Venice Doge's Palace Wheelchair Access Review by John Sage

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Wheelchair Access at the Doge's Palace

Venice Doge’s Palace Wheelchair Access – The Doge’s Palace is our favorite accessible tourist attraction in Venice. The art is magnificent and the audioguide does an excellent job of explaining the history of Venice as it unfolded here. Disabled visitors to Venice should make it a priority during their stay.

Wheelchair access at Venice Doge’s Palace is possible by an accessible entrance and an elevator to get up to the upper floor. The ticket office is not wheelchair accessible so you’ll need someone with you to go inside and purchase the tickets and rent the audio guide. A staff member will need to escort you to the elevator to the upper floor where all of the palace rooms are located.

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The elevator leads up to two accessible Doge’s Palace upper floors. You will need to use the same elevator to get between them. Most of the rooms have step free access. Some have ramps shown in the pictures below. The armory and the Bridge of Sighs can only be reached by a flight of stairs.

We gave the Doges’s Palace a 3 Star Sage Accessibility Rating because it meets our basic wheelchair accessibility standards. It has a step-free entrance and most of the attraction is wheelchair friendly. It does not get a higher rating because the ticket area is not accessible, you have to notify staff to use the elevator, and the Bridge of Sighs and Armory are only accessed via steps.

The Doge’s Palace is located on St. Mark’s Square and immediately next to St. Mark’s (San Marco) Basilica which is also accessible to disabled visitors. There are several restaurants on square and many more in the back alleys. The neighborhood is usually visited by taking the #1 or #2 accessible Venice Vaporetto route to reach the Venice Vallaresso boat dock.

Aerial image of the Doge’s Palace facing north:

There is a single step at the main entrance of the Doge’s Palace. A staff member can put out a portable ramp or escort you to a step-free entrance through the exit. Once you are inside, there are 3 steps to get up to the ticket desk. You may need to send a companion up to buy tickets.

The interior courtyard of the Doge’s Palace has a large stairway that most tourists go up. Wheelchair users will need to take an elevator instead.

Ask a staff member to escort you to the elevator. A small ramp (shown on the left) leads to the cafeteria where the an elevator goes up to the upper floor (photo on the right).

A wheelchair accessible toilet is located on the ground floor and a rental wheelchair at Venice Doge’s Palace is available for visitors.

When you get to the upper floor, you will be going in the opposite direction as most of the tourists. You will need to undo the rope shown in the pictures below to continue on your tour.

The Secret Itineraries tour and the route to the prison and Bridge of Sighs have steps and narrow passageways (shown in the pictures below). The route to the Doge’s Palace Armory also has steps to reach it.

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