Dorsoduro, Venice: museums, churches and the Zattere

Dorsoduro is the sestiere that faces south onto the Giudecca Canal, and it takes its name from the firmer ground (“hard back”) it is built on. For travellers it is above all the museum sestiere: within less than a kilometre you’ll find the Gallerie dell’Accademia, the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, the Pinault Collection’s Punta della Dogana, Ca’ Rezzonico and the Salute basilica. Then there are the Zattere, the sunniest promenade in Venice, and the squares where the Ca’ Foscari students live.

The catch: the museums close on different days and have different rules on bags. Here are the official prices, comparisons with Tiqets where they exist, and an itinerary so you don’t find the doors shut.

Tickets in Dorsoduro: official or Tiqets

In short: for the Guggenheim the official site is €3 cheaper; for Ca’ Rezzonico the price is the same, and the combined 18th-century Museums ticket on Tiqets has the advantage of free cancellation before the date. Prices can change, so always check when you buy.

The Dorsoduro Museum Mile saves money if you visit several museums within a week: show a paid ticket from one and you pay the reduced rate at the others for 7 days. According to the Gallerie dell’Accademia their reduced ticket is €17; the rates given for the other member museums are Guggenheim €14, Palazzo Grassi–Punta della Dogana €12 and Palazzo Cini €7.

Gallerie dell’Accademia

The greatest museum of Venetian painting, from the 14th to the 18th century, set in the 37 rooms of the former Carità complex: the church, the convent and the Scuola. Highlights: Giorgione’s Tempest (Room VIII), Titian’s Pietà, Carpaccio’s St Ursula cycle, Veronese’s Feast in the House of Levi, and works by Giovanni Bellini, Tintoretto, Lotto, Canaletto and Tiepolo. Leonardo’s Vitruvian Man belongs to the museum but is not on display: it comes out only for rare exhibitions.

Hours: Tuesday–Sunday 9:00–19:00, ticket sales until 18:00, closed Mondays. Free for everyone on the first Sunday of the month. The official online ticket is sold only through TicketOne. Backpacks and bulky bags go into the free lockers. Stop: Accademia, lines 1 and 2. Full guide: Gallerie dell’Accademia.

Peggy Guggenheim Collection

In Palazzo Venier dei Leoni, a palace left unfinished on the Grand Canal, Peggy Guggenheim’s collection tells the story of 20th-century European and American art: Cubism, Futurism, Surrealism, Abstract Expressionism. The ticket covers the permanent collection, the Schulhof Collection and the Nasher Sculpture Garden, where Peggy is buried beside her dogs. Marino Marini’s equestrian sculpture stands on the Grand Canal terrace.

Hours: 10:00–18:00, last entry 17:00, closed Tuesdays and on 25 December. Backpacks and large bags are not allowed (free lockers); photos are fine without flash. Stop: Accademia or Salute. The museum recommends booking online, especially at weekends. All the details: Peggy Guggenheim.

The Salute and the Punta della Dogana

The Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute, by Baldassarre Longhena, was built as a vow for the end of the plague of 1630–31; every 21 November, for the Festa della Salute, a votive bridge of boats crosses the Grand Canal and Venetians come on pilgrimage. The basilica is free: April to October 9:00–12:00 and 15:00–17:30, November to March 9:30–12:30 and 15:00–17:30. The sacristy costs €6, takes about 20 minutes and holds Tintoretto’s Wedding at Cana and works by Titian; there are some steps and no lift. The sacristy is also reported to be included in the St Mark’s Basilica “Marciano” ticket. Details on the San Giorgio, Salute and Frari page.

At the very tip, where the Grand Canal meets St Mark’s Basin, the old sea customs house with the figure of Fortune on its golden globe is home to the Punta della Dogana, the Pinault Collection’s contemporary art venue, restored by Tadao Ando. The €20 ticket (reduced €15, €7 for ages 20–26, free under 20) is also valid for Palazzo Grassi, across the Grand Canal in the San Marco sestiere. Open 10:00–18:00, closed Tuesdays, and only while exhibitions are on: check the calendar on the website before you go. Stop: Salute. From the point you get the widest view over the basin: San Marco, San Giorgio and the Giudecca.

Ca’ Rezzonico, 18th-century Venice

Begun by Longhena and finished by Giorgio Massari, Ca’ Rezzonico is the house-museum of the 18th century: Massari’s grand staircase, first-floor rooms with frescoed ceilings and period furniture, two early Canalettos in the second-floor portego, the Pietro Longhi rooms, Giandomenico Tiepolo’s frescoes removed from the villa at Zianigo, and on the third floor the old “Ai Do San Marchi” pharmacy. On the ground floor there is a 19th-century gondola with its felze, the covered cabin. The poet Robert Browning died here. When we checked, a large scaffold in the ballroom was blocking the view of the ceiling: check the notices on the website.

