Museums · Venice · Italy
4 best museums in Venice
The collections worth your time, how long each takes and how to fit them together.
Updated By the AMZBooking editorial team
Photo: Didier Descouens, CC BY-SA 4.0
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Quick answer
Start with Gallerie dell'Accademia, Peggy Guggenheim Collection and Scuola Grande di San Rocco. Together the 4 picks below take roughly 6–7 hours across 2 areas; all charge for entry.
Key facts
- Places in this guide
- 4
- Free entry
- 0
- Time to see them all
- 6–7 hours
- Areas
- Dorsoduro and San Polo
Museums in Venice
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Museum · Dorsoduro
1.Gallerie dell'Accademia
The definitive collection of Venetian painting from the 14th to the 18th century, with Giovanni Bellini's Madonnas, Giorgione's mysterious The Tempest, late Titian, Tintoretto's Miracles of St Mark and Veronese's huge Feast in the House of Levi.
- Time needed
- 2 hours
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- Art
- Rainy day
- History
Gallery · Dorsoduro
2.Peggy Guggenheim Collection
The American collector's former home, an unfinished single-storey palazzo on the Grand Canal, holds one of Italy's best collections of 20th-century art: Picasso, Pollock, Kandinsky, Magritte, Dalí, Ernst and Brâncuși.
- Time needed
- 1.5–2 hours
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- Art
- Rainy day
- Views
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Gallery · San Polo
3.Scuola Grande di San Rocco
Tintoretto spent more than 20 years covering the walls and ceilings of this confraternity building with over 50 paintings, including an enormous Crucifixion.
- Time needed
- 1 hour
- Cost
- Low cost
- Art
- Off the beaten path
- Rainy day
- History
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Museum · Dorsoduro
4.Ca' Rezzonico
A baroque palace on the Grand Canal displaying 18th-century Venice: ballrooms with frescoed ceilings by Giambattista Tiepolo, rooms of period furniture, Pietro Longhi's scenes of daily life and Guardi's views of the city.
- Time needed
- 1.5 hours
- Cost
- Low cost
- Art
- History
- Rainy day
- Architecture
Grouped by area
| Area | Places | Time needed |
|---|---|---|
| Dorsoduro | Gallerie dell'Accademia, Peggy Guggenheim Collection and Ca' Rezzonico | 2 hours + 1.5–2 hours + 1.5 hours |
| San Polo | Scuola Grande di San Rocco | 1 hour |
Booking and timing
Of these 4, 2 low cost, 2 mid-priced. None needs booking far in advance. The longest visit is Gallerie dell'Accademia; group the rest by area to save travel time.
How to fit them into 2 half-days
Grouped by area and kept to about four hours each, so you walk more than you ride.
- Half-day 1 (Dorsoduro): Gallerie dell'Accademia → Peggy Guggenheim Collection, at least 4 hours.
- Half-day 2 (Dorsoduro and San Polo): Ca' Rezzonico → Scuola Grande di San Rocco, at least 3 hours.
The quietest months for queues
- January: highs of 7°C (45°F), about 6 rainy days, quiet crowds. Cold, often foggy and very atmospheric, with the quietest streets of the year outside New Year; acqua alta is possible.
- November: highs of 12°C (54°F), about 8 rainy days, quiet crowds. Damp, foggy and quiet, with low prices; high tides are most likely, though the MOSE barriers now protect against the highest surges.
- March: highs of 13°C (55°F), about 7 rainy days, moderate crowds. Mild, changeable spring weather; a good month for museums before Easter crowds.
The neighbourhoods they are in
- Dorsoduro — Art museums, the Zattere waterfront and the student square of Campo Santa Margherita
- San Polo and Santa Croce — The Rialto Market, Titian's Frari and the bacari around the bridge
More of Venice
Questions travellers ask
+Where should I start in Venice?
Gallerie dell'Accademia. The definitive collection of Venetian painting from the 14th to the 18th century, with Giovanni Bellini's Madonnas, Giorgione's mysterious The Tempest, late Titian, Tintoretto's Miracles of St Mark and Veronese's huge Feast in the House of Levi.