Rick Steves - Rick Steves Tour: Doges Palace, Venice

Rick Steves Walks and Tours eBooks are straightforward, self-guided walking tours throughsome of Europes most popular destinations, designed for easy reference on your mobile deviceor eReader. Tours and Walks are available for must-see locations throughout London, Paris,Rome, Florence, Venice, Amsterdam, Budapest, Vienna, Athens, and Istanbul.

Rick Steves Tour: British Library, London

Rick Steves Tour: British Museum, London

Rick Steves Tour: National Gallery, London

Rick Steves Tour: National Portrait Gallery, London

Rick Steves Tour: St. Pauls Cathedral, London

Rick Steves Tour: Tate Britain, London

Rick Steves Tour: Tate Modern, London

Rick Steves Tour: Tower of London

Rick Steves Tour: Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Rick Steves Tour: Westminster Abbey, London

Rick Steves Walk: Bankside, London

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Rick Steves Tour: Carnavalet Museum, Paris

Rick Steves Tour: Eiffel Tower, Paris

Rick Steves Tour: Louvre Museum, Paris

Rick Steves Tour: Orsay Museum, Paris

Rick Steves Tour: Pere Lachaise Cemetery, Paris

Rick Steves Tour: Pompidou Center, Paris

Rick Steves Tour: Versailles

Rick Steves Walk: Champs-Elyses, Paris

Rick Steves Walk: Historic Paris

Rick Steves Walk: Left Bank, Paris

Rick Steves Walk: Marais District, Paris

Rick Steves Walk: Montmartre, Paris

Rick Steves Tour: Appian Way, Rome

Rick Steves Tour: Borghese Gallery, Rome

Rick Steves Tour: National Museum of Rome

Rick Steves Tour: Palatine Hill, Rome

Rick Steves Tour: Pantheon, Rome

Rick Steves Tour: Pilgrims Rome

Rick Steves Tour: Roman Colosseum

Rick Steves Tour: Roman Forum

Rick Steves Tour: St. Peters Basilica, Rome

Rick Steves Tour: Vatican Museum, Rome

Rick Steves Walk: Heart of Rome

Rick Steves Walk: Trastavere, Rome

Rick Steves Tour: Accademia, Venice

Rick Steves Tour: Ca Rezzonico, Venice

Rick Steves Tour: Correr Museum, Venice

Rick Steves Tour: Doges Palace, Venice

Rick Steves Tour: Frari Church, Venice

Rick Steves Tour: Grand Canal Cruise, Venice

Rick Steves Tour: Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice

Rick Steves Tour: St. Marks Basilica, Venice

Rick Steves Tour: St. Marks Square, Venice

Rick Steves Tour: Venices Lagoon

Rick Steves Walk: Three Walks in Venice

Rick Steves Tour: Accademia, Florence

Rick Steves Tour: Bargello Museum, Florence

Rick Steves Tour: Duomo Museum, Florence

Rick Steves Tour: Medici Chapels, Florence

Rick Steves Tour: Museum of San Marco, Florence

Rick Steves Tour: Pitti Palace, Florence

Rick Steves Tour: Uffizi Gallery, Florence

Rick Steves Walk: Renaissance Florence

Rick Steves Tour: Anne Frank House, Amsterdam

Rick Steves Tour: Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Rick Steves Tour: Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam

Rick Steves Walk: Amsterdam City Center

Rick Steves Walk: Jordaan District, Amsterdam

Rick Steves Walk: Red Light District, Amsterdam

Rick Steves Tour: Hofburg Imperial Apartments, Vienna

Rick Steves Tour: Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

Rick Steves Tour: Ringstrasse Tram, Vienna

Rick Steves Tour: St. Stephens Cathedral, Vienna

Rick Steves Walk: Vienna City Center

Rick Steves Tour: House of Terror, Budapest

Rick Steves Tour: Thermal Baths, Budapest

Rick Steves Walk: Castle Hill, Budapest

Rick Steves Walk: Leopold Town, Budapest

Rick Steves Walk: The Castle Quarter, Prague

Rick Steves Tour: Athens Acropolis

Rick Steves Tour: Ancient Agora, Athens

Rick Steves Tour: Acropolis Museum & National Archaeological Museum, Athens

Rick Steves Walk: Athens City Center

Rick Steves Tour: Bosphorus Cruise, Istanbul

Rick Steves Tour: Chora Church, Istanbul

Rick Steves Tour: Grand Bazaar, Istanbul

Rick Steves Tour: Hagia Sophia, Istanbul

Rick Steves Tour: Istanbul Archaeological Museum

Rick Steves Tour: Topkapi Palace, Istanbul

Rick Steves Tour: Turkish and Islamic Arts Museum, Istanbul

Rick Steves Walk: Historic Core of Istanbul

Rick Steves Walk: Istanbul City Walls & Neighborhoods

Rick Steves Walk: Istanbul New District

Rick Steves Walk: Istanbul Old Town Backstreets

Palazzo Ducale

Venice is a city of beautiful facadespalaces, churches, carnival masksthat can cover darker interiors of intrigue and decay. The Doges Palace, with its frilly pink exterior, hides the fact that the Most Serene Republic (as Venice called itselfserene meaning stable) was far from serene in its heyday.

The Doges Palace housed the fascinating government of this rich and powerful empire. It also served as the home for the Venetian ruler known as the doge (pronounced dohzh), or duke. For four centuries (about 1150-1550), this was the most powerful half-acre in Europe. The rest of Europe marveled at the way Venice could govern itself without a dominant king, bishop, or tyrant. The doges wanted their palace to reflect the wealth and secular values of the Republic, impressing visitors and serving as a reminder that the Venetians were Number One in Europe.

(See map)

Cost: 14 combo-ticket (13 Nov-March) includes the Correr Museum; from April through October, the combo-ticket includes your choice of a third city-run museum. The palace is also covered by the Museum Pass (18).

Hours: Daily April-Oct 8:30-18:30, Nov-March 8:00-17:30, last entry one hour before closing.

Crowd Control: To avoid the long peak-season line at the Doges Palace, you have several options (the first is best).

Buy your combo-ticket at the Correr Museum or at one of the less-crowded, included city-run museums. Then go straight to the Doges Palace turnstile, skirting along to the right of the long ticket-buying line and entering at the prepaid tickets entrance.

Buy your ticket onlineat least 48 hours in advanceon the museum website ( www.museiciviciveneziani.it ).

In peak season, visit the palace at about 17:00, when the line diminishes (but note that this doesnt work from November through March, when the museum closes at 17:30 rather than 18:30).