San Marco

A look around

What you’ll be living next to. Swipe through.

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Where it sits

The circle is San Marco and roughly a 10-minute walk around it.

How far is everything?

From the middle of this area to the city's headline sights — pick your own on the city page and these become your list.

• The Rialto Bridge6 min walk493 m
• San Giorgio Maggiore's tower8 min walk643 m
• The Peggy Guggenheim Collection8 min walk690 m
• The Rialto Market8 min walk707 m
• Gallerie dell'Accademia10 min walk858 m
• Cicchetti & an ombra14 min walk1.2 km
• The Grand Canal by vaporetto16 min walk1.3 km
• The Jewish Ghetto & Cannaregio19 min walk1.6 km

On your doorstep

What you’re living next to if you stay here.

• 1.St Mark's Basilica — A cathedral of Eastern domes and 8,000 square metres of gold mosaic, looted and built over 800 years to look like nowhere else in the West. Book a timed entry, and pay the little extra for the Pala d'Oro and the loggia horses.
• 2.The Doge's Palace — Eight centuries of Venetian power in pink-and-white marble — gilded council halls, Tintoretto's vast Paradise, and the Bridge of Sighs out to the old prison cells. The Secret Itineraries tour behind the walls is the one to book.
• 3.Piazza San Marco — The only true piazza in Venice and, as Napoleon supposedly said, the drawing room of Europe — the bell tower to climb, the clock tower, the arcades and the duelling orchestras. Overrun by noon; unforgettable at dawn or after the fireworks.
• 6.A gondola ride — Touristy, pricey and completely worth it once — the only way to slip into the silent back canals the boats can't reach. Fixed price for the boat, not per person, so fill it with friends; go at dusk, and skip the singer.
• 15.Teatro La Fenice — One of the great opera houses of the world — burned down and rebuilt 'as it was, where it was' after a 1996 fire, all gilt and red velvet. See a performance if you can, or take the audioguide tour by day.
• 17.Scala Contarini del Bovolo — A magical external spiral staircase tucked down a back alley, climbing to a loggia with a rooftop view over Venice. Hard to find, which is why it's still calm.