The secret itineraries, behind the doge's rooms.

The normal visit shows the power of the Republic; this one shows how it worked on the inside: where things were written, where people were judged and where they were locked up. There is no Spanish tour: choose English, French or Italian.

Why do it

The Doge's Palace that everyone sees is that of the great halls: the Scala dei Giganti, the Great Council Hall, the ceilings by Tintoretto and Veronese. But behind those walls there was another palace of narrow corridors, archives, offices and cells, where the secretaries of the Council of Ten worked and where prisoners were locked up. This itinerary opens those doors and explains how the Republic of Venice was governed and watched over. The story of Giacomo Casanova's escape from the Piombi, which the guide tells in the reconstructed cells, is the moment people remember most.

The practical reason is the price. Entry to the St Mark's Square museums costs €35 at the ticket office, and the secret itinerary, €40, includes the guided tour and, afterwards, independent access to the Doge's Palace, the Correr Museum, the National Archaeological Museum and the monumental rooms of the Biblioteca Marciana. For €5 more you see what almost nobody sees.

Who it suits and who it doesn't

It suits teenagers and adults with a curiosity about history, and anyone who already knows the palace and wants to return with a different eye. Children aged 6 to 14 pay the reduced rate and are usually hooked by the cells and the torture chamber.

It is not for under-6s, who cannot enter, nor for people with mobility problems: there are narrow staircases. The museum advises against it with claustrophobia, vertigo, cardiorespiratory problems and during pregnancy.

Hours and when to go

There are tours in Italian at 11:00 and 12:30, in English at 10:00, 11:30 and 13:00, and in French at 10:30 and 12:00. From 15 June to 31 August, the 13:00 English tour moves forward to 9:30. As they are all in the morning, you have the afternoon for the rest of the palace, which opens from 9:00 to 18:00 in winter (1 November to 31 March) and from 9:00 to 19:00 in summer, with last entry an hour before closing.

The first tour is the best: you come out into the big rooms before they fill with groups.

Getting there

The public entrance is the Porta del Frumento, on the Piazzetta di San Marco. By vaporetto, from Piazzale Roma or the station, line 1 drops you at San Marco Vallaresso or San Zaccaria, and line 2 at San Marco Giardinetti.

What it costs

€40 full price and €20 reduced. Reduced rates apply to children aged 6 to 14, students aged 15 to 25 with ID, over-65s and Rolling Venice holders, among others.

There is another itinerary: the doge's hidden treasures

If you are more interested in art than in prisons, the palace offers another guided route of the same length and price through the Foscara loggia, the chest room, the doge's apartment, Titian's fresco of St Christopher and the doge's private chapel. Groups are a maximum of ten people and there are also tours in English, Italian and French.