Doge's Palace visit

[Member]

We'll be in Venice for a couple of hours before embark the cruise ship. The secret itinerary Doge's Palace and/or other guided tours may take a bit too long this time. Is it possible to just show up to go inside the Doge's Palace to check-out the courtyard and main rooms? What is the entrance fee?

[mahdnc]

I am looking at my ticket and we paid 16 Euros per person for the Secret Itinerary tour which includes admission to Palazzo Ducale so that should give you an idea of what an admission ticket itself will cost. But yes, you can simply pay for an admission ticket and tour this huge palace. You will want to reserve a ticket just so that you are not wasting any precious time in line.

 

But if you only have a couple of hours in Venice, it may not make sense to squeeze in a visit since there is so much to see just at San Marco Piazza itself and the surrounding area.

[Member]

This is our fourth Venice visit and the first to the inside of Doge's Palace. Just hope to spend an hour or so to it this time.

[Bababooey Land]

yes..you can just show up, get a ticket and walk around. you need at least an hour to see the entire Palace.

 

The secret itinerary tour is great however. you need about 2 - 2 1/2 hours for the secret tour + walking around the ENTIRE palace. So it really depends on how much time you have there.

 

Larry

[MBZ Girl]

Is there a best time to do the Secret tour vs other times, we plan on 2 pre-cruise days in VCE and then after boarding, we also overnight there, so we will have plenty of time. How early can you reserve tix online?

[mahdnc]

There is a Secret Itineraries Tour that is given in English. For us, our English tour time last month was 11:35am.

 

We had 3 pre-cruise nights before we boarded Millennium. We took the tour on our 1st full day in Venice (Jun 16) as our hotel, Residence Corte Grimani, was only 10 minutes away from St Mark's Square and we were eager to visit St. Mark's early in our touring itinerary. We had our hotel make the reservation for us on Apr 3. So you can reserve at least 2+ months in advance.

[MBZ Girl]

Thanks David, appreciate the info. We're staying at Locanda Orseolo which is very close to St. Marks too. Our ship overnights in VCE so I am thinking Friday might be a good morning to do this tour. I believe Thur afternoon will be too tiring for us after flying all night Wed. St we board and then can still be put & about & part of Suin as well.

Did you visit Murano? If so, how long does that trip take?

[mahdnc]

Lynn,

 

Our hotel, Residence Corte Grimani, is at the same canal intersection where Locanda Orseolo is at. They are nearly next to one another. Interesting coincidence that the #1 B&B and the #1 hotel in Venice on TripAdvisor's popularity index are that close to each other. We had people that we met on our Millennium cruise roll call that stayed at Locanda Orseolo (we ended up sharing a water taxi to the pier together). I had stopped by the lobby on a two occasions to meet them and it seemed like a nice place. Staff seemed very friendly and helpful. I am sure it will be one of the highlights of your trip.

 

I would definitely recommend that you take advantage of Locanda Orseolo's legendary service and ask them to make the Secret Itineraries Tour reservation for you. They will email you your reservation number and then you just purchase your tickets at the window at the Doge's Palace.

 

We did visit Murano. We did it about as inefficiently as one can do it--fed the pigeons at St Marks, unsynchronized kidney breaks, unsynchronized drink breaks, unsynchronized hunger pains, and we took the vaporetto in the slower clockwise direction (although that allowed us to get our 1st glimpse of Millennium at the pier). By the time we got to Murano, the furnaces had closed for lunch. I think we left the hotel at 9am and did not get back until close to 4pm.

 

In retrospect my wife thinks that we should have just relented and taken one of the free trips to Murano that are offered by people wandering around in St Mark's. The transportation will be fast and you don't have to hunt around for a furnace. You would just have to endure a strong sales pitch which is what I wanted to avoid. You then can take the Vaporetto back to St Mark's since I don't think free transportation is extended for the trip back (unless perhaps you buy a ton of stuff). I admit that it would have been more efficient time-wise.

 

David

[MBZ Girl]

Good to know about asking orseolo to make the reservations for us, thanks!

We're not into sales pitches at all---time shares in Mexico drive us nuts!!!! We were thinking a nice boat ride to/from Murano would show us a lot as well as a nice visit, we're early risers, so I guess we could do it that way. It's just DH & me no kids AND the fact it will be in November, hopefully not too many people!!!:D

[Nanatravel]

Lynn, the staff at Locanda Orseolo will also make arrangements for a Private water taxi for free, to take you to Murano Island for a glass factory tour. Take advantage of it. There was no high sales pitch at all. The store exhibit area was beautiful albeit expensive. I wanted to buy an anniversary gift for friends. I spotted a Red Heart shaped vase about the size of a 5x7 box. It was $180 euros. To rich for my blood. I was fortunate and found something similar in another shop for $60E

 

The Secret Itinerary tour at the Doge Palace only is offered in English in the morning and on certain days. We too went at 11:35 a.m. If you are going in the warmer season, keep in mind it gets very hot in there, as it close and often the rooms are inclosed. I was totally worn out after the tour and had to return to the Locanda for a nap!

 

Also ask the staff to make dinner reservations for you. They know some quaint local restaurants. Average dinner with wine was $100E easy.

 

Bon Voyage

Nanatravel

[MBZ Girl]

Thanks Nana! We will be there in November, so not hot I am sure! I will definitely have the Locanda book our reservations for the taxi, dinner and the Doge's tour.

[Member]

Is it possible to pre-book the Doge's Palace regular visit (not the secret itinerary) to avoid being turned-down at the Doge's Palace ticket stand that day?

[About Time]

What is a website that can be used to book either the Secret Itinerary tour or the regular tour of Deges Palace?

[Member]

Try http://www.museiciviciveneziani.it/main.asp?lin=EN for the said Secret Itinerary tour. But I don't seem to find just the regular entrance booking.

[mahdnc]

This is the website that some of us on our roll call used to book the Secret Itinerary Tour:

 

http://www.teleart.org/itinerarisegreti/month.php?cal=english2006&getdate=20070801

 

The site is in Italian and English. The night that I tried to book, I could not get it to accept my credit card number so I gave up and contacted my hotel to make the reservation for me. Apparently you can only book two calendar months out (July and August are right now available).

 

It is not obvious to me from the site how to navigate to getting just plain admission tickets......

[SimonaD]

I booked the Secret Itineraries tour via www.tickitaly.com. I recall seeing lots of other tours on there as well. We did not get a first choice of our dates when I was booking for August 31 about 3 weeks ago, it was sold out, so make sure you do it far enough in advance.

[bdwyer]

We were very disappointed in this tour, in fact left half way through. Perhaps because it was so hot and we had a horrible guide, but we would have preferred to just rent the audio tour and walk through the lovely main rooms as we did for the last hour we had there.

[kenito799]

I loved the secret itinerary tour but I agree that it would not be pleasant if it is very hot. Venice is much better before May and after September. If possible try to stroll around at night when it is cool, get a Campari spritz at Al Marca (just across the Rialto Bridge, look for a crowd of fashionable Italians standing around drinking and talking in a deserted courtyard)...walk over to the Grand Canal and sit on the steps...wonderful...that's my secret itinerary...