Venice's Hidden Art Treasures (Self Guided), Venice

Among the first things springing to mind when talking about Venice, apart from the canals and gondolas, of course, is Art and Architecture. Indeed, Venice is one of the few cities in the world where Art and Architecture have merged in a stunning multiplicity of forms. The city is even renowned for its unique (Venetian) pictorial school famed by the likes of Tintoretto, Titian, Veronese, Castagno and other grands, whose influence had given rise to a plethora of other remarkable painters like Damasceno, El Greco and more.

Home to some of the world’s most iconic sights, the incredible floating settlement in the middle of the Venetian Lagoon can hardly leave anyone indifferent. The ancient artistic legacy and watery beauty of Venice has long attracted tourists (nowadays up to 20 million per year) from all over the world, which, particularly in summer, can get the city really clogged up with them. Even to an experienced traveler, Venice's enormous art scene, going back 1600 years, can be mind-boggling and expensive exercise to indulge in.

Yet, although for the most part you will have to pay handsomely to explore the visual side of Venice, there’s a lot more to this city, in terms of hidden art gems, than meets the eye. An ancient city with a mysterious history, Venice is packed with secret locations and unbeaten paths waiting to be uncovered, if you know where to look. And it won’t cost you a penny!

Here are some of the lesser-known attractions in Venice housing amazing works of art that are well worth seeking out:

Scuola Grande di San Rocco – the former religious confraternity, whose ornate ceiling is an astonishing masterpiece by Tintoretto;

Church of Santa Maria dei Carmini – home to one of the early works by Tintoretto (the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple) still extant;

Santa Maria della Salute – Venice's most famous church by image, emblematic of the city, with a small art gallery in its sacristy;

Saint George of the Greeks' Church and Museum of Icons – home to Damasceno frescoes and a wealth of ancient Greek-Byzantine icons and Orthodox sacred vestments.

If you want to beat the crowds in Venice and enjoy some of its hidden yet fascinating gems for free, get off the beaten track and lose yourself without getting lost on this self-guided walking tour!

Image Courtesy of Flickr and Graeme Churchard.

How it works: Download the app "GPSmyCity: Walks in 1K+ Cities" from Apple App Store or Google Play Store to your mobile phone or tablet. The app turns your mobile device into a personal tour guide and its built-in GPS navigation functions guide you from one tour stop to next. The app works offline, so no data plan is needed when traveling abroad.

Download The GPSmyCity App

Create Your Own Self-Guided Walks in Venice

Map Instructions: (1) Click the "Nearby Sights" button to view the nearby attractions; (2) click a map pin to see sight information.

Guide Name: Venice's Hidden Art Treasures
Guide Location: Italy » Venice (See other walking tours in Venice)
Guide Type: Self-guided Walking Tour (Sightseeing)
Tour Duration: 2 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 3.6 Km or 2.2 Miles

Sights Featured in This Walk

4) Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute (Basilica of Our Lady of Good Health) (must see)

Image Courtesy of Flickr and Steven Gerner.

5) Basilica di San Marco (St. Mark's Basilica) (must see)

Image Courtesy of Flickr and Arian Zwegers.

6) Chiesa di San Giorgio dei Greci & Museo delle Icone (Museum of Icons)

Image Courtesy of Wikimedia and Paolo da Reggio.

WalkBuilder (customize this walk or build your own)

Use the WalkBuilder tool below to customize this walk to suit your interests. Instructions: click

at the upper right corner in the map above to view other sights in the city. To learn more about a sight, click a map pin. Click the "+" or "–" to add or remove a sight from the walk. To reorder the selected sights, simply drag and move them up or down the list in the left column.

Enter a name for your custom walk, along with your email address, in the fields below. You will receive the instructions for retrieving your custom walk in the GPSmyCity app by email. The GPSmyCity app offers turn-by-turn travel directions to guide you from one attraction to the next.
Walk Name*:
Email*:

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How do I access my walking tour in Venice?
Save your walking tour on the website. Then download the GPSmyCity app from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store and sign in to your GPSmyCity account. Next, download "Venice Map and Walking Tours" within the app. Your walk will appear on the Walks screen.