€15 (reduced €7.50), closed Tuesdays; summer 10:00–18:00, winter 10:00–17:00, with late opening on Fridays and Saturdays in the warmer months. Stop: Ca’ Rezzonico, line 1. It is included in the 18th-century Museums ticket (€20) and the MUVE Museum Pass (€50). See Ca’ Pesaro and Ca’ Rezzonico.

The Zattere, the Gesuati and the Redentore

The Zattere is the long south-facing quayside running from the Punta della Dogana to San Basilio: sun all day, views of the Giudecca and Palladio’s Redentore, gelato shops and tables over the water. It’s the place to walk at sunset. Along the quay stands the Gesuati church, with a ceiling frescoed by Giambattista Tiepolo, free to enter in the Chorus circuit (Monday–Saturday 10:30–17:00). In July, for the Festa del Redentore, the votive bridge of boats to the Giudecca starts from the Zattere. Stop: Zattere (lines 2 and 5.1/5.2); the Alilaguna Blue line also calls here. Giudecca is one stop away on line 2.

The San Trovaso squero

A few steps from the Zattere, on the rio di San Trovaso, is one of the last working squeri, the yards where gondolas are built and repaired, with its typical wooden house in mountain style. It is a workplace, not a museum: you look from the Fondamenta Nani on the opposite bank, without going in. On weekday mornings you’ll often see a gondola upturned for maintenance. For everything else about gondolas, from the official tariff to the boarding points, see the gondola page.

San Sebastiano, Veronese’s church

To the west, the church of San Sebastiano is called Paolo Veronese’s “Sistine Chapel”: he decorated it in several phases, ceilings, walls and organ, and is buried here, to the left of the chancel. There is also Titian’s St Nicholas. Entry is free in the Chorus circuit, Monday–Saturday 10:30–17:00. Few tourists come this far: it is one of the most rewarding free visits in Venice. Stop: San Basilio (line 2).

Campo Santa Margherita, the Carmini and San Barnaba

Campo Santa Margherita is the square of student life: a few market stalls in the morning, children on bikes in the afternoon, spritz and music until late at night. At the corner with Campo dei Carmini stands the Scuola Grande dei Carmini, with Giambattista Tiepolo’s nine paintings on the ceiling of the Sala Capitolare; according to the Scuola’s website the ticket is €10 and it opens daily 10:00–17:00.

A few steps further, on Campo San Barnaba, the former church houses The Machines of Leonardo, an exhibition of models rebuilt from his notebooks: €9 full, €6 for children and over-65s, all on the ground floor. Don’t confuse it with the Da Vinci Interactive Museum, which is in San Polo near the Frari. From the campo it is a minute to the canal where a boat moored at the corner sells fruit and vegetables.

A one-day Dorsoduro itinerary

1. 9:00 Gallerie dell’Accademia (about 2 hours), not on a Monday.
2. 11:15 walk through the calli to the Peggy Guggenheim (an hour and a half), not on a Tuesday.
3. 13:00 quick lunch towards the Salute, then the basilica (reopens at 15:00) and, if contemporary art is your thing, the Punta della Dogana.
4. 16:30 the Zattere to the Gesuati, a gelato, and sunset towards San Basilio.
5. Evening: aperitivo on Campo Santa Margherita.

If your day is a Tuesday, swap the Guggenheim and Ca’ Rezzonico for San Sebastiano, the Scuola dei Carmini and the Machines of Leonardo. If it’s a Monday, start with the Guggenheim and add Ca’ Rezzonico in the afternoon.

Practical tips

• Bags: the Accademia, the Guggenheim and the civic museums don’t accept suitcases or large backpacks; leave them at the hotel or in the lockers.
• With children: at the Accademia under-18s go free, at the Guggenheim under-10s; the sculpture garden and the canal terrace go down well with younger children too.
• Accessibility: the Guggenheim is accessible and allows pushchairs; the Salute sacristy has steps. The walk between the Accademia and the Salute crosses several bridges: with a wheelchair, line 1 is the better option.
• Traghetto: to cross to San Marco without going round via the Accademia bridge, use the Santa Maria del Giglio–Salute traghetto, €2 per person.
• Access Fee: Dorsoduro is in the historic city; on the designated days, day visitors must pay it on cda.ve.it.

To compare Dorsoduro with the other sestieri, go back to the guide to the sestieri of Venice; for the full list of the city’s museums, see Venice museums.