Tales of Museums

Unofficial visitor guide · Venice

Doge's Palace Venice: audio guide, photos, tickets

Palazzo Ducale · Google Maps

Official audio guide · English Yes · 6 languages · Included in ticket

The Doge's Palace (Palazzo Ducale) stands beside St Mark's Basilica on the Piazzetta San Marco. Its chambers housed the Great Council, the Senate and the Republic's courts, and its prisons are reached across the Bridge of Sighs. The museum's own audio guide runs on your phone in six languages and comes with the ticket. Photos for personal use are allowed if they are low resolution, taken without flash and don't involve touching the works.

Independent guide by the makers of Tales of Museums. Not affiliated with the Doge's Palace.

By Michael Mirkin, PhD · How we make our guides

Good to know before you go

Bags and security
Suitcases, trolleys and bulky bags are not allowed in. A bag counts as bulky if its three sides add up to more than 1 linear metre, including handles, wheels and outside pockets. Medium-sized bags, backpacks, umbrellas and anything else security staff judge unsuitable go in the cloakroom, which is free. palazzoducale.visitmuve.it: cloakroom and luggage · palazzoducale.visitmuve.it: services and accessibility
Official audio guide
The museum's audio guide runs on your own phone, is included in the ticket price and comes in six languages: Italian, English, French, Spanish, German and Korean. It needs 500 MB of free storage, and you activate it by scanning a QR code at the museum. Audio guide desk staff are on hand to help. palazzoducale.visitmuve.it: audio guide
Photos
You may take low-resolution photos for non-profit use, as long as you don't touch the works. Flash, video, tripods and selfie sticks are not allowed. visitmuve.it: visitor regulations (PDF, English) · palazzoducale.visitmuve.it: visitor regulations (PDF, Italian)
Wi-Fi
Bring mobile data, because visitor Wi-Fi is not one of the services the museum lists. palazzoducale.visitmuve.it: services and accessibility

Checked on 15 October 2026 from the sources linked above. Museums change their guides and rules; confirm on the official Doge's Palace website before you go.

Plan your visit

Opening hours
Open daily. From 1 April to 31 October: 09:00–19:00, last admission 18:00. From 1 November to 31 March: 09:00–18:00, last admission 17:00. Staff start closing the rooms 30 minutes before closing time. palazzoducale.visitmuve.it: visitor information
Tickets
St Mark's Square Museums ticket (also covers the Museo Correr, the National Archaeological Museum and the Monumental Rooms of the Marciana National Library): €35 full price, or €30 bought online at least 30 days ahead. Reduced €15 for children aged 6–14, students aged 15–25, visitors over 65, and Rolling Venice Card and ISIC holders. Free for children aged 0–5, Venetian citizens and residents, and disabled visitors with a helper. A ticket without a set entry time gets you into the Doge's Palace only from 12:00. palazzoducale.visitmuve.it: visitor information
Getting there
San Marco 1, 30124 Venice. The public entrance is the Porta del Frumento on the Piazzetta San Marco. By vaporetto: Line 1 to Vallaresso or San Zaccaria; Line 2 to Giardinetti; Lines 4.1 and 5.1 to San Zaccaria (from Piazzale Roma or the station); Line 5.2 to San Zaccaria (from the Lido). palazzoducale.visitmuve.it: visitor information

Tips for your visit

Checked on 15 October 2026 from the sources linked above. Museums change their guides and rules; confirm on the official Doge's Palace website before you go.

Highlights and stories

Swipe for the works and stories worth knowing before you go.

Il Paradiso (Jacopo Tintoretto and workshop, 1588–1592)

Behind the Doge's throne in the 53-metre Great Council Chamber hangs one of the longest canvas paintings in the world. Veronese, Francesco Bassano and Palma il Giovane all entered the 1582 competition for it; Tintoretto finished the job with his son Domenico, painting it in sections at the Scuola della Misericordia.

palazzoducale.visitmuve.it: Institutional Chambers, 1st floor · archivio-palazzoducale.visitmuve.it: Tintoretto's Paradiso exhibition · wikipedia.org: Il Paradiso

The Coronation of the Virgin (Guariento, 1365–1368)

This fresco once filled the Great Council wall where the Paradiso now hangs. The 1577 fire almost destroyed it, the new canvas covered it, and its remains were rediscovered beneath the Paradiso in 1903. They now fill the Guariento Room, beside one of Tintoretto's original sketches for the painting that replaced it.

palazzoducale.visitmuve.it: Institutional Chambers, 1st floor · wikipedia.org: Doge's Palace

