Doge's Palace
151 Reviews
The Doge's Palace in Venice – including the Bridge of Sighs prison in Venice is part of the Civic Museums Foundation of Venice – and one of the essential sights to see in Venice.
On this page you can find useful information to organize your visit to the Doge’s Palace in Venice: opening hours and prices, as well as a brief description of what you can admire. Also you can conveniently buy online your entry tickets to Venice Doge Palace. Please consider that the Doge's Palace can only be visited with a cumulative ticket (single entry tickets do not exixt): you can choose either the Museums of St. Mark's Square ticket - which also includes a entry to Correr Museum, Venice National Archaeological Museum and the Monumental Rooms of the National Library of St Mark's - or the Museum Pass ticket, which includes entries to other 11 important museums in Venice (please find further details below).
In addition, you can buy online tickets to access the great exhibitions that the Doge's Palace hosts during the year.
Choose your ticket
Ticket
Museum Pass
Reduced € 21.00
Ticket
Museums of St. Mark's Square
Reduced € 16.50
Important information
Doge's Palace Venice - Opening times
- From 26 March to 1 November: 8.30am – 7.00pm (last entrance 6.00pm)
- From 2 November to 25 March: 8.30am – 5.30pm (last entrance 4.30pm)
- Closed: 25 December and 1 January
The Doge’s Palace in Venice can only be visited by purchasing a combined ticket (St Mark’s Square Museums or Museum Pass). There is no ticket granting admission to only the Doge’s Palace.
From 23 February to 9 June 2019 the Doge’s Palace hosts Canaletto and Venice', a major exhibition to celebrate the Venetian 18th century and its most famous painter.
Please note: the exhibition is not included in the St Mark’s Square Museums and Museum Pass tickets. To access the exhibition, you need to purchase one of the special tickets 'Canaletto and Venice' listed below:
- Exhibition 'Canaletto and Venice' – this only includes the visit to the exhibition, therefore access to the Doge’s Palace is limited to the rooms where the exhibition is housed. It does not grant admission to the standard visiting tour of the Doge’s Palace.
- St Mark’s Square Museums + Exhibition 'Canaletto and Venice' – this includes the visit to the exhibition, admission to the standard visiting tour of the Doge’s Palace and admission to the combined itinerary of Correr Museum, National Archaeological Museum, Monumental Rooms of the Marciana National Library.
- Museum Pass + Exhibition 'Canaletto and Venice' – this includes the visit to the exhibition, admission to the standard visiting tour of the Doge’s Palace and admission to the permanent collections of the Venice Civic Museums Foundation, with the exclusions of the Clock Tower and Palazzo Fortuny.
The voucher issued at the end of the online reservation must be printed on paper (vouchers on mobile devices are not accepted) and presented at the ticket office of the museum in order to convert it into a valid entrance ticket. The voucher is the only valid document, remember to print it and to bring it with you the day of the visit!
To collect your ticket at the ticket office of the Doge's Palace, please go to the 'Ticket Office Groups Only' desk.
Description
Located in the monumental area of St Mark’s Square, the majestic Doge's Palace in Venice has been the heart of Venice throughout its fascinating life. The history of the Doge’s Palace in Venice probably begins in the IX century - with the transfer of the Doge’s headquarters in Venice - but it is only since the XIV century that the radical transformation began which lead to its current elegant appearance.
Over the centuries, the ancient foundations have been enriched with an extraordinary array of constructive and ornamental elements that have given rise to the unmistakable structure of the Ducal Palace in Venice that we all can admire today.
Once the centre of the political and administrative life of the Venice Republic from its birth to the inexorable decline, the Palace of the Doge, Venice keeps alive the immense power and splendour of the Serenissima.
Refined rooms, majestic staircases, monumental entrances, the Bridge of Sighs prison in Venice... the Doge’s Palace Venice history is a unique treasure, the result of a clever fusion of styles and architectural elements from different periods in perfect harmony which will leave you breathless. The Venice Doge’s Palace paintings boast the signature of the greatest artists of all time, such as Tintoretto, Veronese, Titian, Tiepolo and many others.
The entrance of the Doge’s Palace is the Gate of the Wheat - located in the oldest part of the building - that leads into the inner Doge’s Palace courtyard, Venice which is connected to the Doge apartments, Venice on the first floor via the Doge’s Palace Giant Staircase – an ancient monumental entrance - decorated with two statues of Mars and Neptune, by Sansovino that symbolizes the power and dominion of Venice over the sea and the mainland.
On top of the Doge’s Palace Giant Staircase a series of lodges open up offering visitors beautiful views of the courtyard or part of the enchanting St Mark’s Square.
On the floor of the lodges one can also admire the Hall of the Casket, the Hall of the Militia from the Sea and part of the Institutional Hall of the Doge's Palace in Venice, sumptuous and refined interiors which served as background to the political and administrative life of the Republic, developed throughout the Palace of the Doges in Venice. From the floor of the lodges, the splendid Doge’s Palace Golden Staircase leads to the upper floors via two ramps that open out on to vestibules with large windows.
On the noble floor there is the Doge’s apartment and other rooms dedicated to the administration of justice connected by a veranda - Liagò – which was intended for nobles during the breaks in the sessions of the Great Council.
The most important room of the Doge’s Palace is the Sala del Maggior Consiglio in Venice. Its considerable size makes it one of the largest in Europe, the venue for meetings of the highest judiciary of the Republic of Venice. Some of the most important Doge’s Palace, Venice pictures are kept in this room, among which is the largest canvas in the world, produced by Tintoretto on the back wall. The second flight of the Golden Staircase leads to the second floor where the visit to the Palace of the Doge’s in Venice ends with the remaining part of the Institutional Rooms.