2. How do I view other attractions in Venice?
At the upper-right corner of the map above, click the “Nearby Sights” button to show or hide other sights in the city. Click a map pin to view details about a sight. To add a sight to your walk, find it in the right column of the WalkBuilder tool above and click the "+" button next to it.

3. How do I re-arrange the sight order?
In the left column of the WalkBuilder tool, drag a sight to move it up or down the list. Then click “Click here to view route map”. Repeat this process until the route meets your needs.

4. Can I add my hotel to a walking tour?
Yes. You can add your hotel as the starting point, the ending point, or both (creating a loop route). This feature is currently available only in the GPSmyCity app.

5. Can I add my own sights to a walking tour?
Yes. You can add sightss that are not in our database and include them in your walk. To do so, sign in to your GPSmyCity account on the website or use the GPSmyCity app.

6. How many sights can be included in a walking tour?
For technical reasons, the number of sights in a walking tour is currently capped at 20. This limit may be increased over time.

Walking Tours in Venice, Italy

Create Your Own Walk in Venice

Creating your own self-guided walk in Venice is easy and fun. Choose the city attractions that you want to see and a walk route map will be created just for you. You can even set your hotel as the start point of the walk.

Venice Introduction Walking Tour

Venice is a city that learned early how to live with water-and, ultimately, how to profit from it. Built across hundreds of small islands in a shallow lagoon in the northern Adriatic, it runs without roads, relying solely on canals and bridges. Although the lagoon itself formed thousands of years ago, it was inhabited mainly by fishermen up until the 5th century AD, when waves of barbarian... view more

Tour Duration: 3 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 4.1 Km or 2.5 Miles

Grand Canal Walking Tour

The main waterway in Venice, Grand Canal snakes in an "S" shape through the center of the city, dividing its main districts. On both sides of this thoroughfare are the most beautiful buildings dating from the 12th to the 18th centuries that tell the story of a thousand years of Venetian splendor. While one can view the architectural parade from water buses, our self-guided walking tour... view more

Tour Duration: 3 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 5.2 Km or 3.2 Miles

Around Rialto Bridge

The Rialto district represents the earliest urban and commercial core of Venice that has shaped the city’s identity for centuries. Long before grand palaces lined the canals or empires were managed from marble halls, this was the practical heart of the lagoon. Its name comes from Rivo Alto, meaning “high bank,” a rare patch of ground that stayed relatively dry and therefore attracted... view more

Tour Duration: 1 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 0.4 Km or 0.2 Miles

Casanova's Venice

Giacomo Casanova is usually introduced as history’s most famous seducer-but that shorthand misses the point. Casanova didn’t simply charm his way through life, but was shaped by a very particular moment in Venetian history. He came of age in the eighteenth century, when the Republic of Venice was living on its reputation. The great maritime empire was fading, its political and commercial power... view more

Tour Duration: 2 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 4.5 Km or 2.8 Miles

Piazza San Marco Walking Tour

Piazza San Marco is where Venice has always put on its best face. This is the city’s ceremonial and political core, shaped over centuries as the grand stage of the Venetian Republic. Its story began in the 9th century, when the relics of Saint Mark arrived in the lagoon and instantly raised the evangelist-much as the square built in his name-to the highest rank. From a simple open space, the... view more

Tour Duration: 1 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 0.6 Km or 0.4 Miles

Murano Island Walking Tour

Murano Island is known around the world as the “Glass Island,” and it didn’t earn that nickname overnight. This reputation rests on more than seven centuries of uninterrupted glassmaking. Located just north of Venice, separated by a slim ribbon of lagoon water, Murano grew into a place where identity and industry became inseparable. Although inhabited since Roman times, the island truly... view more

Tour Duration: 1 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 2.3 Km or 1.4 Miles

View all walking tours in Venice, Italy

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