Does the Doge's Palace Include the Bridge of Sighs?

Yes. The regular Doge’s Palace route ends with the Prisons, and the visit to them begins down a small staircase from the Sala del Magistrato alle Leggi into a narrow corridor that MUVE calls “one of the two passageways of the famous Bridge of Sighs”, before the New Prisons on the other side (MUVE, checked November 2026). So every palace ticket crosses it, with or without a guide, and no ticket we found leaves it out. There is no separate Bridge of Sighs ticket to buy.

Where the crossing comes

MUVE’s suggested route goes from the Museo dell’Opera through the courtyard and the loggia, up to the Doge’s Apartments and the council chambers, then through the Armoury and the Picture Gallery, and only then to the Prisons. The bridge comes near the end of the visit, and the route finishes at the Porta della Carta. Inside, the bridge is a narrow corridor; the view people photograph is the one from outside.

The products on sale agree. The Venice: Doge's Palace Reserved Entry Ticket names the Bridge of Sighs in its highlights; the THE TOUR SHOP SRL ticket with an audio guide includes “Visit to the Bridge of Sighs” and the Prisons, even though its exclusions list the Doge’s Apartments; and the guided tours, from Crown Tours' palace-only visit to its palace and Basilica tour, cross to the New Prisons with the guide.

Seeing it from outside

The outside of the bridge costs nothing to see. It joins the east side of the palace to the New Prisons across the canal, and the San Zaccaria Danieli water-bus stop is 206 m on foot from it. A view from outside and a walk through it are different things: the first is free from the waterfront, the second comes with any palace ticket.

Who cannot cross

MUVE says the Prisons, the Armoury and the Secret Itineraries are not accessible, though the rest of the regular route is (MUVE, checked November 2026). A wheelchair user can follow the rest of the regular route, but not the Bridge of Sighs from inside or the New Prisons. The tours that cross it set their own limits as well: the Crown Tours guided visit is not suitable for people with mobility impairments, wheelchair users, people with vertigo or after recent surgery.

The other prisons

The New Prisons are not where Casanova was held. His two cells were in the Piombi, under the palace’s lead roof, and they are on MUVE’s Secret Itineraries tour, together with the Pozzi cells and the Torture Chamber; none of those is on the regular route. Is the Doge’s Palace worth it? weighs the regular visit as a whole.