Art Museums in Venice: My Guide to the Essential Visits
I'm Carol Cram, novelist and arts travel writer, and founder of Art In Fiction, a curated database of 2500+ novels inspired by the arts. Artsy Traveler contains affiliate links for products and services I personally use and recommend. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Please read the Disclosure for more information.
First off, I adore Venice. There truly is nowhere else like it on earth. The first time I visited, I spent the first hour wide-eyed and laughing. I couldn’t believe that such a place could exist.
The main attraction of Venice is Venice itself: walking alongside canals sparkling in the sun, getting lost at night (remember, it’s an island; you can’t fall off), and sipping an aperol spritz at a bacàri while munching on Ciccheti, small, bite-sized tapas or snacks.
Venice also rewards the artsy traveler with museums that most visitors either rush through or miss entirely.
I always make time for the Accademia, which is essential, and the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, which is my favorite museum in the city and possibly my favorite anywhere. The Museo Correr, sitting right on St. Mark’s Square, is one of the best-kept secrets in Venice.
For a change of pace from busy Venice, hop on the vaporetto and head for the Murano Glass Museum, where you’ll tour a magnificent collection of glass objects practically on your own.
Table of Contents
- Venice Museums Quick Facts
- The Accademia Gallery
- The Peggy Guggenheim Collection
- Museo Correr
- A Note on Smaller Gems
- Murano Glass Museum
- Planning Your Time in Venice
- Recommended Novels to Read Before You Go
- Museum Pass in Venice
- Where to Stay in Venice
- Museums in Venice FAQs
- Keep Exploring Northern Italy with Artsy Traveler
Venice Museums Quick Facts
- Must book in advance: Accademia Gallery, Peggy Guggenheim Collection
- Combined pass: St Mark’s Square Museum Pass covers Museo Correr, Doge’s Palace, and two more
- Best pairing: Accademia + Guggenheim for a full day in Dorsoduro
- Bonus trip: Vaporetto to Murano for the Glass Museum — uncrowded and unmissable
- Visit duration: 2 hours minimum per museum; full day for Accademia + Guggenheim
- Best season: Shoulder season (April, October) or winter for smaller crowds
- Ready to book?Jump to Museum Tours in Venice ↓
The Accademia Gallery
The Accademia is the essential starting point for anyone who wants to understand Venetian painting. Housed in a former convent and scuola on the south side of the Grand Canal, the museum holds the most comprehensive collection of Venetian art anywhere in the world, spanning from the Byzantine period through the eighteenth century.
The highlights are numerous, but a few deserve particular attention. Giorgione’s The Tempest is one of the most mysterious paintings in Western art, a work that has been debated and interpreted for five centuries without anyone reaching a satisfying conclusion. Titian’s Presentation of the Virgin is displayed in the very room for which it was painted, which is a rare and moving experience. Veronese’s enormous Feast in the House of Levi, originally painted as a Last Supper before the Inquisition objected to its irreverent figures, takes up an entire wall and rewards a long look.
The Accademia is busy, and timed entry tickets are strongly recommended. Book directly through the museum website well in advance, particularly if you are visiting between April and October.
Practical details: The museum is a short walk from the Accademia vaporetto stop. Plan for at least two hours, more if you want to linger.
The Peggy Guggenheim Collection
My favorite of the three museums is the Peggy Guggenheim Collection. I always make time for a visit when I’m in Venice. The location alone on the Grand Canal is a draw, but then add to that rooms full of works by some of the 20th century’s most iconic modern masters, and this museum is an essential stop.
The Peggy Guggenheim Collection occupies Peggy Guggenheim’s former home, the Palazzo Venier dei Leoni, on the Grand Canal in Dorsoduro.
Guggenheim assembled a collection over decades that includes works by artists she knew personally, including Picasso, Kandinsky, Dalí, Ernst, Pollock, and Mondrian. The result is a collection that feels personal rather than institutional. She lived with these works for decades.
