Enjoy A Venice Walking Route Through The San Polo And Dorsoduro Neighbourhoods

If you are in Venice for a few days, then you have enough time to divide your itinerary into half day chunks and explore the six main neighbourhoods (‘sestiere’) in separate sections. This helps you to explore beyond the San Marco sestiere and experience the different areas of the city. Here’s a Venice walking route through the San Polo and Dorsoduro neighbourhoods to get you started…

A morning walk through the San Polo neighbourhood

Start at the Rialto Bridge and Rialto Market

We start our Venice walking route at the Rialto Bridge, which sits at the entrance to the San Polo neighbourhood from the San Marco sestiere.

Note – if you arrive to the Rialto vaporetto stop, then you will b able to find this great spot for photographing the Rialto Bridge (below).

Then cross the bridge to enter San Polo. The bridge itself is usually too busy to enjoy, so just head on over, as there are better rewards on the other side.

Make your way straight to the Rialto Market to admire the fresh produce and watch the locals stocking up on provisions. The Rialto Market is open on Tuesday to Saturdays, and from 7.30am until around 1pm. To see the Rialto Market in full swing then don’t leave it too late, get there nice and early to see the best action. Look out for the signs on the wall referring to the correct size fish need to be for sale.

Campo San Polo

Next on your Venice walking route, weave through the tiny streets of San Polo to Campo San Polo, admiring the sights along the way – a colourful gondola here, a wonderful mask or costume shop there. Campo San Polo is the second largest open-air square in Venice, after St Mark’s Square.

There is a Tintoretto in the Church of San Polo if you want to pop in to view it, and numerous options for a coffee if you need one, before heading further into the San Polo neighbourhood to Campo Frari.

Basilica S Maria Glorioso dei Frari (‘the Frari’)

On arrival at Campo Frari, either enjoy a satisfactory lunch at nearby restaurant Muro Frari, or head straight into the Basilica S Maria Glorioso dei Frari (‘the Frari’) to wonder at this vast Gothic church. The first church built on this site was built by Franciscan friars, hence its name, ‘the brothers’, which was then replaced by a much bigger church in the 15th century.

There is a host of art to admire inside ‘the Frari’ such as:

• Titian’s Assumption of the Virgin painting (1518)
• Donatello’s John the Baptist sculpture (1438)
• Bellini’s Madonna and Child (1488) and 
• Titian’s brightly coloured Pesaro Madonna (1519-26) 

The Frari also holds the tombs of Titian, Pesaro, and Canova, and the adjoining monastery and courtyards have been home to the State Archives since the fall of the Republic. The Frari was so impressive that it did encourage several minutes of quiet contemplation, and time to admire the art.

Scoula Grande Di San Rocco

Next door to Basilica S Maria Glorioso dei Frari, is another gem for Renaissance art lovers, the Scoula Grande di San Rocco – known as the Sistine Chapel of Venice because it is covered in paintings of the Old and New Testament by Tintoretto.

We chose to visit ‘the Frari’ instead of the Scoula on our trip, so this is on my list for next time. There’s only so much Renaissance splendour you can enjoy in one sitting!

An afternoon in the Dorsoduro neighbourhood

From the alter end of ‘the Frari’, walk into the Dorsoduro neighbourhood through the Sottoportego (passageway) under the tiny Church of San Roch, and then into the Campiello San Rocco.

Continue on your Venice walking route towards the University, avoiding the sweet treats of Tonolo if you have just had lunch, and over the bridge by the fire station – make sure that you look back from the bridge to see if you can spot any red fire boats under the arches of this water-based station.

Campo San Barnaba

Stop for coffee in Campo San Barnaba, a bustling square with the canal on one side. We enjoyed watching the graduation celebrations of a Venetian student with his friends and family on the tables next to us – locals just living their best lives in this beautiful city.

There is a small Michelangelo exhibition in the church on Campo San Barnaba, if you want to pop in to see that, or alternatively visit Ca’Rezzonica to explore 18th century palace living.

The Accademia and Peggy Guggenheim Museums

Your Venice walking route now heads towards the Accademia Museum. Admire the famous wooden Accademia Bridge over the Grand Canal if you have not seen it yet on your visit to Venice.

If you want to visit the Accademia Museum, then you will need to allow a couple of hours as there is a lot of art to view. Alternatively, if Renaissance art is not to your taste, walk a little further on to the Peggy Guggenheim Museum for a fix of modern art.

Church of the Madonna della Salute

Continue right to the western end of the Dorsoduro to visit the fabulous white Baroque Basilica Santa Maria Della Salute (church of health), one of the so called ‘plague churches’ built to help deliver the city from pestilence after a devastating outbreak of the plague in 1630.

Inside the church you will find a large open central space which is relatively unfussy for Venice, with a spectacular internal floor and Madonna painting over the alter. You can pay to view Tintoretto’s The Wedding at Cana (1561) in a room off the main church.

As you leave, sit on the steps outside the Church for a couple of minutes taking in the activity on the Grand Canal – gondolas, vaporettos, other boats being busy, busy, busy on the water!

Walk along the Zattere, Venice

Next stroll along the Zattere, Venice, a promenade on the Guidecca canal side of Dorsoduro where you’ll find small Venetian details, such as, a boat workshop or plaques marking the flood levels of 2019. The Zattere, Venice, is a popular spot from which to watch the sunset and/or pick up a gelato from Nicos – but you might need to queue as it’s so popular!

Aperitivo time

5pm to 7pm is aperitivo time in Venice, so on your Venice walking tour, it should now be the right time to stop for a Spritz at Osteria Al Squero for an aperitivo opposite the gondola repair shop which features in scenes from the remake of the Italian Job film. It’s a cute view and feels so very Venetian (see featured photograph. Photo credit: Instagram @smytocreative).

If you want to try some of the best cicchetti in Venice, then wander inland along the canal for a couple of minutes until you reach Cantione gia Schiavi. Choose some cicchetti from the cabinets and enjoy with a beer or spritz.

Either carry on to Campo Santa Margherita, at the heart of university life, for more drinks and food, or head back the Ca’Rezzonico vaporetto station to finish for the day.

When we got to Campo Santa Margherita, it was Halloween night, and all the waiters in the restaurants on the square were dressed up in costumes entertaining groups of young Halloweeners going around with their baskets hoping for treats – it was all very wholesome and cute to watch!

Final thoughts on this Venice walking route…

We thoroughly enjoyed our Venice walking route through the two neighbourhoods of San Polo and the Dorosduro, which gave us a different flavour of Venice to the San Marco experience. We liked the wandering and just soaking in the sights and sounds.

Finding places to eat, drink, and rest our feet was no problem at all. But best of all, it felt like we were exploring beyond the crowds, and hitting more local spots which was great.

Thank you so much for reading my blog, I hope you found it useful?

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