I am taking my 3 daughters (16, 12 & 9) on a travelling adventure. I do not want to burn them out with museum after museum, history then more history....etc. If you had to pick and have been to both......Doge's Palace in Venice or Pitti Palace in Florence? Can't wait to read your answers.

The Doge's Palace. See if you can keep the "bored ones" OFF of their cellphones, too.

It depends on what you think they would rather see.

The Doge's Palace is mainly a tour of the various rooms which are interesting in their own right, some of which have fantastic art covering the walls and/or ceilings.

The Pitti Palace is more like a true museum. The Palatine gallery is a series of rooms whose walls are hung with many wonderful paintings (but that are not really grouped in typical museum fashion). There is also a carriage museum, silver museum, porcelain museum & costume gallery, in addition to the Boboli gardens.

I enjoyed both, but given your circumstances, I would probably say Doge's Palace too, especially if you are already planning to visit the Uffizi, Accademia and/or Bargello in Florence.

They're actually rather different, though both are "musts" for me. Pitti Palace is more an art museum like the Belvedere in Vienna, while the Doge's Palace (though it has some fine artwork) is more a residence to look at like the palace at Versailles or the Schoenbrunn in Vienna.

I have been to both and agree the Pitti Palace is more of a museum though what you see is very varied fine art, costumes and what is nice is you can go through the Boboli gardens when you are done. The Doges is laid out like a Palace so consequently it is large rooms with large art work, this would be a shorter visit if attention span is an issue. Keep in mind that the Pitti Palace I believe is closed the first Monday every month.

I think I would choose the Doges Palace. The art museums in Venice are a bit less accessible than in Florence. Florence is filled with opportunities to see wonderful Renaissance art and the Pitti is not high on that list. If you decide on the Doges Palace, try to arrange a tour - the history is very interesting.

Doges it is!!!! Thank you. I am so worried I am going to burn my kids out with museum "stuff." I want time for them to explore the areas. Rome we have two half-day tour guides set up....plus the main attractions of venice and Florence...
They are girls...they will want souveniers and shopping too.

This helps. Thanks.

andreadee, having been to both, I would agree that if you are only picking one, the Doges Palace is the right choice, but do not underestimate your kids - I traveled with my kids when they were the ages of yours and would consider doing both. It is true that that the Piti Palace is more of a group of museums - there are several buildings - but as others have said, the two are very different and IMO thus provide differing experiences so I would not rule out seeing both. I wouldn't think of it as visiting two museums. In addition, if you are going at the right time of year, the Boboli Gardens, which are part of the Piti are beautiful. They are hilly and afford some excellent views of Florence on one end and surrounding countryside from the top. You can skip the Piti Palace if you wish and just visit the gardens.