Find Doges Palace tickets and tours in Venice for 2026, from reserved entry to guided visits. Check which areas each option covers and whether St Mark’s Basilica is included.
A starting point if palace entry is your priority. Check the full inclusions before choosing your date.
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Compare Doge’s Palace tickets by included sights, guide format, traveller feedback and starting price. These six options appear in descending review order.
1
Most reviewed
★★★★★ 4.57 · 45,749 reviews
This reserved-entry ticket has the most reviews and lowest starting price among these six options. Consider it if price and traveller feedback lead your decision.
2
Combined sights
★★★★★ 4.04 · 4,769 reviews
This has more reviews than the other basilica combinations shown. Its title also names the Bridge of Sighs, but leaves the guide format unspecified; check before booking.
3
Guided combination
★★★★★ 4.72 · 3,926 reviews
This guided combination has the highest rating and starting price among these six options. Consider it for a palace-and-basilica tour with tickets rather than entry alone.
4
Ticket & tour options
★★★★★ 4.36 · 3,475 reviews
This starts below the guided combination above and offers ticket and tour options. Check your selected option before assuming a guide comes with the starting price.
5
Guided tour
★★★★★ 4.29 · 2,821 reviews
Choose this for a guided palace and Bridge of Sighs visit. It starts below the guided basilica combination, but its title does not include the basilica.
6
Self-guided option
★★★★★ 4.05 · 1,909 reviews
This self-guided option explicitly names prison access and skip-the-line entry. It costs more than the reserved-entry ticket above; compare included areas before choosing for those features.
Compare Doge’s Palace tickets and tours by price, traveller feedback and included sights. Some offer entry alone; others add a guide or St Mark’s Basilica.
| Option | From | Rating | Reviews | Format | Includes | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Doge’s Palace Reserved Entry TicketLowest starting price and most reviews among these six options. | €35 | 4.57 | 45,749 | Reserved entry | Reserved entry to Doge’s Palace | Visitors prioritising a lower price and the largest review sample. |
| St Mark’s Basilica, Doge’s Palace & Bridge of SighsNames all three sights; check the guide format before booking. | €42 | 4.04 | 4,769 | Combined sights | Palace, basilica and Bridge of Sighs | Travellers wanting all three named sights at a lower starting price. |
| St Mark’s Basilica & Doge’s Palace Tour with TicketHighest rating here, with a higher starting price for guided visits. | €72 | 4.72 | 3,926 | Guided combination | Guided palace and basilica visits with tickets | Visitors wanting a guide for both the palace and basilica. |
| Doge’s Palace & St Mark’s Basilica Tickets + Tour OptionsTicket and tour choices differ; confirm what your selected option includes. | €42 | 4.36 | 3,475 | Ticket / tour options | Palace and basilica tickets; tours vary by option | Travellers comparing ticket and tour formats for the same two sights. |
| Premium Doge’s Palace & Bridge of Sighs Guided TourA guided palace option priced below the guided basilica combination. | €41 | 4.29 | 2,821 | Guided tour | Guided palace and Bridge of Sighs visit | Visitors prioritising a guide for the palace and Bridge of Sighs. |
| Doge’s Palace Skip-the-Line Self Tour with PrisonsExplicitly names prison access and skip-the-line entry in a self-guided format. | €41 | 4.05 | 1,909 | Self-guided visit | Palace and prisons with skip-the-line entry | Travellers wanting a self-guided visit with prison access explicitly listed. |
Doge’s Palace options range from simple reserved-entry tickets to prison and Bridge of Sighs tours, St Mark’s Basilica combinations, audio-guided visits and longer guided experiences. Answer four questions to find the option that best matches your visit.
See the closest match based on the sights you want to visit, your preferred format, included attractions and traveller feedback.
Starting prices, schedules, languages and exact inclusions can change by date. Always check the live booking page before booking.
Before buying Doges Palace tickets, check the details behind the option you select. Access and arrival instructions matter as much as the sights named in the title.