The terrace overlooking the Grand Canal is one of the best spots in Venice, and the sculpture garden at the back of the palazzo is a delight. Marino Marini’s bronze sculpture of a rider on horseback, arms and another appendage raised toward the canal, always makes me smile.
The Guggenheim is consistently busy but manages its crowds well. Book tickets in advance. The museum café is good and the terrace is worth lingering over if the weather is fair.
Practical details: A short walk from the Accademia along the Dorsoduro waterfront. The two museums make a natural pairing for a full day in Dorsoduro.
Museo Correr
The Museo Correr is one of Venice’s best-kept secrets, which is remarkable given that it occupies the entire south side of St Mark’s Square. Most visitors walk past it on their way to the Basilica without realizing what’s inside.
The museum covers Venetian history, art, and culture from the fall of the Republic in 1797 back through its greatest centuries of power and influence. The Neoclassical rooms on the upper floors, designed by Napoleon and later completed by the Habsburgs, are among the most beautiful interiors in Venice, quite apart from anything in the display cases.
The painting collection on the upper floors includes works by Giovanni Bellini, Carpaccio, and Antonello da Messina, and is considerably less crowded than the Accademia. Carpaccio’s Two Venetian Ladies, long thought to depict courtesans but now believed to show noblewomen, is one of the most discussed paintings in the collection and well worth finding.
Entry to the Museo Correr is included in the St Mark’s Square Museum Pass, which also covers the Doge’s Palace, the Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, and the Archaeological Museum. If you are planning to visit the Doge’s Palace, buying the combined pass makes obvious sense.
Practical details: Enter from the Ala Napoleonica at the west end of St Mark’s Square. Allow at least ninety minutes.
A Note on Smaller Gems
If you have time beyond these three, the Scuola Grande di San Rocco deserves a mention. Tintoretto spent over twenty years painting the interior, and the result is one of the great cycles of Renaissance art. It is less visited than it deserves to be and well worth an hour of your time.
Other interesting museums in Venice include:
Ca’ Pesaro — a grand palazzo on the Grand Canal housing the city’s modern art museum plus an impressive Oriental art collection on the upper floors
Museo Fortuny — the atmospheric studio-home of designer Mariano Fortuny, full of his legendary pleated silk gowns, theatrical set designs, and personal art collection
Ca’ d’Oro — a Gothic palazzo on the Grand Canal with a small but excellent collection of Renaissance paintings and sculpture, including a Mantegna that alone justifies the visit
Palazzo Grimani — a hidden gem near Campo Santa Maria Formosa with beautifully restored Renaissance interiors and rotating exhibitions
Museo della Musica — a small, free museum in a deconsecrated church near Piazza San Marco featuring historic instruments and a connection to Vivaldi that will appeal to any music lover
Murano Glass Museum
Venice is the city of glass and to truly understand the fascinating history of glass-making, take the vaporetto to Murano for a visit to the Murano Glass Museum (Museo del Vetro).
Start with the fascinating film about glassmaking in which many of the techniques used to blow and manipulate glass are demonstrated.
Then explore the various rooms full of glass objects ranging from glass blown in Roman times to contemporary objects.
This delightful and uncrowded museum contains the world’s largest historical collection of Murano glass.
Afterwards, enjoy wandering around lovely Murano, stopping into some of the shops to buy authentic Venetian glassware. Good options are Venini for contemporary art glass, Wave Murano Glass for bold and colorful designs, and NasonMoretti for sleek tableware.
Planning Your Time in Venice
Venice’s museums are spread across the city and reaching them involves the vaporetto, walking, or both. A few practical suggestions:
The Accademia and Guggenheim make a natural pairing since they are a short walk apart in Dorsoduro. Combine them for a full day with lunch in between at one of the trattorias in the neighborhood. Cross the Accademia Bridge to get to Dorsoduro from St. Mark’s Square.
The Museo Correr pairs naturally with the Doge’s Palace and the Basilica for a St Mark’s Square focused day.
