Doge's Palace Venice guided tour: Skip-the-line tickets
St. Mark's Square to the Bridge of Sighs: Doge's Palace, the Correr Museum, and a traditional gondola on the Grand Canal
A guided tour of Doge's Palace in Venice with skip-the-line entry, admission to the Correr Museum, and an optional 30-minute gondola ride along the Grand Canal. Your guide meets you at St. Mark's Square and walks you through the palace's opulent apartments, the Hall of the Great Council, and the Bridge of Sighs at a relaxed pace over roughly two hours. The gondola ride is shared with other tour participants and holds up to five guests per boat. Larger groups are split across separate gondolas. Correr Museum access is included with your ticket but can be visited at your own pace after the tour ends, except on the 2 pm departure, when the museum closes before the tour finishes.
Options for this experience
3 optionsStep-by-step itinerary
Doge's Palace tour and optional gondola
- Meet guide at St. Mark’s Square
- Learn about St. Mark’s history
- Visit Doge’s Palace with tickets
- Explore Gothic architecture and views
- Walk over Bridge of Sighs
- Hear Casanova story and New Prisons
- Visit Correr Museum at leisure
- Optional 30-minute gondola ride
- St. Mark's Square 10m
- Doge's Palace 1h 30m
- Correr Museum 10m
What’s included
- Skip-the-line entry tickets to Doge's Palace.
- admission to the Correr Museum, the National Archeological Museum, and the Biblioteca Marciana.
- a two-hour guided tour at a relaxed pace with an expert local guide.
- the Bridge of Sighs and Old Prisons.
- a 30-minute gondola ride on the Grand Canal (if your selected option includes it, shared with other tour participants).
- Every day 09:00 10:00 14:00
Information
Step into Venice’s Doge’s Palace with skip-the-line entry, walk the Bridge of Sighs, and float along the Grand Canal by gondola: all with an expert guide.
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The experience
You meet your guide at St. Mark's Square, the political and social heart of Venice, where you'll learn about the Clock Tower and the Marble Lions before heading to Doge's Palace. With pre-reserved tickets, you walk straight past the lines that form at the door and enter the Gothic palazzo that held the supreme authority of the ruling Doges. Inside, the guide shows you the opulent apartments and the Hall of the Great Council while explaining the 14th-century sculptors who shaped the palace's exterior and the wealth that built it. You cross the Bridge of Sighs and see the Old Prisons, where the guide tells the story of Casanova and his life in Venice.
Your admission ticket also grants entry to the Correr Museum, which sits on St. Mark's Square in a building originally designed as a residence for Napoleon and later the Venetian home of the King of Italy. You can explore it at your own pace after the guided portion ends, though if you book the 2 pm tour, the museum will close before you finish, so you'll use your ticket the next day instead.
If you choose the optional gondola ride, your guide leads you to a nearby pier at the end of the palace tour. You board a traditional gondola for a 30-minute journey through the Grand Canal and Venice's smaller canals, passing hidden corners and palaces. The ride is shared with other participants from your group: up to five people per gondola, with larger parties split across separate boats. Arrive 15 minutes early at St. Mark's Square. Once the tour starts, joining is not possible. Public transportation runs nearby if you need it to reach the meeting point.
Top questions
What languages is the tour guided in?
In English, at 09:00, 10:00 and 14:00. In German, at 10:00 and 14:00.
Can children come?
Yes. Ticket types: Child (under 7).
What's inside Doge's Palace that makes it worth the visit?
Doge's Palace holds the opulent apartments and the Hall of the Great Council, where the ruling Doges exercised their authority. The Gothic architecture, shaped by 14th-century sculptors, frames views across the Lagoon, and the Bridge of Sighs and Old Prisons are connected to the palace complex, with the guide explaining Casanova's imprisonment there.
Can I visit the Correr Museum on the same day as the palace tour?
Your ticket includes Correr Museum admission, and you can visit it at your own pace after the guided tour ends. The exception is the 2 pm departure: the museum closes before that tour finishes, so you'll use your ticket the following day instead.
Is the gondola ride private or shared with other people?
The gondola ride is shared with other participants from your tour group, following Venetian tradition. Each gondola holds up to five guests. If your group is larger, you'll be placed on separate gondolas, and your guide leads everyone to the pier together at the end of the palace tour.
How long does the whole experience take?
The guided tour of Doge's Palace lasts roughly two hours at a relaxed pace. If you add the optional gondola ride, that's an additional 30 minutes, bringing the total to around two and a half hours before you're free to explore the Correr Museum on your own.
What do I need to know before I arrive?
Arrive 15 minutes early at St. Mark's Square. Once the tour starts, you cannot join. Weapons and sharp objects are not permitted. Doge's Palace and other sites may close occasionally due to holy observances, high tides, or flooding. If a site closes, your guide will tour the exterior instead.
Operated by Walks In Europe. Explorevia does not run this tour: we compare it with similar options, and you book it with our booking partner.
Prices and times updated yesterday
Doge's Palace Venice guided tour: Skip-the-line tickets
2h 30m · EN · DE
from € 99 per person
≈ US$ 111 in your currency
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