Hi, My Husband and I will be leaving for Venice next week. Should we invest in any organized tours or just get a good map and explore. How do we go about getting into the secret rooms of the Doge's Palace. Thanks

We took a tour when we visited in 1998. While informative, I thought it was not needed. My wife and I are going back next week (meet a bunch of U.S. travelers at the Rialto Bridge at 6pm on 5/22 if you'd like to compare notes). I will not be looking for tours. The city is extremely walkable and so much fun to just take your chances. The same applies for Florence. Enjoy your trip.
Bill
Boston, MA

Secret itinerary tours can be booked either by your hotel or at the Doges Palace. You may need to book the day before. Remember that you cn't take any bag with you on the tour. They have a staffed cloakroom for you to leave your bags at.

You don't really need a 'tour' of Venice - just get a good map, a vaporetto pass for the number of days you're going to be there and work out what you really want to see.

I took a 3-hour walking tour through the American Express office. It was great. The guide was very knowledgeable about art and architecture, and he explained things I would not have known by just walking around by myself (which I did plenty of also).

Purple, I think there are tour people and non tour people. I enjoy a good tour but my husband hates them-so we mostly don't take them LOL. One tour we should have done in Venice was in the Jewish ghetto. When you arrive at the Jewish museum you can either buy the ticket for just the museum or a tour. We discovered that without the tour you can't see any of the synagogues including the one inside the museum.