Doge's Palace in Venice

Palazzo Ducale

My most recent trip to Venice was in March of 2025.  My daughter and I went on the Secret Itineraries tour, which I highly recommend.  The Doge's Palace is open from 9 in the morning until 5 or 6 at night, depending on if you visit in the summer or winter.  Their official website is here:  Doge's Palace

Prices vary depending on what you want to do.  The Secret Itineraries Tour, which we went on, is offered in Italian, English, and French.  It costs 32 euro for an adult ticket.  You can purchase a Museum Pass for 40 euro that allows you into several different museums over the course of six months.  There are other ticket combinations that you can buy, depending on what you want to see.  I really enjoyed the Secret Itineraries Tour and would do it again.  It was very interesting to hear about Casanova and his famous escape in 1756.  Walking across the Bridge of Sighs was another highlight for me.  It is named because the bridge connects the Doge's Palace to the new prisons, and supposedly prisoners would sigh as they took one last look of Venice before being led to prison.  The current Doge's Palace is over 600 years old, although the palace site dates back to the 9th century.  A doge is the chief magistrate of Venice.  The most famous doge is probably the 55th one, whose portrait was blacked out after he was beheaded for trying to overthrow the government.  His name was Marin Falier and he was killed in 1355.

The Doge's Palace is located on St. Mark's Square.  Its google maps location is here:  Palazzo Ducale

Photos from the Doge's Palace:

This is where we met for our Secret Itineraries tour.  It's inside the courtyard of the Doge's Palace.

Courtyard

The courtyard inside the Doge's Palace

We were each given one of these stickers before our tour began so that employees would know we were part of the tour

Our tour guide took us inside to begin our tour

The hallways and staircases are quite narrow.  This is my daughter heading up the stairs.

One of Casanova's cells

The 55th doge, blacked out of history for staging a coup, Marin Falier

walking across the Bridge of Sighs

During the tour we walked one way and then back the other direction on the Bridge of Sighs

The view is pretty obscured through the Bridge of Sighs windows

The Winged Lion of Venice, representing the city's power on land and sea

The exterior of the Doge's Palace, on St. Mark's Square

View of the Doge's Palace from on the terrace of St. Mark's Basilica

Doge's Palace on the left, view from the terrace of St. Mark's Basilica

Doge's Palace from the side, view from the terrace of St. Mark's Basilica

The Winged Lion of Venice, greeting visitors as they enter St. Mark's Square from the water

The Bridge of Sighs

The Bridge of Sighs at night

The Doge Palace at night

Here's a scene from Mission Impossible filmed in the Doge's Palace:  Dead Reckoning in the Doge's Palace