VIP Access Secret Passages - Doge’s Palace & St. Mark’s

Extended Description

Discover St. Mark’s Basilica and the Doge’s Palace in the most complete and rewarding way possible: with an expert guide, entertaining anecdotes… and by exploring what 99% of visitors to the Doge’s Palace never get to see. We’re talking, of course, about the Secret Passages, the palace’s hidden labyrinth of secret meeting halls, offices, torture chambers and top-security prison cells! 

By exploring the Secret Passages, you get away from the crowds elsewhere in the Doge’s Palace and walk in the footsteps of Venice’s most colorful characters. Our favorite? Casanova, the legendary brigand (yes, he did exist!). As you’ll learn, he’s deserved all of the lore: He was able to escape his cell here in the palace, a cell you’ll get to see exclusively in the Secret Passages, against all odds! (A hint: his ingenious plan ended with climbing down from the roof of his cell on a rope made of torn-up sheets… only to enter a chamber that was none other than the Doge’s own chancellery!). 

As well as hearing Venice’s juiciest stories, a visit to the Secret Passages means getting to walk through the hidden cells and rooms—parts of the palace that not only most modern visitors don’t see, but that the vast majority of Venetians in the past never knew about, either! Exploring the secret rooms, with their antique cabinets and creaky floors, will truly make you feel as if you’ve stepped back in time. 

You will also discover the rest of the Doge’s Palace with your expert guide, from the Doge’s own lavish apartments to the Hall of the Great Council, where the city’s all-important general assembly made decisions. Admire the beautiful and dramatic paintings by Veronese and Tintoretto and explore the magnificent halls that exult the prestige of the Most Serene Venetian Republic. What the Vatican is to Rome, the Doge's Palace is to Venice: for seven hundred years, the remarkable palace has been the home of not only the Doge, but of Venice’s (independent!) government, courts, even prisons. 

But this isn’t just a Doge’s Palace tour. This is a complete and comprehensive tour of Venice’s two most famous attractions. You next stop?  Stunning St. Mark’s Basilica – one of the finest examples of Byzantine architecture in the world! Absolutely enormous, the Basilica has 4,000 square meters… of mosaic alone. It’s history dates back to the 9th century, and it was the private chapel of the Doge himself until it later became the official cathedral of Venice. 

Hear the captivating stories of the basilica’s founding—a story that involves an angelic prophecy and a bold theft!—and explore the church’s countless treasures. We’ll even take you up to the Basilica’s panoramic terrace, where you can get not just a great view of Venice (and a great postcard shot!) but a close look at the horse statues stolen from Constantinople during the Crusades. 

Leave no stone unturned—or door unopened—on this complete, comprehensive, and thoroughly VIP exploration of Venice’s two most beautiful, and fascinating, sites!