Where to Find 10 of the Best Views of Venice

Look, it’s not hard to find beautiful views in Venice.

With charming canals winding between classic Venetian buildings, world-famous cathedrals and impressive bell towers, picturesque bridges around every turn, and more — plus, zero cars to get in the way of all this beauty — Venice is truly one gorgeous viewpoint after another.

But perhaps you want to know about the very best spots to find perfect views of Venice.

If so, you’re in luck: I spent a week in Venice, and in addition to plenty of glorious time just wandering aimlessly with my camera, I also purposefully set out to find the very best views of Venice. I looked for overhead views from tall towers, classic Venetian viewpoints, and unique perspectives on famous sights.

In this post, I’m sharing what I found with you — including exactly where and how to find each of my favorite viewpoints, plus a map where you can find the exact location of each site.

Here are 10 of the very best views of Venice.

TIP: This map contains the locations where you’ll find the viewpoints listed in this blog post. To save it to your own Google Maps account, click the star next to the map’s name. You can then find and use the map from your Google Maps app by going to “Saved,” then “Maps.”

1. Ponte dell’Accademia

Though the Grand Canal snakes through Venice for more than 2 miles, it’s surprisingly uninterrupted by bridges. In fact, throughout its entire length, only four bridges span the Grand Canal: Ponte della Constituzione, Ponte degli Scalzi, Ponte di Rialto (the most famous one!), and — just before the southern end of the canal — Ponte dell’Accademia.

With a simple wooden design, Ponte dell’Accademia is far from Venice’s prettiest bridge — but that doesn’t matter, when the point is what you can see from the bridge.

Looking north from the Ponte dell’Accademia, the view is perfectly lovely. Venetian buildings line the wide canal, while gondolas and water buses and other types of boats traverse the water between them.

But looking south, the view is spectacular: boats of many different sizes and speeds travel out of the Grand Canal and into the Venetian Lagoon, or vice versa, while other boats await their turn at mooring posts. Ornate buildings stand proudly beside the blue waters of the canal. People sit along the terrace of the underappreciated Peggy Guggenheim Collection, watching the world float by. And, most notably, the multi-domed Basilica Santa Maria della Salute sits regally at the tip of the island.

I’ve walked over the Ponte dell’Accademia at many times of day, looking for the best lighting. To my surprise, I ended up taking my favorite photo of the view from Ponte dell’Accademia — the one above — at about 1 pm, which is not typically a great time of day for photography.

Golden hour (the hour or so before sunset) is a more reliable bet for warm, friendly lighting. For golden hour photos, try to arrive on Ponte dell’Accademia about 30 to 60 minutes before sunset.

2. T Fondaco Rooftop Terrace

For one of the best views directly above the Grand Canal, head to the rooftop terrace of the Fondaco dei Tedeschi — a luxury shopping center that sits right beside the Rialto Bridge on the Grand Canal.

NOTE: The Fondaco dei Tedeschi mall closed in May 2025 — and with it, sadly, the rooftop terrace. As a result, the rooftop terrace is not currently open to visitors. I’m preserving part of this section of this post in the hopes that the next occupant of the building will reopen the rooftop terrace and welcome visitors once again!

From the T Fondaco terrace, you’ll have wonderful views of the rooftops of Venice — including the top of St. Mark’s Basilica and its bell tower — the famous Rialto Bridge, and the Grand Canal. Indeed, because the Fondaco dei Tedeschi sits right at one of the curves of the Grand Canal, the terrace has fantastic views down the canal in multiple directions.

3. Peggy Guggenheim Collection

The Peggy Guggenheim Collection — a museum in the former home of (you guessed it) 20th century heiress, socialite, and art patron Peggy Guggenheim — holds a wonderful collection of art. Much of it is by names you will certainly recognize: Picasso, Dali, Pollock, and on and on. For fans of 20th-century art, the Guggenheim Collection is a treasure.

However: no offense to the art, but my favorite part of the Guggenheim looks in another direction entirely.

It’s the museum’s terrace, which sits directly on the Grand Canal. The terrace is austere, with limited stone seating, but during my visit to the Guggenheim, I spent an hour there nonetheless, just watching the world float by.

The Guggenheim is located about halfway between the Ponte dell’Accademia and Santa Maria della Salute at the end of the Grand Canal, so it’s the perfect place to people watch — and boat watch. Gondolas float by gracefully, steered by their striped gondoliers. Speedboats zip by, uh, speedily, and large vaporetti (water buses) zoom through the canal, making other boats lurch in their wake.

It’s not a sweeping view over the city, like some of the other spots on this list, but if you ask me, it’s just as wonderful.

4. St. Mark’s Campanile

When seeking out great views of Venice, why not head to the city’s tallest building?

That is, of course, the campanile — or bell tower — of St. Mark’s Basilica. At nearly 100 meters, the campanile towers high over the rooftops of Venice and is visible for miles around.

