Secrets Of The Doge's Palace: Venice Guided Tour

While the facility was magnificent and well worth the time, it is not a guided tour as advertised. We met a wonderful person at the specified location and she handed us tickets and told us how to download an audio app. That was apparently the “guided tour.” Each room had a QR code on a poster so you could download the audio describing each room for free. Also we are senior citizens, so the rate per ticket would be 15 euro or less than 20 dollars. Viator cost was 70 dollars. BTW, we assumed that there was a gondola ride involved. There was none. Not sure why that was mentioned in the title of the tour.

Our guide Giovanni was not very good. He got sidetracked at times, talking about irrelevant things like talking with a friend about Pirates of the Caribbean. Worse, he skipped entire rooms and didn't even mention them as we walked through or past them. He rushed through the very end because her realized he was running out of time. We actually went back inside on our own to go see the areas we missed.

Do not book! Booked a tour of the palace and gondola ride. The tour was great. There was no gondola ride. Tour guide had no idea what I was talking about. Another couple had booked something that included glass blowing and guide did not know about this either. I contacted the company rep. They tried to say that it did not include a gondola ride. I sent them the ticket from viator that stated it did. They did not accept responsibility and told me to take it up with Viator. Very expensive for the one hour tour alone (booking quoted 2-3 hours). There were much cheaper options that I would have booked, but considering it included the gondola, made sense at the time.

This is an excellent tour. Our guide was patient and humorous, and most importantly, very knowledgeable. Both the historical & the artistic elements of the sites are amazing (not that they're really separable). Highly recommended.

Amazing experience! The guided tour of the Doge’s Palace was really interesting, and walking through the prisons and the Bridge of Sighs made it even more special. The gondola ride at the end was the perfect Venetian touch. Highly recommended!

Beautiful experience. Highly recommend it

Pur tour guide Elisa was super nice! I really enjoy the Doge's Palace and the Prison. For the góndola had the afternoon sundown, was so lovely

Terrible, terrible experience. We were supposed to have a 9 AM tour including a local guide, a visit to doges palace, and a shared gondola ride. My travel agent purchased the tickets over a month ago and tried to get the tickets through WhatsApp previously, with no response. Less than 24 hours prior to the start of the tour, I got a message that due to the Basilica issues, our tour was moved to noon. We could not make the new time due to leaving the city. I called the company and they told me they would give me the noon tickets and the palace would still allow us in. They also informed me that we would not have a guide. But they also told me that there was NO Gondola ride. That Viator was mistaken with their website and it was not included. We intentionally booked this one with a gondola ride included. They told me I could contact Viator if I wanted a refund. Viator reached out and said the tour operator refused a refund because the tour at 9 AM was still happening. We showed up at 8:45- there was no tour guide, but luckily Doge’s Palace let us in with the noon tickets. Unfortunately I had to pay more money for the gondola ride included. Doge’s Palace was amazing, but the experience to get in was awful. I do not recommend this tour.

A very comprehensive tour to get to know the essentials of Venice. The guide provides a lot of historical context. Highly recommended for those visiting Venice for the first time.