Destination: Venice

From May to November, the lagoon city becomes the great international laboratory of contemporary art. A perfect opportunity to rediscover Venice with fresh eyes, between the Giardini, the Arsenale, national pavilions and exhibitions spread across the city.

Venice is a city that seems to belong to the past, yet every two years it becomes one of the places most attuned to the present. It happens with the Art Biennale, which returns in 2026 from 9 May to 22 November with the 61st International Art Exhibition, entitled In Minor Keys and conceived by curator Koyo Kouoh. The exhibition unfolds between the Giardini, the Arsenale, the historic centre and Forte Marghera, turning the city into a widespread cultural itinerary.

The beauty of the Biennale is that you do not need to be an expert to visit it. You can go in out of curiosity, choose a few pavilions, and let yourself be surprised by a sound installation, a performance or a historic building opened for the occasion. It is a different way to experience Venice: less tied to its more familiar postcard images and closer to a city that changes, debates and experiments.

What is the Art Biennale, and why does it change the face of Venice?

The Venice Art Biennale is one of the world’s most important events dedicated to contemporary art. Founded in 1895, it has become an international event capable of attracting artists, curators, collectors and travellers from every continent. Its strength lies not only in the works on display, but also in the way it involves the city: for months, Venice becomes a map of exhibitions, pavilions, encounters, temporary architectures and special projects.

The 2026 edition has a special character. In Minor Keys grew out of the project by Koyo Kouoh, the Cameroonian curator who passed away in 2025, and which the Biennale has chosen to realise while respecting her original vision. The title invites visitors to listen to “minor keys”: voices, stories and artistic practices that are often less visible, yet able to tell the story of the contemporary world with depth.

Among the things to see, the main exhibition route unfolds between the Central Pavilion at the Giardini and the Arsenale. The Biennale lists 110 participants, including artists, collectives and organisations, selected to create resonances between different geographies and languages. Alongside the international exhibition, there are 100 National Participations, spread across the historic pavilions, the Arsenale and various locations in the city.

For first-time visitors to the Biennale, the advice is simple: do not try to see everything. It is better to choose one venue per day, alternate pavilions with breaks, and leave room for surprises. The Biennale is also made of detours: a courtyard, a deconsecrated church, a palazzo overlooking a canal, a room you enter almost by chance.

Giardini and Arsenale: the two venues to start from

The Biennale’s two main venues are the Giardini and the Arsenale, both in the Castello sestiere. They are complementary and equally important: all tickets include one admission to the Giardini and one to the Arsenale, even on different, non-consecutive days.

The Giardini: what to see and how to get there

The Giardini are the historic home of the Biennale. Here you will find the Central Pavilion and many permanent national pavilions, built over the course of the 20th century. It is an ideal area to begin your visit: the spaces are surrounded by greenery, the distances are manageable, and the atmosphere is that of an international park of art and architecture.

To get there from Piazzale Roma or Santa Lucia railway station, take ACTV lines 1, 4.1 or 5.1 to the Giardini Biennale stop; line 6 departs only from Piazzale Roma.

The Arsenale: what to see and how to get there

The Arsenale offers a different experience. Its spaces are more monumental: former shipyards, the Corderie, the Sale d’Armi, industrial settings and structures facing the water. It is the perfect place for those who love large installations and immersive works. The main entrance is in Campo della Tana, but access is also planned from Ponte dei Pensieri.

From Piazzale Roma or the station, you can get there on ACTV lines 1 and 4.1, Arsenale stop.

Art Biennale opening hours

Opening hours vary depending on the period:

• from 9 May to 27 September 2026, Giardini and Arsenale are open from 11:00 to 19:00, with last admission at 18:45;
• on Fridays and Saturdays, the Arsenale remains open until 20:00, with last admission at 19:45;
• from 29 September to 22 November, opening hours become 10:00-18:00, with last admission at 17:45;
• the exhibition is closed on Mondays, except 11 May, 1 June, 7 September and 16 November.

Tickets

A single admission ticket costs 30 euros; reduced rates are available for over-65s, residents, students and under-26s. There are also 3-day and weekly multiple-entry tickets, useful for those who want to visit the Biennale at a slower pace. Ticket purchases and guided tours are available online, with booking required for guided tours.

What to see: pavilions, debuts and new perspectives

One of the reasons the Biennale is so fascinating is the presence of the national pavilions. Each country interprets its own space in a different way: some choose spectacular installations; others use video, performance, archives, sound, traditional materials or digital languages.

In 2026 there are also important debuts: Equatorial Guinea, Guinea, Nauru, Qatar, Sierra Leone, Somalia and Vietnam are taking part in the Art Biennale for the first time; El Salvador is taking part for the first time with its own pavilion. It is an interesting detail for travellers too: visiting the Biennale means crossing very distant cultural geographies while remaining in Venice.

