What to See at the Venice Biennale?

One exhibition, several circles

The Biennale reads like a series of circles. At the centre, the curator's exhibition; around it, the national participations; further out, the collateral events; and, outside La Biennale, the city's foundations and museums. The table below gives the key points; each venue publishes its own opening hours and conditions.

The Giardini: the historic pavilions

The Giardini, gardens created at Napoleon's wish at the end of Castello, host the historic pavilions of the nations — Belgium built the first in 1907 — and the Central Pavilion, which receives part of the main exhibition. You move from one pavilion to the next beneath the trees, each with its own architecture and its own argument.

A whole day is not too much, especially if you want to see every pavilion without hurrying. We help you choose an order of visit, place a break and keep some energy for the afternoon.

The Arsenale: the scale of a shipyard

The Arsenale, the former shipyard of the Republic of Venice, has been an exhibition venue of La Biennale since 1980, the year of the first International Architecture Exhibition. The main exhibition unfolds there in the Corderie, a long hall of more than three hundred metres where ropes were once made, then in the Artiglierie.

The route leads to the Gaggiandre, two sixteenth-century covered slipways beside an inner basin, to the Padiglione Italia and to the Giardino delle Vergini. Other national participations settle in the neighbouring buildings. It is a day in its own right, from which people often keep the image of the volumes as much as that of the works.

City pavilions and collateral events

Some of the participating countries — fifteen in 2025 — exhibit outside the Giardini and the Arsenale, in palazzi and venues in the historic centre. The collateral events, put forward by institutions and selected by La Biennale — eleven in 2025 —, also take over the city. The 2027 list will be published by La Biennale as the opening approaches.

Discovering them means entering palazzi rarely open and crossing districts you would not otherwise see. We compose routes by district, on foot and by boat, to see several in the same half-day without needless detours.

The foundations of the Grand Canal

During the Biennale, the city's great foundations present their own exhibitions. The Pinault Collection occupies two venues redesigned by the architect Tadao Ando: Palazzo Grassi, on the Grand Canal, and Punta della Dogana, the former sea customs house, opened in 2009. The Fondazione Prada has exhibited since 2011 at Ca' Corner della Regina, an eighteenth-century palazzo on the Grand Canal.

The Peggy Guggenheim Collection, at the Palazzo Venier dei Leoni in Dorsoduro, the collector's former home, has been open as a museum since 1980; the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, which runs it, has also managed the United States pavilion at the Giardini since 1985. These venues are cited for illustration; their exhibitions and opening hours are checked for each season. We request private visits where possible, subject to availability, without any guarantee.

Dinners, receptions, evenings

In the evening, particularly during the opening weeks, Venice fills with receptions: pavilion dinners, foundation and collectors' evenings, in the palazzi and gardens. These occasions are generally held by invitation. We pass on requests where possible, after reviewing the client's profile, without any guarantee, and tell you early what is realistic.

When no invitation comes, we create the evening: a private salon, a palazzo rented for entertaining, a table by the water, a chef and a sommelier, discreet security, the return by boat. Venice's fine tables are booked early during the Biennale.

Four days in Venice, day by day

An indicative example, to be adapted to your dates: arrival on the first day, dinner by the water; the Giardini on the second, with lunch away from the bustle; the Arsenale on the third, then Punta della Dogana in the late afternoon; on the fourth, city pavilions, the Fondazione Prada or the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, and a last dinner. Each day keeps a quiet moment: on the water, at the hotel spa, or simply on foot in a peaceful district.

Our guide How to Visit the Venice Biennale? covers tickets and access, and our guide Where to Stay During the Venice Biennale? helps you choose the address that makes these days flow.