10 Things to Do in Venice, from Canals to Art

St Mark’s Basilica and the Doge’s Palace reveal Venice’s religious and political ambitions, while the Grand Canal shows how its grandest buildings face the water. Beyond those landmarks, you can choose neighbourhood walks, Venetian painting, modern art or a theatre interior. Choose by what you want to see, rather than trying to fit all ten into one outing.

Choose your sights, walks and boat ride

Experience / starting point	Walk from St Mark’s Square
St Mark’s Basilica	about 50 metres
Doge’s Palace	about 100 metres
Rialto Bridge	about 500 metres
Grand Canal ride: San Marco Vallaresso	about 300 metres
Cannaregio: Campo del Ghetto Nuovo	about 1.8 km
Dorsoduro: Accademia Bridge	about 950 metres
Gallerie dell’Accademia	about 1 km
Peggy Guggenheim Collection	about 800 metres
Scuola Grande di San Rocco	about 1.3 km
La Fenice Theatre	about 350 metres

Prioritise the basilica, palace and Rialto for landmarks, and Line 1 for views from the canal. These are separate choices, not a walking itinerary. Pair the basilica and palace around the square, or either Dorsoduro gallery with the waterfront. The remaining entries suit neighbourhood life, painting or performance history. Indoor visits offer alternatives for rain when open. Save outdoor walks for earlier or later in peak heat.

1. St Mark’s Basilica

St Mark’s Basilica rewards looking upwards at its mosaic-covered domes, then more closely at the chapels and nave. Allow about 30–60 minutes for the main interior, with longer for additional spaces.

The basilica-only ticket excludes the Pala d’Oro, the golden altarpiece, and the Museum and Horses’ Loggia, the terrace. The complete ticket includes those spaces, but not the bell tower. Pair the church with time in St Mark’s Square.

Book a dated time slot and enter at that time. Cover shoulders and knees. Backpacks and luggage larger than 40 × 30 × 20 cm are prohibited, as are all wheeled suitcases.

2. Doge’s Palace

The Doge’s Palace brings together decorated institutional rooms, the doge’s apartments and the Great Council Chamber. Allow about 1½–2 hours to explore the Venetian Republic’s seat of power.

Standard admission takes you through the Bridge of Sighs to the prisons, a different experience from looking at the bridge outside. The regular rooms are accessible, but the Prisons, Armoury and Secret Itineraries are not.

Standard tickets can be bought on arrival, but special itineraries require reservations. The combined square ticket also covers the Correr Museum, National Archaeological Museum and Marciana Library’s Monumental Rooms. If you want further civic collections, weighing Venice Museum Pass or separate tickets helps you decide whether broader coverage is worthwhile.

The palace opens daily. From 1 November to 31 March, visiting hours are 09:00–18:00, while from 1 April to 31 October, the opening day extends to 19:00.

3. Rialto Bridge

Rialto Bridge is the short landmark choice: cross it and pause to look along the Grand Canal in both directions. The nearby market area adds a sense of the trading district, without needing to make shopping the purpose of your visit.

Go earlier in the day for a less crowded crossing. You must climb and descend steps on the central staircase. There is no level, step-free crossing. Keep the passage clear when stopping for photographs, then explore the canal banks for a different view of the arch.

4. Grand Canal by waterbus

ACTV Line 1 lets you see the Grand Canal’s palace façades from a vaporetto, a public waterbus. Board at San Marco Vallaresso and alight at Ferrovia, beside Santa Lucia railway station. Watch how entrances and façades address the water, rather than the streets behind them.

This is public transport, with intermediate stops and passengers travelling for everyday reasons. Allow flexibility for crowds. A particular seat or uninterrupted view is not guaranteed. Line 1 runs from early morning until around midnight.

The standard ticket costs €9.50 and lasts 75 minutes from first validation. It does not cover Alilaguna or airport journeys. Validate at the stop before boarding and wait for the green light or successful message. Validate again when changing service. If every validator at the stop is malfunctioning, ask the sailor to validate your ticket as you board.

5. Cannaregio and cicchetti

Cannaregio suits an afternoon of Jewish history and food stops away from the main landmark cluster. Campo del Ghetto Nuovo is a place to pause within the historic Jewish quarter, with tall buildings enclosing the square. Exploring the public quarter is distinct from entering its synagogues or museum.

Choose the Misericordia canal-side area for a wander beside the water, or Fondamente Nove for the lagoon-facing outlook. These are places to spend time, not stops you need to complete in a circuit.