The black shroud of Doge Marino Faliero (frieze of the Doges, Great Council Chamber)

The frieze below the ceiling portrays the first 76 doges, but one frame shows only a painted black cloth. Marino Faliero was beheaded on 17 April 1355 after a failed coup, and the Latin inscription in his place reads, in translation, 'This is the space for Marino Faliero, beheaded for his crimes'.

palazzoducale.visitmuve.it: Institutional Chambers, 1st floor · wikipedia.org: Marino Faliero · wikipedia.org: Doge's Palace

Ceiling of the Chamber of the Council of Ten (Ponchino, with Veronese and Zelotti, 16th century)

Set up to judge a conspiracy of 1310, the Council of Ten became a permanent body with powers from foreign policy to state security. Its gilded ceiling has 25 compartments, but look closely at the central oval of Jupiter hurling thunderbolts at Vice: it is a copy, because Napoleon took Veronese's original to the Louvre.

palazzoducale.visitmuve.it: Institutional Chambers, 2nd floor · wikipedia.org: Doge's Palace

The Rape of Europa (Paolo Veronese, 1570–1580)

Painted between 1570 and 1580, it reached the palace in 1713 through Giacomo Contarini's bequest, was taken by French troops after 1797 and came back in 1815. It is being restored in the Liagò Room, where visitors can watch the work, while a copy hangs in its usual place in the ambassadors' Antechamber.

palazzoducale.visitmuve.it: visitor information (works under restoration) · palazzoducale.visitmuve.it: Institutional Chambers, 2nd floor · finestresullarte.info: live restoration of The Rape of Europa (14 July 2026)

The Bridge of Sighs (Antonio Contin, 17th century)

The enclosed bridge holds two separate corridors side by side; visitors walk one of them to the New Prisons, whose cells were lined with nailed larch planks. Its name dates from the Romantic era, imagining prisoners sighing at a last glimpse of the lagoon and San Giorgio, and Lord Byron gave it its English form.

palazzoducale.visitmuve.it: Prisons · wikipedia.org: Bridge of Sighs

Mars and Neptune on the Giants' Staircase (Jacopo Sansovino, 1567)

Sansovino's colossal gods, standing for Venice's power on land and sea, guard the ceremonial staircase designed by Antonio Rizzo; each new doge was crowned between them. You face them from the loggia near the end of the visit. A six-month pilot restoration of the fragile staircase was announced in July 2026.

palazzoducale.visitmuve.it: Courtyard and Loggias · palazzoducale.visitmuve.it: Institutional Chambers, loggia floor · wikipedia.org: Doge's Palace · finestresullarte.info: Giants' Staircase pilot restoration (15 July 2026)

Adam and Eve (Antonio Rizzo, from the Foscari Arch, 1462–1471)

These are the originals of Rizzo's figures that once stood on the Foscari Arch in the courtyard, now shown with his Shield-Bearer in the Liagò Room, where nobles of the Great Council met between sessions. Rizzo later became the palace's chief architect, then fled Venice in 1498 after being found guilty of embezzlement.

palazzoducale.visitmuve.it: Institutional Chambers, 1st floor · wikipedia.org: Antonio Rizzo

Original capitals of the palace arcades (Museo dell'Opera, 14th–15th centuries)

In the 1870s restorers took 42 crumbling capitals from the façade arcades and loggia and replaced them with copies, so those 42 outside are replicas. The originals, carved with men, women, children, animals, zodiac signs, vices and virtues, now stand on their original columns across the six rooms of the museum.

palazzoducale.visitmuve.it: Museo dell'Opera · wikipedia.org: Doge's Palace

The Armoury (14th–17th centuries)

Over 2,000 pieces survive from the arsenal the Council of Ten kept ready for the palace guards. Look for the monogram CX, for Council of Ten, painted or carved on weapons and door jambs, Turkish standards and ships' lanterns taken in battle, instruments of torture, a chastity belt and small weapons that the law banned.

palazzoducale.visitmuve.it: Armoury

Hear the labels in your language

Tales of Museums reads the label in front of you aloud in your language, for any label you can photograph. The museum asks visitors to silence their phones and use them discreetly, so bring headphones and mobile data.

  1. Point at the label. Hold your iPhone steady and tap. You can also choose a photo you already took.
  2. Listen in your language. The label is translated and read aloud in a natural voice, in any of twelve languages, and each sentence lights up as it is read.
  3. Learn more. Key terms explained in plain words, and a few interesting facts with their sources.

