Gothic masterpiece, Tintoretto's massive Paradise, and the Bridge of Sighs. Does it live up to the hype?
Plan your Italy trip →The seat of Venetian power for 700 years. The ornate council chambers (Sala del Maggior Consiglio has Tintoretto's Paradise — the largest canvas painting in the world at 22x7 meters), the Doge's private apartments, the armory, and the Bridge of Sighs connecting the palace to the prisons. The architecture alone — pink and white marble Gothic facade, golden staircases, carved ceilings — is extraordinary. €30 (includes Museo Correr).
Book this. €32. Small group, guided access to the rooms behind the rooms: the torture chamber, the pozzi (underground dungeon cells where water seeped in), the piombi (lead-roofed attic prison where Casanova was held — and escaped from), the secret council chambers where Venice's intelligence service operated. The stories the guide tells in these spaces bring 1,000 years of political intrigue alive. Book at palazzoducale.visitmuve.it.
If you're on a very tight budget and have to choose between the Doge's Palace and a day on the islands (Murano/Burano), the islands give you a different Venice experience that's harder to replicate. But if you have two days in Venice, the Doge's Palace fits naturally into a San Marco morning.
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