A palace ticket does not promise every room
If you want a particular room or special route, a broad palace description is not enough. Assuming access could leave you disappointed.
Fix: look for that room or route in your selected option’s inclusions. If it is not named, confirm access before paying rather than relying on the listing’s photos.
A combined booking needs checks for the basilica too
When your visit includes St Mark’s Basilica, palace instructions alone are not enough. Overlooking the basilica’s entry conditions could disrupt that part of your booking.
Fix: check the basilica’s dress and bag requirements before setting off. Review your voucher for any separate entry instructions or appointment, rather than assuming the palace arrangements cover both sights.
Do not assume the bridge route is step-free
A listing that names the Bridge of Sighs does not establish whether its route suits your mobility needs. Confirm this before choosing it for your group.
Fix: ask whether the booked route includes stairs and whether step-free access reaches every included area. Confirm specifically how the bridge visit works and which alternative route is available, if needed.
Your guide may meet away from the palace entrance
Heading straight to the palace could put you in the wrong place for a guided tour. A landmark’s map pin is not a meeting instruction.
Fix: save the meeting address and guide’s identifying details from your voucher. Check the required arrival time, not just the tour start, and follow any ticket collection instructions.
After choosing your Doge’s Palace tickets, plan the visit itself. Find opening hours, the entrance, luggage rules and facilities, plus the limits of the accessible route.
The palace opens daily at 09:00; seasonal closing times and last admission differ.
1 April–31 October: open 09:00–19:00, with last admission at 18:00.
1 November–31 March: open 09:00–18:00, with last admission at 17:00.
From 1 May–26 September 2026, Friday and Saturday opening extends to 23:00. Last admission on those evenings is 22:00.
Closing procedures begin 30 minutes before closing. Do not treat the final admission time as enough time for a full visit.
Allow roughly 2–3 hours for an independent visit, longer if you add a special guided itinerary.
2–3 hours is planning guidance, not a fixed visit length or time limit.
The route moves between floors, through the state rooms and onward to the Bridge of Sighs and New Prisons.
Secret Itineraries and Hidden Treasures each last approximately 1 hour 15 minutes. That excludes the independent museum visit afterwards.
Leave room between the palace and your next booked attraction. A late arrival leaves less time before rooms begin closing.
The standard ticket covers the palace and three other St. Mark’s Square museums, but not the basilica.
The St. Mark’s Square Museums Ticket includes Doge’s Palace, Museo Correr, the National Archaeological Museum and Marciana Library’s Monumental Rooms.
The normal palace route crosses the Bridge of Sighs into the New Prisons. This crossing needs no separate bridge ticket.
St. Mark’s Basilica is a separate attraction and is not included in this standard museum ticket.
The other included museums give you options for the surrounding day without buying another standard museum ticket.
Enter through Porta del Frumento on Piazzetta San Marco, not through the basilica entrance.
The palace address is San Marco 1, 30124 Venezia. For the doorway itself, look for Porta del Frumento.
This entrance leads into the courtyard. The palace and neighbouring basilica do not share an entrance.
Nearby waterbus landings include San Zaccaria, San Marco Vallaresso and San Marco Giardinetti.
These are different landing areas, not interchangeable names for one stop. Choose the landing served by your boat rather than searching only for “San Marco”.
Untimed St. Mark’s Square Museums tickets allow entry from 12:00; leaving ends your palace visit.
A St. Mark’s Square Museums Ticket without an entry time admits you from 12:00 onwards, not from opening.
If your ticket specifies an entry slot, use that time rather than applying the untimed-ticket rule.
Admission is single-entry. You cannot leave for lunch and return to the palace using the same ticket.
Keep your ticket throughout the visit. Staff may ask to inspect it along the route.
Suitcases and trolleys are prohibited; smaller bulky bags may need to go into the free cloakroom.