Coming soon to the App Store for iPhone

Questions visitors ask

Is there an official audio guide in my language at the Doge's Palace?

The museum's audio guide runs on your own phone in six languages: Italian, English, French, Spanish, German and Korean. It is included in the ticket price. You activate it by scanning a QR code at the museum, and it needs 500 MB of free storage on your phone. palazzoducale.visitmuve.it: audio guide

Can I take photos inside the Doge's Palace?

Yes. Under the civic museums' visitor rules you may take low-resolution photos for non-profit use, as long as you don't touch the works. Flash, video, tripods and selfie sticks are not allowed. Professional photos or filming need a written request and payment of reproduction fees. visitmuve.it: visitor regulations (PDF, English) · palazzoducale.visitmuve.it: visitor regulations (PDF, Italian)

How do Doge's Palace tickets work and what else is included?

You get in with the St Mark's Square Museums ticket. It costs €35 full price, or €30 if you buy it online at least 30 days before your visit. The reduced ticket is €15 for children aged 6–14, students aged 15–25, visitors over 65, and holders of the Rolling Venice Card or an ISIC card. Children aged 0–5, Venetian citizens and residents, and disabled visitors with a helper go free. The same ticket also covers the Museo Correr, the National Archaeological Museum and the Monumental Rooms of the Marciana National Library. palazzoducale.visitmuve.it: visitor information

When is the Doge's Palace open?

From 1 April to 31 October it opens daily from 09:00 to 19:00, with last admission at 18:00. From 1 November to 31 March it opens from 09:00 to 18:00, with last admission at 17:00. Staff start closing the rooms 30 minutes before closing time. A St Mark's Square Museums ticket without a set entry time gets you into the palace only from 12:00. palazzoducale.visitmuve.it: visitor information

How do I get to the Doge's Palace by vaporetto?

The museum lists these stops. From Piazzale Roma or Santa Lucia station, take Line 1 to Vallaresso or San Zaccaria, Line 2 to Giardinetti, or Line 4.1 or 5.1 to San Zaccaria. From the Lido, take Line 1 to Vallaresso or San Zaccaria, or Line 5.2 to San Zaccaria. The public entrance is the Porta del Frumento on the Piazzetta San Marco. palazzoducale.visitmuve.it: visitor information

Is the Doge's Palace wheelchair accessible?

The museum says the regular visit is fully accessible. It lists a lift among its services, and the ground-floor toilets are fully accessible. The Prisons, the Armoury and the Secret Itineraries are not accessible. The Secret Itineraries rooms are linked by steep, narrow stairs. palazzoducale.visitmuve.it: services and accessibility · palazzoducale.visitmuve.it: special itineraries

Can I bring backpacks or suitcases, and is there a café?

Suitcases, trolleys and bags whose three sides add up to more than 1 linear metre are turned away, so leave them somewhere else before you come. Medium-sized bags, backpacks and umbrellas go in the free cloakroom. You may not eat or drink in the exhibition rooms. The Museum Café is on the ground floor, next to the courtyard. palazzoducale.visitmuve.it: cloakroom and luggage · palazzoducale.visitmuve.it: visitor information · visitmuve.it: visitor regulations (PDF, English)

How do I visit the Secret Itineraries and Casanova's cell?

The Pozzi cells, the Torture Chamber and the Piombi under the lead roof are only open on the guided Secret Itineraries tour. The Piombi include both reconstructed cells that held Giacomo Casanova. You must book; groups are 2 to 25 people, and tours leave at set times in Italian, English and French. The tour takes about 1 hour 15 minutes and costs €40, or €20 reduced. The ticket also lets you visit the Doge's Palace and the other St Mark's Square museums on your own. Children under 6 are not allowed. palazzoducale.visitmuve.it: special itineraries

Is the Doge's Palace good for children?

Yes: museum educators run bookable family tours in Italian, English, French and Spanish, such as 'The Lion Hunt' (1 hour 30 minutes, ages 5-10), where children search the palace for painted and carved lions, and a 2-hour crime mystery tour for ages 9-13 that reaches the Bridge of Sighs. The palace has a Baby Pit-stop room for feeding and changing, and a group of two adults with at least one child up to 16 pays the reduced price. palazzoducale.visitmuve.it: families · palazzoducale.visitmuve.it: services and accessibility · palazzoducale.visitmuve.it: visitor information (Seniors + Junior offer)

Tales of Museums is an independent app and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or connected to the Doge's Palace. Translations, narration and the extra facts use AI and can contain mistakes, so for anything important, check the museum's official information and the linked sources. Please follow the museum's photography rules.

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