What is the Venice self-guided walking tour?
The Venice self-guided walking tour is a walk through the alleys at the pace you choose, with audio narration on your phone doing the work of a guide. Set aside about 3 hours: 38 minutes of that is walking, the route measures 3 km, and at 10 stops you stand still and listen. Nothing is timed and no group waits for you.
At the Frari the narration opens with Titian's Assumption of the Virgin, raised over the high altar in 1518, and with the pyramid his pupils built as a monument to Canova. On the Mercerie you hear about the cannonball of 1849 still lodged in the façade of San Salvador, and at La Fenice about the two fires, in 1836 and in 1996, and about the first nights of Rigoletto and La Traviata. On St Mark's Square the story turns to the bell tower that fell on 14 July 1902 and stood again by 1912, to relics said to have left Alexandria in 828 under a load of pork, and to Casanova's way out of the cells under the palace roof in 1756.
- Durationabout 3 hours
- Walkingabout 38 min · 3 km
- Stops10
- LanguagesEnglish, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Portuguese, Chinese
What you do on the walking tour
Listen
At each stop the audio gives you the history of the place, its legends and the details you would otherwise walk past. The same text sits on the screen for anyone who would rather read.
Walk the alleys
Google Maps links the stops over bridges and through calli: 38 minutes of walking across 3 km, at whatever pace suits you.
Break off
Take a coffee or an hour in a church, then pick the walk up again, the same afternoon or another day.
Eat and browse
Tips for food and shops near the route arrive along with the stops. The opening point and the order are yours to rearrange in the app.
See the route and attractions →
How it works
- Book online Choose the number of people. Your booking reference arrives by email straight away.
- Get the app Download the World City Trail app from the App Store or Google Play and enter your booking reference.
- Walk when you like Start whenever you are ready, walk at your own pace and pause any time. No guide, no fixed schedule.
Who the walking tour is for
A first visit
One walk puts the campi, the churches and the two sides of the Grand Canal in order and explains what you are looking at.
Anyone who avoids groups
No umbrella to follow and no meeting point: you stay where something holds you and move on when you decide to.
One day in the city
3 hours covers the centre, which leaves time for a vaporetto ride, for the lagoon islands or for an evening on a quiet campo.
Good to know
- Bring a charged smartphone with mobile data; a power bank helps.
- No entry tickets needed: everything happens outside the buildings. Going inside is optional and paid separately.
- Family friendly; children must be accompanied by an adult.
- Not suitable for wheelchair users and difficult with strollers.
- Groups of up to 5 work best; larger groups split up, one ticket per person.
- Every purchase helps support stray cats and dogs in Greece.
The walk stop by stop: the Frari, the Rialto Bridge, St Mark's Square, San Giorgio dei Greci
10 stops · about 38 min walking · start: Basilica of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari · finish: San Giorgio dei Greci
The opening stop is the Basilica of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari in San Polo. Campo San Polo comes next, and then the route crosses the Grand Canal on the Rialto Bridge to Campo San Salvador and Teatro La Fenice. St Mark's Square follows, with St Mark's Basilica and the Doge's Palace side by side, and the walk then moves into Castello for the Church of San Zaccaria before ending at San Giorgio dei Greci. Another opening stop or another order is a setting in the app, and nothing on the way asks for an entry ticket.
Open the route map ↗
1Basilica of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei FrariStart
The Frari is the great brick church of the Franciscans in Venice, consecrated in 1492. Over the high altar hangs Titian's Assumption of the Virgin, put in place in 1518, and the church also holds a monument to Titian and the pyramid-shaped monument to the sculptor Antonio Canova, made by his pupils.
2Campo San Polo
Campo San Polo is the largest campo in Venice, second in size only to St Mark's Square among the city's open spaces. Paved in 1493, it once hosted bullfights, sermons and masked balls, and it is still used for Carnival events and open-air screenings, framed by the Church of San Polo and old palaces such as Palazzo Soranzo.
Read the full story →
3Rialto Bridge
The Rialto Bridge is the oldest of the four bridges across the Grand Canal. Antonio da Ponte built it in stone between 1588 and 1591 to replace a wooden bridge that had collapsed more than once, and its covered ramps still carry rows of shops.
4Campo San Salvador
Campo San Salvador, on the Mercerie shopping street, is framed by the Church of San Salvador, which holds two paintings by Titian, and by the Scuola Grande di San Teodoro. The marble column in the middle was set up in 1898 in memory of the Venetian uprising against Austrian rule in 1848–1849, and a cannonball from 1849 is still lodged in the church façade.
