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Get lost in the back canals of Cannaregio and Dorsoduro, Venice

Neighbourhoods

Get lost in the back canals of Cannaregio and Dorsoduro

Venice · Veneto

QUICK INFORMATION

CATEGORY
Neighbourhoods
COUNTRY
Italy
REGION
Venice · Veneto
DURATION
Half a day in each quarter
DIFFICULTY
Easy walking on flat ground; the only navigation is the bridges.
BEST TIME
Year-round; spring and autumn are most comfortable.

ABOUT THIS EXPERIENCE

The Venice most visitors see is the corridor between the station, the Rialto and St Mark’s. The Venice that locals live in begins a few streets back from that corridor, in the residential sestieri of Cannaregio in the north and Dorsoduro in the south. Cannaregio holds the Jewish Ghetto — the world’s first, from which the word comes — the broad Fondamente Nove waterfront facing the islands, and a web of quiet canals and small bridges. Dorsoduro holds the Zattere promenade along the Giudecca Canal, the Accademia galleries and the Peggy Guggenheim Collection. Getting lost in either is the point: Venice is the rare city where losing your way is the activity.

WHAT YOU’LL EXPERIENCE

What you’ll experience

More here soon — the road is still being mapped.

THE EXPERIENCE IN DETAIL

What it’s really like

More here soon — the road is still being mapped.

HIGHLIGHTS

Moments worth savouring

01

The Jewish Ghetto in Cannaregio — the site of the world’s first ghetto, established in 1516, with its museum and five historic synagogues.

02

The Fondamente Nove — the wide waterfront in Cannaregio facing the lagoon islands of Murano, Burano and the cemetery of San Michele.

03

The Zattere — the long sunny promenade in Dorsoduro along the Giudecca Canal, with cafés and the old salt warehouses.

04

The Peggy Guggenheim Collection — the modern art collection in the collector’s former home on the Grand Canal in Dorsoduro.

WHAT TO EXPECT

Good to know before you go

More here soon — the road is still being mapped.

PRACTICAL INFORMATION

Before you go

Access
Both quarters are reached on foot from the Grand Canal; Cannaregio from the railway station end, Dorsoduro from the Accademia bridge.
Best Time
Mornings and late afternoons, when the residential life of the quarters is most visible.
Context
These are the quarters where Venetians still live; treat the lanes as residential streets.

MAP & LOCATION

Get lost in the back canals of Cannaregio and Dorsoduro

Get lost in the back canals of Cannaregio and Dorsoduro, Venice, Veneto, Italy

45.4475, 12.3297

Open in OpenStreetMap

ATTRACTIONS NEARBY

Pair it with these sights

St Mark’s Basilica, Venice
Landmark

St Mark’s Basilica

The cathedral of Venice, begun in the 11th century on the model of Constantinople’s Church of the Holy Apostles — a Greek-cross plan crowned by five domes and sheathed in gold mosaics. The body of St Mark was smuggled from Alexandria in 828, and the church became the spiritual heart of the republic.

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Doge’s Palace, Venice
Landmark

Doge’s Palace

The seat of government of the Venetian republic — a Gothic palace beside St Mark’s holding the Great Council chamber, the prisons and the Bridge of Sighs, where the Doge, the Senate and the feared Council of Ten governed a thousand-year state.

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Grand Canal, Venice
Landmark

Grand Canal

The main waterway of Venice, an inverted S-curve nearly four kilometres long that divides the city in two, lined with more than 170 palaces from the 13th to the 18th centuries. The vaporetti and gondolas that ply it are the best way to see the city’s façades.

View attraction
Rialto Bridge and Market, Venice
Landmark

Rialto Bridge and Market

The oldest of the Grand Canal’s four bridges, a single stone arch built in 1591, with shops on its span. Around it, the Rialto has been Venice’s commercial heart since the 11th century — the produce market, the fish market and the banking quarter.

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Bridge of Sighs, Venice
Landmark

Bridge of Sighs

The enclosed limestone bridge of 1600 by Antonio Contino that links the Doge’s Palace courts to the New Prisons across the canal, its barred windows giving prisoners their last view of Venice and the lagoon.

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MORE EXPERIENCES

More to do in Venice

Ride the Grand Canal at dusk by vaporetto, Venice
Scenic & Viewpoints

Ride the Grand Canal at dusk by vaporetto

A ride down the Grand Canal on a public vaporetto as the light fades — the palaces lighting up, the water turning gold, the city seen from the deck the way it was meant to be seen.

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Visit the lagoon islands of Murano, Burano and Torcello, Venice
Islands

Visit the lagoon islands of Murano, Burano and Torcello

A boat trip to the lagoon islands — Murano for its glass furnaces, Burano for its lacemakers and brightly painted houses, and Torcello for the oldest church in the lagoon and the birthplace of Venice.

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FOOD & DRINK

Where to eat nearby

01

Osteria alle Testiere — a tiny seafood osteria near St Mark’s, one of Venice’s best, book well ahead

02

Cantina Do Mori — the oldest bacaro in Venice, near the Rialto, for cicchetti and a glass of ombra

03

Osteria Anice Stellato — a canal-side trattoria in Cannaregio, honest Venetian cooking off the tourist track

04

All’Arco — a Rialto bacaro serving cicchetti to market workers and visitors from early morning

05

Vini da Gigio — a Cannaregio institution for Venetian classics and a serious wine list

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HOTELS & STAYS

Where to stay nearby

01

Ca’ Sagredo Hotel — a 15th-century palazzo on the Grand Canal, a Relais & Châteaux property

02

Hotel Danieli, Luxury Collection — a historic palace near St Mark’s, with lagoon views

03

Novecento Boutique Hotel — a small, quiet hotel near the Accademia in Dorsoduro

04

B&B Rota — a family-run guesthouse in Cannaregio, good value for a quiet base

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NEARBY DESTINATIONS

Continue the journey

Verona

Verona

Veneto

Florence

Florence

Tuscany

Cortina d’Ampezzo

Cortina d’Ampezzo

Veneto

PART OF

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