Doge’s Palace Tour: Secret Itineraries and Dark Secrets

Uncover the hidden secrets of Venice on a VIP Doge’s Palace tour. Explore secret archives, torture chambers, and top-security prison cells with an expert guide.

Duration: 2 hours, 30 minutes
Cancellation: 24 hours
Highlights
  • Doge’s Palace - With your guide, a Venetian art expert and historian, enjoy skip-the-line access to the Doge’s Palace and make a beeline for backstage. After a guard opens a special door, enter the hidden side of the palace to see the prison cell where Casanova was held, hear the unlikely tale of his escape, and visit the archives to learn how secrets were kept. See hidden council rooms to learn of the system of checks and balances that made Venice the world’s oldest republic and enter the best general access areas such as huge audience rooms, ballrooms with incredible paintings by Veronese and Tintoretto, and the private apartments of the Duke of Venice. You even cross the famed Bridge of Sighs to see the New Prisons on this small-group tour.
What's Included
  • Small groups ensure a more personal experience
  • Guidance from an expert tour guide
  • Exclusive access to the Doge’s Palace Secret Itineraries
  • All tickets and reservation fees included
  • Headsets provided for better hearing
What's Not Included
  • Gratuities
  • Hotel Pick-Up/Drop-Off
Additional Information

A visit to Venice wouldn’t be the same without delving into its long and fascinating history as the world’s oldest republic. We take you beyond the traditional route, going behind the scenes of the Doge’s Palace to explore the secret archives, offices, torture chambers, and the palace attic, home to top-security prison cells, including that of the famed Casanova!

Gain exclusive VIP Access to the secret itineraries of the Doge’s Palace, a hidden labyrinth of secret archives, offices, torture chambers and top-security prison cells.

The only tour in Venice that visits all these sites and explores the backstage of the Doge’s Palace with a small group.

Your expert guide reveals Venice’s dark secrets, fascinating stories, and entertaining anecdotes.

  • Due to Doge’s Palace regulations, children under the age of 6 are not permitted inside the secret itineraries and therefore cannot take this tour.
  • The prisons and secret itineraries are not wheelchair-accessible, nor is the route suitable for those with walking disabilities or for pregnant women.
  • Tour not suitable for people that are claustrophobic.
  • Walks / Devour complies with all local government regulations. Please refer to local government guidelines for the most up-to-date information.
  • If the local municipality restricts access due to high tide and there are no walkways available, it is the client’s responsibility to bring appropriate footwear (e.g., boots). The guide will modify the itinerary to include alternate dry paths whenever possible.
  • No refund will be provided if high tide prevents certain parts of the tour, but adjustments to the route will be made for client safety and comfort.
  • If access is restricted due to private events inside St. Mark’s Basilica and/or Doge’s Palace, we cannot be held responsible. This is a situation beyond our control. No refund will be issued.
Location
Museo Correr
Piazza San Marco
Please note we meet in front of the entrance of Museo Correr, which is at the opposite side of the St. Mark's Basilica in St. Mark's square. The group will meet just outside the entrance of the Correr Museum in Piazza San Marco. Your guide will be holding a Walks sign.
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
4.6
(177 Ratings)
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Iowacityia
Oct 3, 2024
Wednesday, September 4th, 1pm tour. - We booked our tour online, and printed out our entrance tickets. Upon arrival to the area, we were told where to go to get into the palace for this tour. Inside you find the area to wait for the tour guide. Our tour guide was Lucia. She was great! I don’t recall how long the guided tour was, but it was a lot of fun, and enough info to keep people interested. It was well worth the time and money. And then after the guided tour you are free to visit the rest of the palace at your leisure. It was fun. I would do it again.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Navigate45029841033
Oct 2, 2024
Virginia is an amazing tour guide! - Virginia was the best tour guide because her knowledge was vast, she was very personable and she spoke great English. She was very accepting of the many questions me and several others asked her.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
487kevinc
Sep 27, 2024
A Hidden Gem - The tour was fabulous. Roberta was so kind and knowledgeable. The secret passages was extraordinary. The Doge Palace was much more interesting with Roberta. The only suggestion I have is for the ticket page or reservation sheet. It needs to include Museo Correr as the meeting site. The address given was very hard to find.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Todd_l
Sep 26, 2024
Lots of behind the scenes info - Alessandro’s depth of knowledge made for a fascinating tour. Highly recommended! Great way to learn about historical Venice and see where things happened.
Review provided by Viator
Manuela_v
Sep 8, 2024
History brought to life by our tour guide Roberta - Our tour guide Roberta was phenomenal! She has an amazing way to talk all things history in an intriguing way and could answer all additional questions easily. It was a pleasure to follow her everywhere as she was super friendly with everyone we had contact with.
Review provided by Viator
Gaspar_z
Sep 5, 2024
Great visit to the Doges Palace - Our guide took the time to share a lot of background and historical details of Venice during the tour. She was very knowledgeable and engaging. The tour was excellent!
Review provided by Viator
Lilybeth_m
Aug 12, 2024
Great tour - Our guide was very good-entertaining, friendly, high energy got us through the tour on an extremely hot day quickly and with great consideration for our comfort. The sites were very interesting and fascinating.
Review provided by Viator
867alexak
Jul 22, 2024
Lovely tour for group of 15 with Alessandro - We took this tour with our family of 15, and Alessandro was a lovely tour guide. He was super knowledgeable and passionate and made our tour so much fun. We are a group that ranges in age from 15 - 98, and he was incredibly accommodating. We highly recommend this enjoyable, informative tour, and hopefully, you'll get Alessandro. Thanks, Alessandro!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Lynn2275
Jul 31, 2024
Very Informative - Very informative guide and there were only 10 people on our tour which was nice. It was very interesting but I felt a bit too long. It lasted 2 1/2 hours which would have been more enjoyable except for the heat. Recommend you go as early as possible and take a bottle of water. Give yourself plenty of time to find the meeting location. You need to be in the big square of St Marks and not the small square which is where you end up if you walk in from the water bus. Also, there are multiple museums and it took some time to find the meeting point. The “Walks” tour guide is holding a green sign.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Angela_c
Sep 11, 2024
I never got to take the tour and lost over $200 - The night before the tour Venice was experiencing extreme weather, so all the flights were being cancelled or delayed for over 5 hours. I reached out to Viator to request if they could reschedule my tour, or alternatively refund or convert the value to an account credit. Despite providing all the flight info, so that they could verify that it was an event completely outside of my control, they refused to help me in any way so I never got to take the tour and lost over $200.
Review provided by Viator
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October 2024
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