Best of Venice Walking Tour including Basilica di San Marco
Good general tour but would have been disappointed if we had not upgraded and included the Doge's Palance - this was the highlight of the tour.
Review by Pauline G, United Kingdom, April 2013
Doing what: Skip the Line: St Mark's Square Highlights Tour
Had to really press our guide to explain more details about the square and explain the history of the architecture. Our guide was friendly but things felt a little rushed. That said, going back to San Marco a second time as very helpful especially after doing the walking tour. If I have one criticism it is that St Marks really deserves a tour in its own right along the lines of that to the Doges Palace. Although we could have done this on our own, we found the observations of a guide a better investment.
Review by Michelle, March 2013
Doing what: Skip the Line: Best of Venice Walking Tour including Basilica di San Marco
We really enjoyed the walking tour of Doge's Palace. Unfortunately, the Basilica de Marco tour was not possible because of a special event that was taking place in the church. The tour guide still provided us with great information about the Basilica. Excellent and informative tour guide.
Review by Jennifer Z, USA, December 2012
Doing what: Skip the Line: Doge's Palace Secret Itineraries Tour
More than just the standard tour of the Doge's Palace, this tour takes into the prison. It was interesting to be able to compare the opulence of the palace with the prison and administrative offices. It definitely gives you a better picture of the 'real' palace than a standard tour.
Review by jill, November 2012
Doing what: Skip the Line: Venice Walking Tour with Doges Palace
The Doge's Palace tour was fantastic! Our guide took the theme, the Doge's Power and Influence, explained it all while showing the palace, and did not overwhelm us with too many facts and figures. I can actually remember the content! We also used the accompanying tickets to the Correr Museum, (creative and diverse) the only museum we actually went to during our time in Northern Italy. We loved it, kept our ticket stubs, and finished it when we arrived back to Venice.Jill and George, Australia
Review by Tana T, November 2012
Doing what: Skip the Line: Doge's Palace Secret Itineraries Tour
This was a great tour. Well done and very interesting. I finally understand who the Doges of Venice were!
MimiAustin
Review by elguaposinpelo, November 2012
Doing what: Skip the Line: Doge's Palace Secret Itineraries Tour
My wife and I had been to the Doge's Palace on previous trips but this Secret Itineraries Tour took us to areas off the beaten track, truly to "secret" places. It was fabulous...the highlight of our time in Venice. Our guide was first-rate and clearly loved the history of Venice. She had great knowledge of Casanova's time as a prisoner in the secret portion of the Palace. Highly Recommended.
Review by Gordon B, November 2012
Doing what: Skip the Line: Best of Venice Walking Tour including Basilica di San Marco
We would recommend this tour. This was our first trip to Europe and taking this tour of Venice was a great way of seeing Venice and receiving a history lesson at the same time. The tour guide spoke perfect english and was very knowledgeable without giving a history overload. The tour of The Doges Palace was very interesting with an insite into the Venetian government and for me crossing over the Bridge of Sighs was a highlight. Meeting location was easy to find and the walking portion of the tour was easy. Unfortunately we could not tour the Basilica on the day of our tour as there was a religious ceremony taking place, but the Basilica is free anyways.
Shaun and Gord - Winnipeg, Manitoba CANADA
Review by Cheryl W, October 2012
Doing what: Skip the Line: Doge's Palace Secret Itineraries Tour
This is well worth doing!!!! would definately reccomend it. You each had individual ear pieces so there was never any problems with hearing the guide. The secret passages and information were incredible. The guide was incredibly knowledgeable and spoke great english and was very happy to answer any questions that you had. As well as the secret passages you were also shown the main areas of the Doge's palace. Once the tour had finished we stayed a few hours more and explored some of the rooms that we hadnt been shown. Definately one not to be missed!!
Review by Barbara B, October 2012
Doing what: Skip the Line: Best of Venice Walking Tour including Basilica di San Marco
Excellent tour, with a local Venetian. We enjoyed the tours of St, Mark's and the Doges Palace, glad that we had booked both of them on the same day.
Review by Anna W, October 2012
Doing what: Skip the Line: Best of Venice Walking Tour including Basilica di San Marco
Our guide, Andrea, was very informative and seemed to have an eye for interesting tidbits that we would have missed otherwise, but that added a little flavor to how we viewed Venice. The Doge's Palace add-on was definitely worth the extra money, but I would only recommend doing it on a full night of sleep. The tour as a whole can start to feel like it will never end, but the cool stuff you learn (and the cool pictures you get) are worth it afterward. The meeting point is easy to find and is in a well-frequented shopping district. Be sure you bring a good map if you want to go back to where you started -- the end of the tour is quite far from the beginning and is reached through a nearly incomprehensible labyrinth of narrow alleys.
Review by Joe, October 2012
Doing what: Skip the Line: Best of Venice Walking Tour including Basilica di San Marco
This is a good tour for first timers in Venice. The roughly two hour tour stated near the Rialto Bridge and ended at St. Marks square. I would recommend upgrading to include the Doge Palace, very interesting. The tour was run by Dark Rome, a reputable tour group from my experience. We had Frederika as our guide, she made it fun and interesting. She was very knowledgeable, is a local, and quizzed us on the places that she introduced us too. Well worth it, with the Doge Palace the tour was 3.5 hrs., enough to give you the lay of the land and some background and history.
Review by Barbara B, USA, October 2012
Doing what: Skip the Line: Venice Walking Tour with Doges Palace
This tour is listed as "Venice Walking Tour with Doges Palace". That title is very misleading. It is NOT a walking tour but rather a tour of ONLY the Doges Palace. We really were not interested in that intensive a tour of the Palace and would have enjoyed having someone tell us (and show us) more of Venice.
Review by Thomas T, September 2012
Doing what: Skip the Line: Doge's Palace Secret Itineraries Tour
If you are interested in the history of Venice and in particular the behind the scenes of the Doges palace, in particular Casanova, you will like this tour. Our tour guide was exceptional . I would strongly recommend this tour for a good start to a good 2-3 day stay in Venice.