Read the full story →
5Teatro La Fenice
Teatro La Fenice, the Phoenix, opened in 1792 and has lived up to its name: it burned down in 1836 and again in an arson fire in 1996, and each time it was rebuilt, most recently reopening in 2003. Giuseppe Verdi's operas Rigoletto and La Traviata had their world premieres here.
6St Mark's Square
Venetians simply call St Mark's Square the Piazza, while most other squares in the city are called campi. It is framed by the long arcades of the Procuratie, and its bell tower, 98.6 metres high, is a faithful rebuild: the original collapsed on 14 July 1902, and the new tower was inaugurated in 1912.
7St Mark's Basilica
St Mark's Basilica was built to house the relics of St Mark, which, according to tradition, Venetian merchants smuggled out of Alexandria in 828 hidden under pork. The present 11th-century church is covered with about 8,000 square metres of mosaics, and the bronze horses on its façade are copies of the originals brought from Constantinople after 1204.
8Doge's Palace
The Gothic Doge's Palace was the residence of the doge and the seat of the Venetian Republic's government and courts. Its prisons are reached across the Bridge of Sighs, built around 1600, and in 1756 Giacomo Casanova escaped from the Piombi, the cells under its lead roof.
9Church of San Zaccaria
The Church of San Zaccaria was built between 1458 and 1515, begun in Gothic style by Antonio Gambello and completed with a Renaissance façade by Mauro Codussi. It belonged to a wealthy Benedictine convent, several doges are buried in its crypt, and inside hangs Giovanni Bellini's San Zaccaria Altarpiece.
Read the full story →
10San Giorgio dei GreciFinish
San Giorgio dei Greci was built from 1539 to 1573 for the large Greek Orthodox community of Venice and is one of the oldest churches of the Greek diaspora. Look for its leaning bell tower beside the canal; inside, the iconostasis holds icons by Michael Damaskinos, and since 1991 it has been the cathedral of the Orthodox Archdiocese of Italy.
Only logged in customers who have purchased this product may leave a review.
Germany –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Um sich einen ersten Tag in Venedig zurecht zu finden optimal
France –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Italy –
Collected on GetYourGuide
United Kingdom –
Collected on GetYourGuide
The places on tour are stunning, the little stories about each area brilliant but some of the fact sections written in a not very engaging way but would definitely recommend this when in Venice.
Angela– United Kingdom –
Collected on GetYourGuide
We enjoyed doing it at the speed and pace we wanted with stops when it suited us.
Netherlands –
Collected on GetYourGuide
App werkt prima. Op zich wel fijn om wat plekjes te bezichtigen, zodat je zelf niet hoeft te zoeken. Grootste deel van de plekken waren kerken, waar je telkens entree voor moet betalen. Beetje jammer. Tussen de bezichtigingsplekken in kwamen leuke weetjes en verhalen in de app te staan over de stad en zijn legendes. Dat was wel heel leuk om te lezen.
Germany –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Ich war noch nie zuvor in Venedig und kannte mich dahingehend nicht in der Stadt aus. Mithilfe der App hat man eine gut laufbare Route und entdeckt Venedig und seine Sehenswürdigkeiten. Man kann sich spontan entscheiden ob man diese betritt oder weitergeht. Dazu gab es nicht nur Informationen zu den jeweiligen Sehenswürdigkeiten sondern auch allgemein Informationen zu Venedig. Ich fand es persönlich sehr gut!
Netherlands –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Echt een aanrader. Je krijgt binnen een paar uur de hoogtepunten van een stad te zien met beknopte uitleg.
Germany –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Wenn man ankommt ist das eine super Sache um schon mal etwas zu sehen.
Germany –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Es war nicht möglich den Startpunkt selbst zu wählen. Das navigationstool (bring mich hin) hat nicht funktionieren. Würde ich mir nicht nochmal holen
Elma – Netherlands –
Collected on GetYourGuide
App werkt perfect! Goede navigatie en veel info over de stad. Je komt op bijzondere plekjes.
France –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Bien mais on n’avait déjà fait la plupart des sites !
Shaneth– Italy –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Eccellente esperienza e organizzazione.
Italy –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Para um tour de um dia, foi excelente. O trajeto, em si, não dura muito mais de uma hora, então dá para visitar os lugares sugeridos com tranquilidade e ainda sair do roteiro, eventualmente.
Italy –
Collected on GetYourGuide
App molto comoda
Germany –
Collected on GetYourGuide
It’s a good way to explore a city. The information is not overwhelming, but gives brief introduction to the points of interests in the city.
Germany –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Gut