Venice keeps its museums inside its buildings, and the building is often the first exhibit. This list runs from the Doge's Palace, dating from 1340, to Punta della Dogana, whose art gallery sits at the tip of the triangle where the Grand Canal meets the Giudecca Canal, with palazzi that now work as galleries between them, among them Ca' Rezzonico and Ca' Pesaro. There is also a modern art museum on the Grand Canal, the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, and a museum on the history of glass out on the island of Murano. Many carry Italian national heritage designation. This list is for visitors who would rather spend their hours inside the rooms than in the crowd outside them, and it pays to plan around opening hours: some places close early on Mondays, and others close on Tuesdays.
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1 Doge's Palace
Piazza San Marco, 1 - VeneziaThe palace itself, dating from 1340
The Doge's Palace opens at 08:30 and stays open until 19:00 from April through October, dropping to 17:30 from November through March. The building dates from 1340 and carries Italian national heritage designation, so start here if you want to understand the city before you look at its paintings. Skip the late-morning slot everyone else picks. Come at opening or in the last two hours, when you can stand still in a room without being moved along. Everything else on this list reads better once you have been inside this palace in Venice and felt how big it is.
Dates from 1340 · Italian national heritage
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2 Gallerie dell'Accademia
1050 Campo de la Carità, Venezia, 30123An art museum with roots in 1750
At 1050 Campo de la Carità, in the 30123 postcode, the Gallerie dell'Accademia is the art museum to build a first day around, with origins going back to 1750 and Italian national heritage designation. From Tuesday to Sunday it is open 08:15 to 19:15, but on Monday it runs 08:15 to 14:00, which catches out anyone who turns up after lunch at the start of the week. Don't bother with third-party ticket bundles. The museum's own site is the place to start, and the money you save buys a spritz afterwards.
Dates from 1750 · Italian national heritage
Hours: Tu-Su 08:15-19:15; Mo 08:15-14:00
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3 Ca' d'Oro
[[Cannaregio]] 3932 (Calle Ca' d'Oro)A palace that doubles as an art gallery
Ca' d'Oro is a palace and art gallery where the art and the house arrive in the same glance. Tuesday to Sunday it is open 09:00 to 19:00, Monday it closes at 14:00, and it stays shut on Jan 01 and Dec 25. The locals favour places like this over the headline galleries for a good reason: fewer people, more time with each room. It was a palace before it became a gallery, so we'd treat the visit as a slow walk through a home rather than a march past captions. Come on a weekday afternoon before 19:00 and give it the hour it deserves.
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4 Ca' Rezzonico
Rio Terà Canal, 30123A palazzo and art museum dating from 1667
Ca' Rezzonico, dating from 1667, stands at Rio Terà Canal, 30123: a palazzo and art museum that still feels like a home someone has just walked out of. From April to October it is open 10:00 to 18:00 and closed on Tuesdays, and from November to March it opens Wednesday to Monday, 10:00 to 17:00. It carries Italian national heritage designation. Don't treat it as a quick stop between bigger names. It rewards the kind of afternoon where you sit at a window and lose track of time. Check the official site before you go.
Dates from 1667 · Italian national heritage
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5 Peggy Guggenheim Collection
Corte Venier dai LeoniModern art on the Grand Canal
The Peggy Guggenheim Collection is a modern art museum right on the Grand Canal, and the address, Corte Venier dai Leoni, is most of the point: you see the work with Venice's main waterway at the door. The collection dates from 1980. It is open Wednesday to Monday, 10:00 to 18:00, and closed on Tuesday and Dec 25. Skip the early-afternoon crush, and instead arrive close to 10:00 or leave it for the last hour before 18:00. Check the official site before planning around a particular show.
Dates from 1980
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6 Ca' Pesaro
Sestriere Santa Croce, Venezia, 30100A palace and museum dating from 1710
Save Ca' Pesaro for your second or third day, when you have the patience to walk into Sestriere Santa Croce, Venezia, 30100. A palace and museum dating from 1710, it carries Italian national heritage designation. Skip the souvenir-stall detours on the way, come with a plan, take the rooms slowly, and let the building do half the work. Check opening times before you set out, because nothing spoils a long walk across the city like a locked door. It is the stop for the visitor who has already seen the famous names and wants somewhere calmer.
Dates from 1710 · Italian national heritage
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7 Scuola Grande di San Rocco
Calle TintorettoA Monday-to-Saturday visit on Calle Tintoretto
The Scuola Grande di San Rocco stands on Calle Tintoretto and is open Monday to Saturday from 09:30 to 17:30. Its formal description is just a building in Venice, which badly undersells the place. Don't squeeze it between two other stops: arrive at 09:30, give it real time, and keep the 17:30 close in mind. Plan a weekday or Saturday visit, since the listed days stop at Saturday. Look at the official site before you go, then leave your phone in your pocket once you are inside.
Hours: Mo-Sa 09:30-17:30
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8 Palazzo Grassi
Campo San Samuele, 3231A 1772 palace on the Grand Canal used as a museum of arts
A palace and museum of arts on the Grand Canal, Palazzo Grassi dates from 1772, and the building is the first exhibit. A palace from 1772 standing on the water is reason enough to go inside, whatever happens to be on the walls, so skip the gondola-side gawping from outside. A Grand Canal palace is best seen from within, looking out at the traffic on the water. Check the official site for what is showing before you cross town, and give yourself an unhurried visit so you take in both the rooms and the art.
Dates from 1772
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9 Museo Correr
Ramo del SelvadegoAn art museum dating from 1836
Dating from 1836, Museo Correr is the art museum we'd pair with a morning spent among the city's big set-pieces, and it sits at Ramo del Selvadego. Hours run 10:00 to 19:00, dropping to 10:00 to 17:00 from November to March, and it carries Italian national heritage designation. Skip the audio-guide upsell and walk the rooms at your own pace, stopping where something holds you. In winter, come straight after 10:00, because the 17:00 close arrives sooner than you expect. It is a good place to catch your breath between the crowded sights.
Dates from 1836 · Italian national heritage
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10 St Mark's Clocktower
Piazza San Marco, 30124The clock tower on Piazza San Marco
On Piazza San Marco, 30124, St Mark's Clocktower watches over the square and carries Italian national heritage designation. Of everything on the list, this is the smallest commitment and one of the most rewarding: skip the selfie scrum around the square's bigger sights, stand back, look up at the clock, and let it set the time for your next stop. Check visiting arrangements before planning around it. Even seen from the paving, it earns a minute every time you cross the 30124 square, at dawn or at dusk.
Italian national heritage
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11 Punta della Dogana
An art gallery at the tip of the triangle where two canals meet
Where the Grand Canal meets the Giudecca Canal, Punta della Dogana places an art gallery at the very tip of the triangle, and the name covers the point itself, its buildings and the gallery, so the setting is as much the visit as anything on display. The gallery dates from 2009, and its official site sits on the palazzograssi.it domain. The walk out to the point is half the pleasure, as the locals know. Go late in the day, see the art, then step outside and watch the two canals meet. Check what is showing before you go.
Dates from 2009
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12 Murano Glass Museum
6 Fondamenta Marco GiustinianThe history of glass, told on the island of Murano
The Murano Glass Museum at 6 Fondamenta Marco Giustinian is dedicated to the history of glass on the island of Murano, dates from 1861, and carries Italian national heritage designation. It opens every day, 10:00 to 18:00 from April to October and 10:00 to 17:00 from November to March. Skip the furnace showrooms that press free boat rides on you, learn the history here first, and then shop with a sharper eye. Check the official site before you take the boat out.
Dates from 1861 · Italian national heritage
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