Doge's palace, Venice

There is a "secret itineraries" tour which takes you to the cell where Casanova was held, and several other rooms on the top floors that you can't get to without taking this tour. I found the tour worthwhile and interesting. When you are done with the tour you are free to roam the rest of the palace.

This company does the tour you are referring to http://www.tours-italy.com. They call it the Doges Palace & the Secret Itinerary Tour. Check out their wesite.

http://www.museiciviciveneziani.it/frame.asp?area=info&musid=8&parte=biglietti&sezione=musei

the above link is from the official Doge's Palace page. you can book a tour on-line directly through the palace without paying a fee to a tour company

Yes, you can either book it online or call them directly to book which is what I did. They are extremely proficient in English and were very nice to deal with. No problem whatsoever. Definitely don't pay a tour company to do the exact same thing you can do.

Thank you all-m I shall try to book on line immediately. George, Pittsburgh

hmmm . . . the tours-italy site only offers secret tours on Saturdays and museiciviciveneziani.it site is down. Is there another site where these tours can be booked on a Friday?

Does anyone know the approx price for this tour and cost of children?

We paid €16 for adults and €10 (reduced) for our kids. Here are the details:

Full price euro 16

Reduced euro 10

children E.U. aged 6 to 14; escorts (max. 2) for groups of children; students* E.U. aged 15 to 29; escorts (max. 2) for groups of children or students; E.U. citizens over 65; Venetian residents; holders of the Rolling Venice Card; holders of the Venice Card Orange; for those buying the combined ticket to the Museums of St. Mark’s Square or San Marco Plus; holders of the Museum Pass issued by the Musei Civici Veneziani; those purchasing tickets for the Clock Tower; I.C.O.M. members; staff of the Ministero per i Beni e le Attività Culturali.
* I.D. required

To get the Youth discount you either have to be an EU citizen or have a Rolling Discount card. I booked online through the Doge's Palace website. If it's down, I'd just keep trying. Be aware that this website has limited English. The calendar page was in Italian.

It says that the reduced rate is for the Venice Card Orange, too (all details in my post).

I started this discussion and have just returned from 16 days in Italy... the secret itineraries tour is great and I am grateful to all of you who helped us make it happen... general comment... our accomodations, restaurants et al which came from the Rick Styeves empire were all that we could have wanted or asked for...thanks for the helpline as well. George, Pittsburgh