St. Mark’s campanile is one of those rare Italian towers that you don’t need to climb up of your own accord, as it’s been modernized with an elevator.

When you reach the top, you’ll have incredible views of Venice and the surrounding islands in the Venetian Lago.

The campanile opens at 9:30 am every day, and I do recommend getting there close to the opening time. Personally, I arrived at 9:45 am on a Thursday and walked right in (after buying my ticket, that is), but by the time I left, a long line had already formed.

5. San Giorgio Maggiore

San Giorgio Maggiore, a small island that sits just southeast of St. Mark’s Square, is one of the best places to find views of the main Venetian island group and its sights — especially St. Mark’s Square (the campanile, in particular) and its surrounding buildings.

To reach San Giorgio Maggiore, simply catch the number 2 vaporetto (water bus) from the stop at St. Mark’s Square. From the edge of the island, you’ll have great views across the water. For even better views, take the elevator to the top of the church’s bell tower.

Personally, I prefer the views from San Giorgio Maggiore to the views from St. Mark’s campanile in many ways. Though you won’t get a direct view over the square or the rooftops of the main islands from San Giorgio Maggiore, you do get the best available views of the campanile itself, which I think is quite beautiful.

6. The Grand Canal

For unique perspectives on some of Venice’s most famous sights, get out on the water.

Yeah, you can see Rialto Bridge by walking over it — more on that in a minute — but it’s much more enjoyable to look up at it while traversing the Grand Canal by boat.

There are many, many ways to experience the Grand Canal by boat, including gondolas and water taxis. But to get the most bang for your buck, I recommend riding the number 1 vaporetto line, which travels the entire length of the Grand Canal.

With a combination of luck and strategy (read all about it in this post), you can snag one of the best seats on the vaporetto and get gorgeous views of San Giorgio Maggiore, the most famous sights on the Grand Canal (including Santa Maria della Salute and Rialto Bridge), gondolas traversing the canal, and the beautiful architecture on either side of the canal.

Of course, you can also experience Venice’s other, smaller canals by boat, including a gondola or a water taxi. A classic gondola ride (which you can catch at any number of canalside locations throughout the city) will cost you at least €80 for just 30 minutes (yikes!), but if your trip to Venice won’t be complete without a gondola ride, then it may be worth the steep price.

7. Bridge of Sighs

One of the most famous bridges in Venice is the Bridge of Sighs — a beautiful enclosed bridge linking the upper floors of two buildings across a canal.

Specifically, the Bridge of Sighs connects a former prison with interrogation rooms in the Doge’s Palace (more on the palace in a minute!). It’s said that the bridge got its name from convicts sighing at their final views of beautiful Venice as they were led over the bridge to their cells in the prison.

The Bridge of Sighs can best be seen from bridges that run parallel to it: Ponte della Paglia and Ponte de Canonica.

The Bridge of Sighs as seen from Ponte della Paglia (left) and Ponte de Canonica (right)

8. Doge’s Palace

Located directly beside St. Mark’s Basilica, the Doge’s Palace (or Palazzo Ducale) formerly served as the residence of the Doge of Venice — the ruler of the Republic of Venice, when it existed — as well as a jail and government offices.

Today, the Doge’s Palace serves as a museum. There are beautiful, ornate rooms and windows with excellent views of St. Mark’s Basilica — though I personally preferred the many unique windows with circular glass designs, which allow for some creative shots of the surrounding rooftops.

The Doge’s Palace is most famous, though, for the Bridge of Sighs. As you walk through the museum, you’ll walk through the Bridge of Sighs. Technically, you’re not supposed to stop on the bridge, but if it’s not busy during your visit to the Doge’s Palace, you may have some time to pause and enjoy the views through the tiny windows in the bridge.

9. Museo Correr

For some of the best views of St. Mark’s Square, head to Museo Correr — a museum that occupies portions of the long, connected buildings around the square.

In addition to the beautiful rooms and interesting collection of art of other items, Museo Correr has top-notch views of the buildings in St. Mark’s Square. In particular, head to the museum’s cafe (which is just outside the entrance to the museum) for the best view of the basilica and the base of the campanile at the end of the square.

10. Rialto Bridge

Venice’s most famous and arguably most beautiful bridge, Rialto Bridge (or Ponte di Rialto), is quite the sight to see. Arching up over the Grand Canal, the massive Rialto features a portico with rows of shops and wide stairways where you can stand and appreciate the views over the Grand Canal.

Truth be told, I’ve put Rialto Bridge at the bottom of this list because it’s not my favorite as an experience. The bridge is gorgeous and the views are great, but I’ve never seen Rialto without tons of tourists, no matter the time of day. It’s not a joy to contend with crowds just to snag a view.

Still, Rialto Bridge, and the views from it, are worth seeing — plus, given that it’s one of just a few bridges across the Grand Canal, it’s quite likely that you’ll need to walk across Rialto at some point during your time in Venice. Might as well pause to enjoy the views along the way!

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