Late afternoon suits a walk followed by cicchetti, small snacks served in bàcari, Venetian wine bars. Familiar choices include bread topped with creamy salt cod, meatballs and vegetables. Pick a few pieces according to appetite, rather than treating the stop as a formal meal.

6. Dorsoduro’s waterfronts

Dorsoduro offers open waterfront space around its galleries. Use the Accademia Bridge as an entry point, with a Grand Canal view before you explore the neighbourhood. At Santa Maria della Salute, look at the church’s domes and exterior architecture. You need not turn that pause into an interior visit.

The Zattere gives you room to linger along the Giudecca Canal. Campo Santa Margherita offers a different setting, a broad neighbourhood square where a café stop can become part of the visit. Choose between them according to whether you want waterfront views or time around a square.

Pair a later-afternoon waterfront walk with either the Accademia or the Peggy Guggenheim Collection. Choose the gallery by your interest in Venetian painting or modern art, not an obligation to see both. In peak heat, favour the cooler ends of the day and carry water.

7. Gallerie dell’Accademia

The Gallerie dell’Accademia traces Venetian painting from the medieval period through the eighteenth century. Bellini, Giorgione, Titian, Tintoretto and Veronese are represented, making this the choice for understanding the city’s painting tradition.

Look closely at a few works rather than trying to cover every room. Allow about 1½–2 hours for an unhurried visit, then take a break outside around Dorsoduro. The galleries provide a substantial indoor option for rain.

Advance booking is optional, but offers priority entry if a busy-day queue forms. You can also buy tickets at the museum ticket office.

8. Peggy Guggenheim Collection

The Peggy Guggenheim Collection brings European and American twentieth-century art into the domestic-scale rooms of her former home, Palazzo Venier dei Leoni. Works by Picasso, Pollock and Dalí make it a contrasting choice to the Accademia’s Venetian painting.

Choose this collection if modern art interests you more than the older Venetian tradition. Allow about 1–2 hours to explore the galleries, sculpture garden and canal-facing terrace. The home setting gives the visit a different shape from a large survey museum. Leave time for the outdoor spaces as well as the paintings.

Combine the collection with Dorsoduro’s waterfront rather than automatically adding another gallery. Advance reservation is optional: online tickets let you choose a preferred time slot, while tickets are also sold at the museum.

9. Scuola Grande di San Rocco

The Scuola Grande di San Rocco offers a concentrated encounter with Tintoretto’s extensive painting cycle. A scuola is a historic confraternity building. Here, the decorated rooms are as important to the experience as the individual canvases.

Allow about 1–1½ hours. Focus on the Sala dell’Albergo, the confraternity’s meeting room, and the Upper Hall, where mirrors help you view the ceiling paintings without constantly craning your neck.

Buy standard tickets at the ticket office. Upper-floor access uses a tracked stair-climbing device, with a transfer taking about 10 minutes. It does not reach the Cereria, the wax room, or the Sala del Tesoro, the treasury room.

10. La Fenice Theatre

La Fenice Theatre is the choice for an ornate auditorium, tiers of boxes and performance history. A sightseeing ticket includes an audio guide and the Maria Callas exhibition. Allow about an hour to explore the interiors.

A standard audio-guide visit needs no advance reservation. Favour the morning for this indoor alternative near the San Marco landmarks. If you would rather hear a performance than look around the theatre, live music and opera in Venice offers evening choices instead.

Sources & fact-checking

Checks against the sources below cover: fares and charges, services, opening hours, and closures.

• Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia (MUVE) — fares and charges
• Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia — service
• Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia (MUVE) — service
• Procuratoria di San Marco — fares and charges
• Tickets
• Procuratoria di San Marco — opening hours
• Terms & Conditions — St Mark’s Basilica
• Procuratoria of St. Mark — service
• Gallerie dell’Accademia di Venezia — fares and charges
• Gallerie dell’Accademia di Venezia — closures
• Scuola Grande di San Rocco — fares and charges
• Scuola Grande di San Rocco — opening hours
• CoopCulture — service
• Peggy Guggenheim Collection — fares and charges
• Peggy Guggenheim Collection — opening hours
• LINEA 1 — P.LE ROMA – FERROVIA – RIALTO – S.MARCO – LIDO S.M.E.
• AVM/Actv — fares and charges
• the Vaporetto | ACTV
• FEST Fenice Servizi Teatrali srl — fares and charges
• FEST Fenice Servizi Teatrali srl — opening hours
• Fondazione Teatro La Fenice — service
• Teatro La Fenice — service