At the Arsenale, one stop to mark on your map is the Italian Pavilion, with Con te con tutto by Chiara Camoni, curated by Cecilia Canziani. The project occupies the Tese delle Vergini and presents itself as a walk-through landscape, with ceramic works, natural elements and dialogues with other artists.

Another new feature of the 2026 edition is the “Visitors’ Lions”: the public can vote for an artist participating in the In Minor Keys exhibition and for a National Participation. Ticket holders who have visited both venues, Giardini and Arsenale, can vote; voting remains open for the entire duration of the event, from 9 May to 22 November. It is a way to make the visit even more participatory: not just observing, but choosing what has left a mark.

Venice beyond the pavilions: exhibitions across the city

The Biennale does not end between the Giardini and the Arsenale. An important part of the experience is seeking out the collateral events and pavilions spread throughout the historic centre. In 2026, there are 31 collateral events approved by the Curator, organised in different Venetian venues by non-profit public and private bodies and institutions.

This is where Venice truly becomes an itinerary. A palazzo usually seen only from the outside may open its rooms to an exhibition; a former church may host an installation; a foundation may propose a project that dialogues with the Biennale. To organise your visit, it is worth choosing one area per day: Castello after visiting the Arsenale, Dorsoduro to combine exhibitions and museums, San Marco or Cannaregio for an evening walk between exhibition venues and less crowded calli.

A practical option: spend one morning at the Giardini, a second half-day at the Arsenale, and leave at least a few hours free for events in the city. This way, the Biennale does not become a marathon, but a common thread that helps you explore Venice in a slower, more personal way.

A weekend between art and canals

For a first visit, the most balanced itinerary is this:

• arrive in Venice on Friday, stroll through the Castello district and get a first taste of the Arsenale during its extended opening;
• Saturday at the Giardini;
• Sunday devoted to a selection of collateral events and a museum or foundation.

Those who only have a weekend can choose one main venue and a few pavilions around the city. Those with three days can buy the multiple-entry ticket and spread out their visits better. Weekdays are recommended if you want fewer crowds, while from May to September the Friday and Saturday evening openings at the Arsenale allow you to experience the exhibition more calmly in the late afternoon.

It is best to travel light: suitcases and large bags are not allowed inside the exhibition venues, while a free cloakroom is available for small items only. Both venues have restaurants and refreshment points, with options for coeliacs, vegetarians and vegans. For families, there are toilets with changing tables and pushchairs are available on request while supplies last.

Something else to check before departure is the access fee for the city of Venice, scheduled on certain days in 2026. Visitors staying in accommodation where the tourist tax is paid do not have to pay it, but it is always useful to verify dates and conditions before arrival.

Why go in May and June

May and June are two ideal months to experience the Biennale. The event has just begun, the cultural calendar is rich, and the long days make it possible to alternate exhibitions, walks and outdoor stops. It is also the best time for a trip that combines art and city life: a visit to the Giardini can end with an aperitif on Via Garibaldi, a morning at the Arsenale can continue towards Riva degli Schiavoni, and an exhibition in Dorsoduro can become the perfect opportunity to linger among quieter calli, campi and canal walkways.

A different trip to Venice

The 2026 Art Biennale is an invitation to return to Venice for a specific reason: to discover how contemporary art dialogues with an ancient, fragile and extraordinarily powerful city. It is a journey suited to those who love museums, but also to those who want to be surprised without too many explanations; to those looking for a cultural weekend, but also to those who want to see Venice beyond its most predictable routes.

Between the Giardini, the Arsenale and exhibitions spread across the city, Venice becomes an atlas to be explored on foot and by vaporetto, a place where every stop can change the way you look at the present. And perhaps this is precisely the best way to visit Venice in 2026: not only seeking its most famous beauty, but listening to its new voices.

Venice, a city suspended between dream and reality, has long captivated artists and writers. Its mysterious canals, its ancient palaces and its romantic air have made it an ideal setting for tales of love, intrigue, rivalries and mysteries, and many of these stories have appeared on the most famous pages in literature or on the big screen, to be loved by millions of readers or viewers.  

Venetian locations in film and literature

Imagine strolling through the very same streets where Casanova enjoyed his amorous adventures, standing on the same bridge from which Thomas Mann admired the Lagoon or witnessing archaeologists being chased by Nazis along the Grand Canal.

Venice is all of this: a place where literature and film come to life, so here are the most famous locations in the Lagoon that have featured on the pages of books or the big screen.

The Grand Canal

The Grand Canal, weaving its way past historical palaces and gondolas, is the beating heart of Venice. This winding waterway, around 3.8km long, splits the city in two and is indisputably its main thoroughfare.

