Doge's Palace

Palazzo Ducale

Gilded halls, then through the Bridge of Sighs

Hours

1 Apr–31 Oct 9:00–19:00 (last entry 18:00); 1 Nov–31 Mar 9:00–18:00 (last entry 17:00)

Tickets

St Mark's Square Museums ticket €35, reduced €15; €30 online 30+ days ahead. Covers the Doge's Palace, Correr, Archaeological Museum and Marciana Library rooms. muve.vivaticket.it

Address

The pink-and-white palace to the right of the basilica, on the water; the entrance is the Porta del Frumento on the waterfront side

For close to a thousand years this was the Venetian Republic's government house and the doge's home. You walk through room after room of gilded ceilings packed with Tintoretto and Veronese, then into the Great Council Hall with one of the largest oil paintings anywhere. At the end you cross the Bridge of Sighs from the inside into the prisons, and the glimpse of canal through the stone grilles is shorter and narrower than you'd expect. The same ticket gets you into the Correr and Archaeological museums across the square, so you can give it a whole morning.