Doge's Palace

Several of our group went in at around 4pm, after we had come back from the tour out to Burano, and we spent the next two hours there. There was almost no line up at that time, and not much of a crowd inside. It's a stunning building, and you could spend more time staring in awe at all the painted ceilings, and paintings on the walls etc. But two hours was good.

The line that you see outside the Doge Palace is actually the line to buy tickets. Once you have a ticket, there is no line to get in.

So maybe a solution for you is to buy tickets when there is no line, even if you don't want to enter at that time.

In my experience, the longest I have waited there is maybe ten minutes. Not too bad, and while you are waiting, you can spend time interpreting the capitals on the columns.

You would need to allow two hours plus, to do the Palace justice.

We bought our ticket for the Doge's Palace at the Correr Museum across St. Mark's Square. It is mentioned in the Doge's Palace section of RS Italy book. There was no line at all. You then can walk right into the palace.

Follow Yosemite's instructions, and you will also avoid paying the premium for "skip the line" tickets.

I had not realised that you can buy Doge tickets at the Correr.

Ditto on yosemite1. My wife and I did the same thing when we wanted to visit the Doge's Palace. Also give yourself some extra time as the Correr Museum was interesting.

I suggest setting aside three hours to be safe. If it still works the same way as it did in 2011 and 2007 your ticket will also get you into the Correr Museum, which is very worthwhile. I have been to Venice three times and have not been able to resist repeat visits to the Doge's Palace.

You ask how much time is needed to do the tour? Do you mean to walk around yourself or do one of the guided tours eg. Secret Itineraries tour? If you intend to do a guided tour then you need to book online in advance. Go to the official Palazzo Ducale website and follow the instructions.

Bridget, my family had the same circumstance with our visit to Venice last year as part of an RS Tour. During a 'free time' afternoon, we pre-booked a Walks of Italy tour, specifically their "Legendary Venice Tour" which encompasses the Doge's Palace and St. Mark's Basilica. It's three-hour duration, starting at 2:00p, fit perfectly between the RS Tour's morning activities and evening's dinner/gondola fun. The Guide was fantastic, extremely knowledgable and able to provide a local's perspective along with historical context. This also enabled us to get the most out of seeing these sites; both in terms of maximizing time (no lines, leveraging her experience to efficiently navigate the crowds) and by understanding/appreciating WHAT we were seeing. Highly recommend this venue.