Doge's Palace

For roughly a thousand years Venice was an independent republic, and the Doge's Palace was its engine room: the residence of the elected doge, the meeting place of the Great Council and the Senate, the law courts, the offices of the feared Council of Ten, and the prisons, all under one lace-like roof on the edge of the lagoon. The building you see facing the Molo is a masterpiece of Venetian Gothic, its two tiers of white arcades supporting a great wall of pink and white marble that seems to float, and it is the first thing most visitors see when they step off a boat at San Marco. Inside, the visit climbs through the Porta della Carta and the courtyard, past Sansovino's giant statues of Mars and Neptune on the Giants' Staircase, and up the gilded Golden Staircase into a sequence of state rooms that were designed to overwhelm foreign ambassadors and still overwhelm everybody else. The climax is the Hall of the Great Council, one of the largest rooms in Europe, where Tintoretto's Paradise fills the entire wall behind the doge's throne and the ceiling is a field of gilded frames holding Veronese and Palma il Giovane. A frieze of doges' portraits runs round the top, with one famously painted over in black: Marino Faliero, beheaded for treason. From there the route crosses the Bridge of Sighs, the enclosed white stone bridge over the Rio di Palazzo, into the New Prisons, so you see the famous view from the inside, through the stone grilles, as prisoners once did. Allow at least two hours, and know that the standard ticket is the St Mark's Square Museums pass, which also covers the Museo Correr, the National Archaeological Museum and the monumental rooms of the Marciana Library.

Tickets are the first decision. The official St Mark's Square Museums ticket is cheaper when bought online well in advance, and some ticket types come with a timed entry slot; the palace notes that pass holders without a slot are admitted from midday, which is exactly when the building is busiest. That is why a timed fast-track entry, sold through reputable platforms such as Tiqets, is worth the small premium in high season: you walk in at a set time in the morning, when the great halls are calmest. Winter hours, from November to March, close the palace an hour earlier than in summer, with last admission an hour before closing. Security screening applies, and large bags must be checked.

The Secret Itineraries tour is the best add-on in Venice. A small guided group passes through hidden doors behind the state rooms into the working palace: the cramped offices of the chancellery, the torture chamber, and the Piombi, the lead-roofed cells under the eaves from which Giacomo Casanova made his celebrated escape in 1756. It sells out, runs in several languages at fixed times, and gives the grand rooms their missing back story. Be aware of current works: two paintings, Veronese's Rape of Europa and Bassano's Jacob's Return to Canaan, are under restoration and shown as copies, with the restoration itself visible in a dedicated room.

Pacing the day: start here at your morning slot, then use the same ticket at the Museo Correr across the square, whose windows give a superb elevated view down the piazza toward the Basilica. Combine with St Mark's Basilica in the late morning or early afternoon (the two have separate tickets and separate rules) and finish at the Campanile for the view across the roofs. With children, the armoury, the prisons and the Bridge of Sighs are the hits; the Secret Itineraries tour has an age guideline, so check before booking. Outside, walk round to the Ponte della Paglia on the waterfront for the classic exterior view of the Bridge of Sighs.