Priority Access To Doge’s Palace: Guided Walking Tour In Venice

Even though we only had 1.15hrs in the Doge's Palace, our guide Elizabeth was absolutely brilliant. She gave our party a wealth of fascinating information about the history of Venice, its politics and personalities, talked about its art history and symbolism. She managed to answer all questions put to her by the group while keeping us moving comfortably through the rooms of the Palace. I would strongly recommend a tour with her, Elizabeth us very knowledgeable and passionate about Venetian history.

Viator did not provide us with needed tickets when we were five minutes late. Refused to compromise at all even though we alerted them that we would be slightly late due to no fault of our own.

Gina was a wonderful guide through the impressive Doge’s palace. We really enjoyed the tour through the grand rooms and the Bridge of Sighs.

The tour picked a really terrible place to meet. We arrived before the group was due to depart. Because it was raining very heavily, the tour guide decided to depart early without us. We got through to the operator on the phone who said it was our fault we missed the tour and no refund will be provided. We were on time, the tour left early because of bad weather. This was part of our honeymoon trip. Terrible experience.

excellent organisation, precise instructions and very knowledgeable and informative guide. Was well worth the money paid also to help skip the busy queues!

Excellent tour guide, just long enough for a knowledgeable tour for those that get overwhelmed with too much information over a long period of time.

Guide should not wear garb that blends in with the general public. It wasn’t bad when he had on the cranberry jacket, but when he removed it, forget it, I got separated and then could see him nor hear him. Also his Italian accent was SO strong I didn’t understand him. Waste of time & money.

Great tour! Guide was very informative. Elisabetta was a great guide and brought it to life. Would recommend!

I already wrote to the local operator as your site suggests for complaints. At the kiosk after getting the ticket, I asked the guide if we were ready and she said no in a few minutes. I turned around two minutes later and she had left. I was unable to catch up with them, or find them in the venue. Subsequently, I wrote to you to let you know the equipment is at the hotel I stayed at, because the kiosk was boarded up when I returned, I have already asked for a refund to my ticket cost since the guide abandoned me, and I was unable to see the doges palace.

Our guide was very knowledgeable about the Doge’s history and the paintings. He explained how each room was used and the style of painting/artists who created the various paintings.

This was a pretty good tour of just the Doge's palace. The role of a Doge was really unique and I am not sure I would've understood the fullness of the Doge unless I had taken this trip. This was not too long so its good for all ages in my opinion. I think more history on what we were seeing would have been good rather than alot of names and dates as that is hard to digest during a tour. Its a tough balance. But all in all, a good tour. Meeting: This was probably our 7th tour booked via Viator during our vacation. Getting the app is well worth the effort since you can get directions to the meeting point via the link in the app to google maps, as several people who booked the tour showed up at the wrong place. Viator Customer Service: We had to reschedule since our train from Florence was cancelled due to a train derailment. I had to call customer service and they were great! The outcome was not as the tour operator (not Viator) would not consider a refund, but offered to reschedule but this was after we had to book a fresh tour so we really paid twice.

The lady was so knowledgeable, we learnt a great deal about Venice and Doges Palace.Worth every penny, and so good not to have to wait in the enormous queue.!

Well organised and delivered tour. Exactly what I expected. Would say read carefully tour description as some would want to go for a longer tour wiyh greater explanations and 'rooms' to see. This tour was roughly just over an hour. Place was easy to find, thanks to clear instructions. Although group initially looked as much bigger, at certain point it split into a few with different language guide. We were with Andrea, who was very knowledgeble, with good sence of humour, looked after all group so that no one got lost or left behind. Non of our group was history mad, so an hour was enough, on the other hand I felt guide was essential unless you are prepared to reed about the place before the visit. The palace is magnificent, but guide added meaning to the magnificence of the building interior and exterior. Would definitely recommend for those who is going to see the place but does not want to spend there half of the day.

Very knowledgeable and patient guide, easy to understand. Quick access avoiding queues. Good sound quality in radio speakers.

The tour group picked the WORST meeting spot for this tour. We arrived early, but there were about 1,000 other people meeting in the same spot for other tours, and our two "hosts" were more interested in looking cute, and they were not holding up their sign! So it took us a while to find them. We tried to call the number provided, and the operator was no help, and eventually hung up on us. So we just kept walking around asking each group for our tour and we eventually found them about 1 minute before they were taking off, and they were angry at us for being late!?! Our actual tour guide was knowledgeable, but he was super drab & boring. He talked in monotones the entire time, like he was reading from a book. He did not engage the group at all. He just kept droning on and on.

The Tour was great. You ideally do not need a guide as this can be more expensive. The trick is to walk along with the other guides and listen. Although there have a description in each room/area. You can also hire a audio guide which provides all the History. Make sure you take an ID to hire. A must place to visit in St Marks Square. Would certainly recommend booking online before you travel as the queues can be quite long especially if travelling during the hot summer days.

Tour was starting in time and duration was just right: not too long , nor too short. Guide told interesting details from this very beautiful house.

My family's tour of the Doge's Palace was excellent and well worth the time and money. Our tour was organized promptly, but there was a 15 minute delay getting in the building. Of course without the tour the wait would have been much longer. Our guide was pleasant and very knowledgeable. The headphones worked well. The building itself is amazing in its architecture, preservation, size and scope. You have to keep reminding yourself that this was built so many years ago with no power tools and no construction equipment. One cautionary note about the number of steps would have been appreciated. This tour is a challenge for persons who cannot climb steps. Overall, a good choice from among the many available.

At the start, you need to join a long queue (aka an 80 person bun fight) to be given a token so you can join another long queue to be given a head set. After this, you wait for the guide depending on the language of your tour. Then you are taken to the entrance of the Doge's Palace. The 'skip the line' queues were ridiculously long so we had a long wait to enter the palace. Once in, anyone with a backpack had to go and check it in.Therefore, although we'd been instructed to be at the meeting point at 10:30, we actually began our tour at 11:25! Having said that, the guide still provided us with a one hour tour, but bear this in mind if you are restricted for time. The tour is satisfactory, with interesting information provided about the history, art and interiors which was well delivered by the guide. I'm not convinced we learned much more than if we'd picked up a leaflet and wandered around on our own - but I was under the impression (maybe incorrectly?) that a tour is the only way to experience walking across the Bridge of Sighs.

<p>Very interesting introduction to Venice through a tour of the Doges Palace. If we had just walked through the palace without the narrative we would have missed so much!</p>

<p>The tour itself was fascinating and the guide was superb...the headsets need updating though as it was heard to hear at times.</p>