Created as a waterway in the 6^th century, the Grand Canal soon became one of the main centres of trade in the city. Goods from all over the world were transported along it and housed on the banks of this “high street of Venice” in the numerous warehouses and merchants’ houses, such as the Fondaco dei Tedeschi (the German Merchants’ House) or the Fondaco Dei Turchi (the Turkish Merchants’ House), now home to the Museum of Natural History.

The palaces reflected in its waters are a true outdoor museum, testimony to historic events, lavish feasts and political intrigue. From the gothic elegance of Ca’ d’Oro to the baroque magnificence of Palazzo Grimani, every building has its own story to tell, linked to an era or family that has made Venice great.

Over the centuries, the Grand Canal has been immortalised by painters, writers and photographers, and its image has become an icon that’s recognised all over the world, a symbol of Venice and its unrivalled beauty. It’s no surprise, then, that it features at least once in all the films set or shot in the city. Some examples are: Everyone Says I Love You, by Woody Allen; Casanova, by Lasse Hallström; Casino Royale, the 2006 Bond movie; and The Tourist, by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, a romantic thriller starring Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp. The latter also features Santa Lucia train station and the Fondaco dei Turchi, again on the banks of the Grand Canal, as well as the Hotel Danieli and the Peggy Guggenheim Collection.

The Jewish Ghetto

The Venetian Ghetto is much more than just a Jewish quarter: it’s steeped in history and is where the word “ghetto” comes from. The term derives from the Italian word getto, referring to the pouring of molten metal in the foundry that once existed in the area, and the term then entered into common use to refer to the quarters to which Jews were confined.

The Ghetto, a microcosm of great cultural and religious vitality where Jews have preserved and continue to preserve their traditions and identity, like many other parts of the city has been a film location and a literary setting.

One of the most famous works set in this area is of course Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice, which tells the story of the rich Jew Shylock, the protagonist of a tale in which he is faced with antisemitism and intolerance. The tragedy has been told in almost 40 different versions on the big and small screen, in both feature films and shorts. Another story in which the Venetian Ghetto has played a key role is the one told in Senso, a film by Luchino Visconti, based on Camillo Boito’s novella of the same name. In this melodrama, set in Venice in 1866, the ghetto provides the backdrop for a love affair between a Venetian noblewoman and an Austrian officer. Other locations for the film are the La Fenice opera house and the Arsenal.

The Rialto Bridge

The Rialto Bridge, with its unmistakeable white form and the shops adorning it, is another well-known symbol of Venice. This bridge, linking the districts of San Marco and San Polo, existed as early as the 12^th century as a wooden structure, but has been rebuilt several times due to fires and the bridge collapsing. The current structure, in Istrian stone, dates back to the 16^th century and is the work of the architect Antonio da Ponte.

A short walk from the famous fish market, bursting with life and colour and a source of inspiration for poets and artists, the bridge has appeared in various films and books set in Venice. One example is Anonimo Veneziano (The Anonymous Venetian), a 1970 film directed by Enrico Maria Salerno, with the screenplay written by Giuseppe Berto, the author of the book of the same name published some years earlier.  

Piazza San Marco

St. Mark’s Square, the heart of Venice, is much more than just a square; it’s an outdoor living room, a stage on which history, art and everyday life have been intertwined for centuries and which has become a world-famous icon, along with the splendid Basilica, a true symbol of Venice.

Witness to coronations, festivals and processions, the square has often provided the backdrop for stories that have held us in suspense, in the cinema or as we turn the pages of a book. It was immortalised in Nosferatu a Venezia (Vampire in Venice), a 1988 horror film directed by Augusto Caminito, in which the square is shown in all its disturbing beauty in a foggy, mysterious Venice. More recently, in 2019, Piazza San Marco also featured in Spider-Man: Far From Home, where the young Peter Parker finds himself in the city while on a school trip.

Dan Brown, meanwhile, links both film and literature, with his choice of Venice as one of the settings for his novel Inferno. In the film based on the book, released in 2016, Tom Hanks, in the guise of Robert Langdon, unravels one of the many riddles in St. Mark’s Basilica itself.

And still in St. Mark’s Square, we have to mention the Marciana National Library, which also appears in The Tourist, and the Grancaffè Quadri, a real institution in the city. Founded in 1638, this café has attracted writers, artists and celebrities from all walks of life throughout the centuries, becoming the place to go for high society and a symbol of Venetian elegance, and it in fact appears in Visconti’s Senso, mentioned earlier.

Palazzo Ducale

The Doge’s Palace, a jewel of Venetian gothic architecture, has for centuries been the symbol of the power and splendour of Venice. Originally a ninth-century fortress, the building has undergone numerous modifications and transformations following events in the Republic of Venice and in line with the different styles that have characterised the city’s architecture.