Store suitcases and trolleys elsewhere before arrival. The palace cloakroom is not an alternative for prohibited luggage.
Luggage is also prohibited when its combined length, width and height exceed 1 metre. Handles, wheels and pockets count.
Security may require smaller bulky bags, backpacks and umbrellas to be deposited in the free cloakroom.
Bags and backpacks may be inspected at the entrance. Reserved entry does not remove that possibility.
There are visitor toilets, a Baby Pit-stop and a ground-floor café beside the courtyard.
The Museum Café is on the ground floor beside the courtyard, giving you a refreshment stop without leaving the museum.
Food and drink may be consumed only in designated areas, not in exhibition spaces.
Visitor toilets are available, including accessible ground-floor toilets.
The Baby Pit-stop provides space for breastfeeding, changing and resting.
An accessible regular route and lift service are available, but the Prisons, Armoury and Secret Itineraries are not accessible.
The regular palace visit has an accessible route and lift service. This does not cover every area on the standard itinerary.
The Prisons, Armoury and Secret Itineraries are excluded from accessible access.
Secret Itineraries and Hidden Treasures involve narrow spaces and steep stairs. Both are unsuitable for visitors with mobility difficulties or pregnancy.
These special tours are also not recommended for people with claustrophobia, vertigo or cardio-respiratory conditions.
The included audioguide runs on your smartphone and activates through a museum QR code.
The MUVE APP audioguide is included with admission. You use your own smartphone rather than a supplied handset.
Activate it using the QR code at the museum.
Available languages are Italian, English, French, Spanish, German and Korean.
Bring compatible headphones and a charged phone if you plan to use it throughout the visit.
Personal photography is permitted, but flash, tripods and selfie sticks are prohibited.
The permission covers low-resolution, non-profit photography. Do not touch artworks while taking pictures.
Leave tripods and selfie sticks out of your palace photography plans, and turn off your camera’s flash.
Professional photographic services and film or television recording require prior authorization and reproduction-rights arrangements.
Keep phones silent and use them discreetly around other visitors.
Doge’s Palace makes more sense as a seat of government than as a lavish home. Its rooms connect political debate, ceremony and justice. Look beyond the decoration to ask who held power, who shared it and how Venice presented itself.
The palace tells you not just who governed Venice, but how Venice wanted its government to be seen.
The doge was Venice’s elected leader, not a hereditary monarch. He governed within a system of councils, rather than ruling alone.
The Great Council Chamber shifts attention from one ruler to Venice’s governing nobility. Its scale helps explain why this palace contains large meeting halls, not simply grand living rooms.
Outside, notice the broad patterned wall above the open arches. The heavy-looking upper storey rests over visually lighter columns and stone tracery: the carved patterns between the arches.
This contrast gives the Venetian Gothic façade its distinctive balance. Follow it from the lower arcade to the upper openings, then the pink-and-white wall. The effect depends as much on empty space as on stone.
In the state rooms, paintings do more than decorate walls and ceilings. Religious imagery, figures representing virtues and scenes of Venetian history place government within a larger moral story.
Look for relationships between figures: who kneels, who presides and who receives honour. These arrangements express rank and authority. Read them as Venice’s public image, not a neutral account of its past.
Start by asking what happened in each room. Then look at how its size, paintings and arrangement support that purpose. The palace becomes easier to understand when beauty and authority are read together.
No. The standard St. Mark’s Square Museums ticket includes Doge’s Palace, Museo Correr, the National Archaeological Museum and the Monumental Rooms of the Marciana Library, but not St. Mark’s Basilica.
If you want both the palace and basilica, choose a combination tour or buy the basilica ticket separately. Check whether entry, a guide and any special areas are included in your selected option.
Yes. The regular visitor route leads through the Bridge of Sighs into the New Prisons, so you do not need a separate Bridge of Sighs ticket for that route.
The Secret Itineraries tour is different: it enters special historic prison and government areas not covered by the regular route.
