Doge's Palace Secret Tour with Kids

[omalley]

I have read mostly good reviews about the Doge's Palace Secret Itinteraries tour. Would you recommend taking the tour with children aged 6 and 8? Any experiences?

 

Omalley

[euro cruiser]

We took M there when she was 6. Even as a young child she liked museums, etc., and we were in Venice after about a week in Rome, so she'd been touring for a while at that point. She enjoyed the Doge's Palace tour up until the point where you visit the prison cells. For some reason the idea of prisoners and dungeons (even though these are well above ground) took hold in her little brain and she had nightmares about it. Go figure. On any other day she wouldn't have thought twice about it.

 

Overall I think the tour is fairly child-friendly. It moves at a fast pace and they don't spend a lot of time in any one room, or go on and on with history lessons.

[I&MsMom]

Took DS when he was 8. He loved it. It does not replace a "regular" tour of the Doge's Palace, although you are free to wander on your own through the public rooms a "normal" tour would cover, after the Secret Itineraries tour.

 

It takes place mainly on the top floors of the building. During a morning tour on a moderate spring day in mid-April, it was warm. Not sure I would like the experience on a hot summer day...

[Ethel5]

I took the Secret tour and I thought it was wonderful. However, I don't see that many young children would appreciate having to be quiet for 2 hours in a hot, dark environment. I have grandkids and I don't think this is a tour for children.

[luvdasea]

This was the only thing that my kids and I did not enjoy. (And they are history buffs). It was very hot in July and I almost passed out.

[omalley]

Thanks for the feedback regarding experiences with kids. I think we will put this particular tour on the to-do list for the next visit to Venice. My DD's have very active imaginations and I can envision weeks of nightmares after exploring the dark cells.

[TriMomma]

My boys are twins, age 13. They like all the dungeons and prisoner type of thing. I think they might like it.

 

Should I pre-book this tour. Seems like different websites have different prices for it. Also, looks like there may not be many times offered with an English guide.

[euro cruiser]

Yes, you should make a reservation as there are limited English language tours offered. You want the "secret itineraries" tour. This is the official web site for the city museums (of which the Doge's Palace is one), with on-line booking: http://www.vivaticket.it/evento.php?id_evento=409912&idt=566&op=museiCivici

[Softball20]

I've cut and pasted below the excerpt from the trip report I did three years ago when we did Doge's Palace. My girls were 14 & 17 at the time. Afterwards, I concluded that the guide had a lot to do with the perception of the tour:

 

....After we climbed the gold staircase and were about to enter the door that lead to the stairs up to the secret chambers, our guide gave a warning about the heat and close quarters. She told us the heat could be “unbearable,” and that we would be up there for an hour. She also indicated that once up, we would not be able to leave unless we got too sick to stay up and then she would have to call someone to escort us down. She made it sound pretty dramatic. My younger daughter and I opted out. I wish we hadn’t. While my husband and older daughter continued on, we toured the rest of the palace, which was really interesting as well. We made our way back to that door near the end of the hour and waited for my husband. While there, the next guide was getting ready to take her group up. However, she was pretty perky and said nothing about any sort of heat or claustraphobic conditions! Had we had her for a guide, I’m sure we would have gone up. My husband and daughter reported that it wasn’t that hot, and that while there were some fairly small areas, it was nothing like the near death experience described by the guide....."

 

Go figure