The residence of the doges, the seat of government and the scene of key historic events, with its halls adorned with frescoes and works by masters such as Tintoretto and Titian, the Doge’s Palace has featured in some of cinema’s most famous stories and in literature, for example, in one of Shakespeare’s most popular tragedies, Othello. There are in fact over 20 different versions of the tale of the jealous and manipulated Moor of Venice: the first in 1906, the most recent in 2009, and including the famous 1952 version directed by Orson Welles, also bringing to the screen the magnificent spiral staircase of the Palazzo Contarini del Bovolo.

The films that have paid homage to Venice and its palace also include the 2009 film Casanova, with Heath Ledger playing the famous seducer, where, between plot twists and rococo settings, the Doge’s Palace provides the backdrop for amorous intrigues and daring adventures. Some scenes, whilst set inside the palace, were in fact filmed in the Scuola Grande di San Rocco.

The Basilica of Santa Maria della Salute

The Basilica of Santa Maria della Salute, with its impressive dome overlooking St. Mark’s Basin, is one of Venice’s most iconic monuments. Built in the 17^th century and dedicated to the Virgin Mary, following the dreadful plague that decimated the city, the Salute is much more than simply a church; it’s a symbol of the faith, hope and resilience of the Venetian people.

Its construction, entrusted to the young architect Baldassare Longhena, is a baroque masterpiece, characteristically octagonal in shape, with an impressive dome and ornately decorated on the exterior, making it the only work of its kind. Inside, it is bright and solemn, decorated with the finest marble and housing works of art by masters such as Tintoretto and Tiepolo.

The Basilica is a much-loved place of worship among Venetians, to the extent that every year, on 21 November, the feast day of the Madonna della Salute, a temporary pontoon bridge is erected to enable the many faithful to cross the Grand Canal more easily and to reach the basilica faster.

Like many other symbolic sites in Venice, the Basilica has also appeared on the big screen several times. Among other directors, Iain Softley chose it as a location, for his film The Wings of a Dove, which also features the San Trovaso boatyard and the squares of Campo di Santa Maria Formosa and Campo dei Frari, and Lasse Hallström used it in his film Casanova, mentioned above.

The Arsenal

The Arsenal is true testimony to the magnitude of Venice. Its origins date back to the 12^th century, when it was seen to be the beating heart of the Venetian fleet, eventually becoming the centre of a real industrial revolution. Thousands of artisans, from ship’s carpenters to blacksmiths, worked together here for centuries building ships of every kind, installing the latest nautical technologies of the time.

But the Arsenal was not just a shipyard; it was also a living organism, producing arms, sails, ropes and everything required to equip a fleet, and a kind of assembly line ahead of its time, where each production process was subdivided into specific zones and phases and entrusted to specialist craftsmen. This productive efficiency allowed Venice to reign the seas for centuries, controlling key trade routes and playing an essential role in international politics.

Over recent decades, the Arsenal has led a different life. After a long period of decline, it has now undergone major restoration and redevelopment works, becoming an internationally renowned cultural hub, even attracting Hollywood productions that have chosen it as a film location. It was used for the previously mentioned Senso, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Casanova, The Tourist, Spider-Man: Far From Home, and Iago, the latest film based on Shakespeare’s Othello.

Not far from the Arsenal is the charming square (or campo) of San Francesco della Vigna, which appeared in Pane e tulipani (Bread and Tulips), a 2000 film directed by Silvio Soldini. Some scenes were also shot in Piazzale Roma.

Lido di Venezia

The Venice Lido, a long and narrow island stretching between the Lagoon and the Adriatic Sea, was used in medieval times as a first military outpost to defend the city from naval attacks, but over the course of the centuries it eventually became a major tourist spot, even for the Venetians themselves. Its strategic location, just a few minutes from Venice by waterbus, has made it an ideal place for summer holidays, away from the heat and humidity of the city.

The intellectuals, artists and writers who chose to holiday there during the early years of the 20^th century helped to create a cosmopolitan and refined atmosphere which, in the 1930s, led to the staging of the first Venice International Film Festival. Since then, the festival has been held every year and is one of the world’s most eagerly awaited film events, as well as being one of the key events of the Venice Biennale.

The Lido is not just known for the festival, however, as its beauty and unique atmosphere have made it a very popular film location. Films that have had scenes shot here include The English Patient, a 1996 film directed by Anthony Minghella and the winner of numerous Oscars, and Death in Venice, by Luchino Visconti, a masterpiece of Italian cinema based on the novel by Thomas Mann and whose main character is an ill composer who spends the last weeks of his life on the Lido.

If you’d like to explore all the other aspects of the city and find more tips for your trip, read the other articles about Venice on the Volotea blog. If you’ve enjoyed this post, don’t forget to share it on your social channels; it could be of help to someone else who, like you, is planning a trip to the Lagoon!