Regular entry covers the palace’s main visitor route, including its grand rooms, artwork, Armoury and New Prisons. Secret Itineraries is a guided, reservation-only tour through additional restricted rooms and historic prison spaces.
The Secret Itineraries visit lasts about 1 hour 15 minutes. Its ticket also includes independent access to the main palace route and the other St. Mark’s Square museums listed by the operator.
Children under six are not admitted to Secret Itineraries. The special route includes narrow staircases, small rooms and enclosed spaces, which may be uncomfortable for some visitors.
For younger children or families who prefer a flexible visit, choose the regular palace route. Check the latest age rules when selecting any specialist tour.
The official standard St. Mark’s Square Museums ticket is listed at €35 for a full-price adult ticket. A €30 advance online fare is advertised when purchased at least 30 days before the visit; the standard reduced ticket is €15.
Official Secret Itineraries and Hidden Treasures tickets are listed at €40 full price or €20 reduced. Reseller tickets and guided combinations can cost more, so compare the exact inclusions before paying.
It depends on the ticket. The palace states that St. Mark’s Square Museums tickets without a specific entry slot allow entry from 12:00 onwards, not necessarily from opening time.
If your voucher shows a timed entry or guided tour departure, follow that time. Booking ahead is especially useful when you want a particular language or special itinerary.
The official palace warns that visitors more than 15 minutes late for their guided tour departure will be excluded from that tour.
Aim to reach your exact meeting point before the listed check-in time. Third-party tours may have stricter rules, so use your own booking confirmation rather than the general palace entrance as your only guide.
The official public entrance is Porta del Frumento on Piazzetta San Marco, beside St. Mark’s Square. The street address is San Marco 1, Venice.
Guided tours may meet at a separate location outside the palace. Always check the precise meeting point on your voucher before joining an entrance queue.
You can take ACTV vaporetto line 1 towards the San Marco area and get off at Vallaresso or San Zaccaria, depending on the service. The palace also lists line 2 to Giardinetti and lines 4.1 or 5.1 to San Zaccaria.
From the waterbus stop, walk toward Piazzetta San Marco and Porta del Frumento. Allow extra travel time for boat queues and crowded walkways.
A practical allowance for the main palace route is about 2–3 hours, depending on your interest in the artwork, grand chambers and prisons. This is planning advice, not a required visit duration.
If you book Secret Itineraries, add its approximately 75-minute guided portion and time to explore the regular museum route afterwards. Avoid scheduling your next timed attraction too closely.
Suitcases, trolleys and bulky luggage with combined dimensions exceeding one metre are not permitted in museum areas. The palace asks visitors to store such items elsewhere before arriving.
Smaller bags or backpacks may need to be left in the free cloakroom if security staff require it. Travel light to make entry easier.
The official museum says its regular visit is accessible and provides a lift and accessible ground-floor toilets. However, the Armoury, prisons and Secret Itineraries are not accessible.
If stairs are a concern, plan around the accessible main areas rather than assuming the full prison and Bridge of Sighs route is step-free. Contact the palace before booking a guided visit with specific access needs.
On the official standard museum ticket, children aged 0–5 qualify for free admission. Children aged 6–14 are in the reduced-price category, along with other eligible visitors.
Bring age or eligibility proof where required. Special tours can have different age rules, and a third-party guided experience may charge separately for the guide.
The official standard schedule is 9:00 AM–7:00 PM from April through October, with last admission at 6:00 PM. From November through March, it is 9:00 AM–6:00 PM, with last admission at 5:00 PM.
Special evening openings can change the schedule. The museum begins closing procedures 30 minutes before closing, so arriving at last entry does not leave enough time for a complete visit.
Choose a guide if you want help understanding Venice’s government, the Council chambers, historical paintings and the prison system. A guided visit can make the political history easier to follow in limited time.
Choose independent entry if you prefer moving at your own pace. The official museum ticket includes the MUVE app audioguide, which offers another way to learn without joining a group.
