If you’re in Venice for a few days, it’s worth splitting your time into half-day chunks and exploring the six sestieri (districts) one or two at a time. It gets you beyond San Marco and shows you how different each part of the city feels.
This self-guided Venice walking tour takes you from the Rialto Market through San Polo and Dorsoduro to the Zattere waterfront, with some of the city’s best art, a coffee stop in a local square and cicchetti to finish. It was one of our favourite days in Venice.
Start at the Rialto Bridge in the morning, wander through San Polo to the Frari, cross into Dorsoduro for coffee and galleries, then finish with a sunset gelato on the Zattere and a spritz by the gondola yard.
Start: Rialto Bridge (Rialto vaporetto stop).
Finish: The Zattere, with Ca' Rezzonico or Zattere vaporetto stops to head back.
Distance: 6km and roughly 1 hour 24 minutes of walking.
Time: A relaxed half day of walking, or a full day with lunch, a gallery and aperitivo.
Best time to start: Mid-morning, so the Rialto Market is still busy.
Pairs well with: A morning in San Marco the day before, as this walk shows you the quieter side of the city.
Start your walk at the Rialto Bridge, which links San Marco with San Polo. If you arrive at the Rialto vaporetto stop, there’s a great spot right by the station for photographing the bridge.
The bridge itself is usually too busy to enjoy, so just head on over. There are better rewards on the other side.
Before you cross, though, it’s worth knowing the Rialto is in rare company. It’s often described as one of only four bridges in the world still lined with shops on both sides along its whole length. The others are Pulteney Bridge in Bath, the Ponte Vecchio in Florence, with its jewellers and goldsmiths, and the Krämerbrücke in Erfurt, Germany, the longest of the four, where people still live above the shops.
Make your way straight to the Rialto Market to see the fresh produce and watch locals stocking up. It’s a morning market and closes early, so get there in good time to see it in full swing, and check which days it’s open before you go. Look out for the old plaques on the walls listing the minimum size each fish must be before it can be sold.
San Polo is the smallest of Venice’s six sestieri, but it’s packed with things to see. From the market, weave through its tiny streets towards Campo San Polo, taking in the sights along the way: a colourful gondola here, a wonderful mask or costume shop there.
Campo San Polo is the second largest square in Venice after St Mark’s Square, and a lovely open space after the narrow lanes. There’s a Tintoretto Last Supper in the church of San Polo if you want to pop in, before heading on to Campo dei Frari.
When you reach Campo dei Frari, grab lunch nearby or head straight into the Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, known simply as the Frari. The name comes from the Franciscan friars (“frari” means brothers) who built the first church here, later replaced by the vast Gothic church you see today.
There’s a wealth of art inside, including:
Titian's Assumption of the Virgin: The huge altarpiece that dominates the church.
Donatello's John the Baptist: A carved wooden sculpture from the 15th century.
Bellini's Madonna and Child: A triptych in the sacristy.
Titian's Pesaro Madonna: Rich with colour, and one of his most famous works.
The Frari also holds the tomb of Titian and a monument to Canova. It was so impressive that it prompted several minutes of quiet contemplation from all of us.
Next door is another treat for art lovers, the Scuola Grande di San Rocco, often called the Sistine Chapel of Venice because its walls and ceilings are covered with paintings by Tintoretto. We chose the Frari instead on this trip, so it’s on my list for next time. There’s only so much Renaissance splendour you can take in at one sitting!
From the altar end of the Frari, head into Dorsoduro towards Campiello San Rocco and on towards the university. Resist the pastries at Pasticceria Tonolo if you’ve just had lunch, and cross the bridge by the fire station. Look back from the bridge to see if you can spot any red fire boats moored under the arches of this water-based station.
Stop for coffee in Campo San Barnaba, a lively square with a canal along one side. We enjoyed watching a Venetian student celebrating his graduation with friends and family at the tables next to us. It was locals just living their best lives in this beautiful city.
If you want a detour, the church in the square houses a small exhibition of Leonardo da Vinci’s inventions, or you can visit nearby Ca’ Rezzonico to see how 18th-century Venetians lived.
Your route now heads towards the Accademia. Admire the wooden Accademia Bridge over the Grand Canal if you haven’t seen it yet, one of only four bridges across it.
If you want to visit the Gallerie dell’Accademia, allow a couple of hours, as there’s a lot of Venetian art to see. If Renaissance art isn’t your thing, walk a little further to the Peggy Guggenheim Collection for a fix of modern art.
Carry on to the tip of Dorsoduro and the white Baroque Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute. It’s one of the so-called plague churches, built to give thanks for the city’s deliverance from the plague of 1630. Inside, it’s surprisingly uncluttered for Venice, with a striking marble floor and a Madonna over the altar. You can pay to see Tintoretto’s Wedding at Cana in the sacristy.
As you leave, pause on the campo in front of the church and watch the Grand Canal go by: gondolas, vaporetti and delivery boats all busy, busy, busy on the water. The steps themselves are part of the monument, so save the sit-down for a bench later on the Zattere.
Next, stroll along the Zattere, the long promenade on the Giudecca Canal side of Dorsoduro. Look out for the small Venetian details as you go, like the boat workshops and the plaques marking recent flood levels.
The Zattere is a popular spot to watch the sunset, and the place to pick up a gelato from Nico. You might have to queue, as it’s so popular.
Aperitivo time in Venice runs from about 5pm to 7pm, so this is the moment to stop for a spritz. Osteria Al Squero sits opposite the Squero di San Trovaso, one of the last working gondola boatyards in the city. It’s a lovely view and feels so very Venetian.
For some of the best cicchetti in Venice, wander a couple of minutes inland along the canal to Cantinone Già Schiavi. Pick your cicchetti from the cabinets and enjoy them with a beer or a spritz.
From here, either carry on to Campo Santa Margherita, the heart of student life, for more food and drinks, or head back to the Ca’ Rezzonico vaporetto stop to finish for the day. When we reached Campo Santa Margherita it was Halloween, and all the waiters were in fancy dress, entertaining groups of little trick-or-treaters with their baskets. It was all very wholesome and lovely to watch.
In closing
We loved this walk through San Polo and Dorsoduro, which gave us a very different flavour of Venice to San Marco. We enjoyed the wandering and soaking in the sights and sounds, and finding places to eat, drink and rest our feet was never a problem. Best of all, it felt like we'd left the crowds behind and found the more local side of the city.
If you want another route away from the crowds, our guide to hidden Venice in Castello, Cannaregio and Santa Croce picks up where this one leaves off, and our guide to Venice with teenagers shows how this walk fits into a five-day trip.
Hope you enjoy your walk!
Join thousands of travelers looking for inspiration from our FREE Planet Travel newsletter!
Your step-by-step framework for stress-free, unforgettable trips — from first idea to final itinerary.
Your step-by-step framework for stress-free, unforgettable trips — from first idea to final itinerary.
Join thousands of travelers looking for inspiration from our FREE Planet Travel newsletter!