Book tickets for the Accademia and Guggenheim in advance, especially in high season. The Museo Correr is less pressured but the combined pass benefits from advance planning.
The Murano Glass Museum requires a vaporetto ride to the island of Murano. While you’re there, also consider taking in a glass-blowing demonstration. Here is an option with GetYourGuide:
Recommended Novels to Read Before You Go
Peggy by Rebecca Godfrey (completed by Leslie Jamison)
A posthumously published biographical novel tracing Peggy Guggenheim’s journey from sheltered heiress to one of the 20th century’s most defiant art collectors, told from her white marble palazzo on Venice’s Grand Canal.
The Glassblower of Murano by Marina Fiorato
A young woman travels to Murano to uncover the story of her ancestor, a 17th-century glassblower whose dangerous secret shaped the fate of Venice’s most coveted art form.
Museum Pass in Venice
This museum pass gets you into 11 museums, including the Doge’s Palace. It does not include entrance to the Accademia and the Peggy Guggenheim Museums; however, it’s a useful pass to have while you’re wandering around Venice and want to pop into some of the lesser known museums.
Where to Stay in Venice
I suggest staying in Dorsoduro, which puts you within easy walking distance of everything, and is also quieter and more residential than San Marco, which can get very busy.
Resist the temptation to save money by staying in Mestre on the mainland. Hotels will be cheaper but the commute to and from Venice eats up precious sightseeing time. Also, to be blunt, Mestre doesn’t hold a candle to its beautiful neighbor across the lagoon.
Here’s a map of Venice showing several more accommodation options.
Museums in Venice FAQs
For the Accademia and the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, yes, especially between April and October. Both museums get busy and timed entry slots fill up. Book directly through the museum websites as far ahead as you can. The Museo Correr is less pressured but if you’re buying the St Mark’s Square Museum Pass, it’s worth sorting that out before you arrive too.
It’s a combined ticket that covers the Museo Correr, the Doge’s Palace, the Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, and the Archaeological Museum. If you’re planning to visit the Doge’s Palace anyway, the pass is the obvious choice since you get the Correr effectively for free.
Take the vaporetto from Venice. Lines 4.1 and 4.2 run from Fondamente Nove, and line 3 runs from Piazzale Roma and the train station. The journey takes about 45 minutes depending on your starting point. Buy a vaporetto day pass if you’re planning to use it multiple times; it pays for itself quickly.
It’s my favorite museum in Venice and possibly my favorite anywhere, so yes. The collection is extraordinary, the setting on the Grand Canal is unlike anything else, and the sculpture garden alone is worth the entry price. Budget at least two hours and linger on the terrace if the weather is cooperative.
Plan a full day for the Accademia and Guggenheim combined, with lunch in Dorsoduro in between. Add a separate half day for the Museo Correr paired with the Doge’s Palace. The Murano Glass Museum is another half day once you factor in the vaporetto ride and time to wander the island afterward.
Technically yes, but I wouldn’t recommend trying to cover more than one or two in a single day trip. Venice itself deserves time, and rushing through museums to catch a train back does neither the city nor the art any favors. If you only have one day, choose between the Accademia and the Guggenheim rather than attempting both.
Keep Exploring Northern Italy with Artsy Traveler
- Fascinating Little Padua Reveals Hidden Treasures
- How to Spend a Perfect Artsy Traveler Day in Venice
- 3 Days in Venice: Best Itinerary for First-Time Visitors
- Explore Northern Italy in One Week
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Carol M. Cram is the author of five award-winning novels inspired by art and the women who shaped it, the creator of Artsy Traveler, an arts-focused travel blog, the founder of Art In Fiction, a curated database of 2,500+ novels inspired by the arts, and the host of The Art In Fiction Podcast. She also authored 60+ textbooks on computer applications and taught at Capilano University for over two decades. She lives with her husband, artist Gregg Simpson, on beautiful Bowen Island near Vancouver, BC.