The visit to the Ducal Palace offers art, history and relics from ancient Venice and also includes:
- The Opera Museum - once the office that was in charge of maintenance and operations in the Doge's Palace - which houses documents and artefacts of its activity, in addition to the capitals that originally adorned the facade of the Doge’s Palace;
- The Armory, which houses weapons and ammunition from various sources.It is also important to mention the famous Bridge of Sighs, Venice built in the seventeenth century to join the Doge's Palace to the New Prisons.
The Bridge of Sighs is covered and inside divided into two corridors connected to the staircase that led from the Wells up to the Leads. The name Bridge of Sighs, draws its origins from the last sigh 'of freedom' that the prisoner breathed before reaching the New Prisons in Venice.
Simon
March 2019
Mature couple
ITALY
Reviewed on 10 Apr `19 - Booking No. 1911450 - Service sold by a Distribution Partner of Insidecom srl
'Useful hints'
Ticket
Museums of St. Mark's Square
Erika gave to us a lot of hints and the possibility to book in advance and without queue Sam Marco and the boat to the islands. Great!
Martina
March 2019
Young couple
ITALY
Reviewed on 07 Apr `19 - Booking No. 191557
'Ms'
Ticket
Museum Pass
Good experience
marie
October 2018
Family with children
FRANCE
Reviewed on 12 Nov `18 - Booking No. 18201793
'nice view'
Ticket
Museums of St. Mark's Square
the skip the line ticket is efficient but time is time. It's not possible to go up the tower even if you are earlier and if there is not to much queue. But the view over venice worths it.
Ruby
June 2018
Family with children
CANADA
Reviewed on 21 Jun `18 - Booking No. 1829789
'Pricless'
Ticket
Museums of St. Mark's Square
We really enjoyed the museums we went through all of them. It is well worth the extra euros to see the treasures, hard to believe that these have been around so long
Rick
May 2018
Mature couple
UNITED STATES
Reviewed on 18 May `18 - Booking No. 1834444
'Money well spent'
Ticket
Museums of St. Mark's Square
We had VIP access. We were able to just walk up at our appointment time and go in, while others were waiting in long lines.
lab rat
April 2018
Solo traveler
AUSTRALIA
Reviewed on 09 May `18 - Booking No. 189127
'mr'
Ticket
Museum Pass
I thought it was a 'skip-the-queue' ticket but the queues at the Doges Palace were very bad
Strengths
great for the other museums
Weaknesses
I thought it was a 'skip-the-queue' ticket but the queues at the Doges Palace were very bad - quite annoying.
Jules
November 2017
Other
UNITED KINGDOM
Reviewed on 28 Nov `17 - Booking No. 17207908
'Doge's Palace'
Ticket
Museums of St. Mark's Square
Stunning Building full of history and wonderful architecture, paintings, etc. Well worth a visit but better to book on-line and take your ticket with you.
Strengths
Gorgeous building, a MUST on your visiting list to Venice.
Weaknesses
-
Knightmare
November 2017
Mature couple
SWITZERLAND
Reviewed on 26 Nov `17 - Booking No. 17208926 - Service sold by a Distribution Partner of Insidecom srl
'En vaut vraiment la peine !'
Ticket
Museums of St. Mark's Square
Cela vaut la peine d'acheter le billet à l'avance, la visite du Palais des Doges est magnifique et cela donne l'occasion de visiter les autres sites de la place St-Marc. Il faut juste imprimer l'email et l'échanger au guichet des billets une fois sur place.
Strengths
Billet combiné et pas de queue
Weaknesses
Il faut imprimer l'email
Rod
October 2017
Solo traveler
BRAZIL
Reviewed on 03 Nov `17 - Booking No. 17130632
'Nice'
Ticket
Museums of St. Mark's Square
No lines
Margaret
October 2017
Group of friends
IRELAND
Reviewed on 02 Nov `17 - Booking No. 17159653
'A very good experience'
Ticket
Museums of St. Mark's Square
This booking was very easy to make and the experience with the museums in Venice went very smoothly.
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Need help choosing
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Tours & Activities
Private guided tour of the Doge's Palace in Venice
Duration: approx 2 hours
Location: Venice-
per service
starting from - € 247.00
Tours & Activities
Skip The Line: St Mark's Basilica and Doge's Palace Tours
Duration: approx. 2 hours and 15 minutes
Location: Venice- Per person
- € 65.00
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per service
Reply by venetoinside.com Staff
Dear Lab Rat,
Thank you for your feedback. We are sorry for the misunderstanding but nowhere in our website we present the Museum Pass as a skip-the-line pass.
As we speciefied on the website, in the Important information section, the ticket must be collected at the ticket office of the first museum you visit (allowing time for a possible queue at the ticket counter).
“Once you have the ticket, you can have access to other museums by presenting the ticket at the entrance, without having to queue again at the ticket offices. If you wish to collect the ticket at the Doge's Palace, please remember to go to the 'Ticket Office Groups Only' desk: you must respect the possible waiting times, that are usually shorter compared to the waiting times at the other desks. Anyway, we suggest you to collect your ticket in one of the other museums included in the Museum Pass since they have less visitors than the Doge's Palace and therefore the waiting times are usually reduced.”
We are sorry you did not read it!
Best regards,The venetoinside.com staff