Cannaregio and the Ghetto on foot: a self-guided walk from Santa Lucia station to the Rialto, with what is open each day

One of 2 self-guided walks in Venice. See every walk.

In this guide

💡 The Short Version: Start at Santa Lucia station and finish at the Rialto market: 4.1 km, about an hour of walking and half a day with the stops. Be at the station for 9:30 on a Tuesday to Friday. The Ghetto is shut on Saturdays and Jewish holidays, Madonna dell’Orto is shut to visitors on Sundays, and the Rialto fish market is shut on Sunday and Monday and closes at 14:00 on the other days. The synagogue tour is €15 and the Ghetto museum’s permanent exhibition is being renovated. Ca’ d’Oro is closed until spring 2027. Or book a tour: the Ghetto Highlights and Cannaregio walking tourad is from €54 for 2 hours (GetYourGuide).

The route

Map of the walk numbered stops in walking order

Open the whole route in Google Maps - all the stops in walking order, set to walking directions, which is the version to put on your phone.

Cannaregio is the northernmost of Venice’s six districts. The walk leaves the station for the Ghetto, turns north to the canal-side streets where Tintoretto lived, then crosses to the Strada Nova and ends at the Rialto. It finishes where the Rialto to St Mark’s walk starts. Prices are the adult rate in euros from each operator.

Walk it with a guide

A guide adds the history of the Ghetto and the stories of the streets. Prices are GetYourGuide’s lowest “from” prices, per person.

• Venice: Ghetto Highlights and Cannaregio Walking Tourad, by Beatrice Baumgartner: from €54, 4.9 stars from 45 reviews, 2 hours, in English or German, in a small group. It meets in front of Trattoria alla Palazzina and covers the Ghetto, a kosher bakery sweet, Tintoretto’s house and Madonna dell’Orto, which it enters on the daytime options, and it ends at Campo Santa Sofia, where the traghetto crosses to the Rialto market. It must be booked at least 10 hours ahead.
• Venice: Guided Tour of Synagogues with a Local Guidead, by Hili srl: from €49, 5 stars from 141 reviews, 1.5 hours. It visits two synagogues with a guide authorised by the Jewish community, and the synagogue tickets are not in the price: you buy them at the meeting point.
• Venice: Jewish Ghetto and Cannaregio Food and Wine Tourad, by Food Raphael Tours and Events: from €119, 4.8 stars from 126 reviews, 4 hours. It meets at Calle del Ghetto Vecchio 1122, stops at six places to eat and drink, and crosses the Rialto Bridge. It is not a kosher tour.

1. Santa Lucia station

Free · the Ferrovia vaporetto stops are in front · from Piazzale Roma it is 8 minutes on foot over the Calatrava bridge

The station opened in 1861 on the site of the church of Santa Lucia and its convent, which were demolished to make room for it, and it took the saint’s name. Her body is now in the church at stop 2. Venice public transport has the boats and tickets, and Venice airport to the city the way in from Marco Polo.

Leave the station along the Lista di Spagna, the street of shops and cafés that runs to Campo San Geremia, 440 m away.

2. San Geremia and the Ponte delle Guglie

Church free, daily 9:30 to 13:00 and 14:00 to 17:00 (Sunday morning is for services) · bell tower on a booked guided visit · Campo San Geremia 334

The Ponte delle Guglie over the Cannaregio Canal. Photo: Didier Descouens, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

The church of Santi Geremia e Lucia, the Sanctuary of Lucy, holds the body of Saint Lucy in a chapel in the transept. Her relics were carried here on 11 July 1860 from the church that stood where the station is now, and the church added her name to Jerome’s. Visitors walk in freely. Organised groups of more than 10 must book and use radio guides, and Sundays are closed to group visits.

• The bell tower is over 50 m high, with foundations from the 12th century. It is climbed on a guided visit of about 40 minutes, 182 steps, in groups of up to 25, and it is not for anyone with vertigo. Only small shoulder bags are allowed, and the visit is booked on the sanctuary’s site.
• The bridge: cross the Ponte delle Guglie over the Cannaregio Canal. A stone bridge has stood here since 1580, and the spires (guglie) that give it its name were added when it was rebuilt in 1823.

3. The Ghetto

Campo free · synagogue tour €15, plus €2 online · English tours every hour, Sunday to Thursday 10:00 to 17:00 and Friday 9:00 to 16:00 · closed Saturdays and Jewish holidays

The Ponte de Gheto Novo and the houses at the corner of Campo del Ghetto Nuovo. Photo: Wolfgang Moroder, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.

Campo del Ghetto Nuovo is 470 m from Campo San Geremia: from the bridge follow the Fondamenta di Cannaregio and turn into the Ghetto Vecchio, then cross into the campo. The Senate decreed on 29 March 1516 that the city’s Jews live together here, in Italy’s first ghetto, and the word spread from Venice. The Jewish Museum says it comes from the foundries (getto, casting) that stood on the site. The Ghetto was walled, with gates shut at night, until the Republic ended in 1797. The Levantine Jews were housed in the Ghetto Vecchio from 1541.

• The tour is the visit: the Levantine and Spanish synagogues, and on Fridays the Spanish and Italian ones. It meets at the ticket office at Campo del Ghetto Nuovo 2882. It costs €15 (€13 for ages over 6, students up to 26 and a few card holders; €10 for Venetians; free under 6), plus €2 if you buy online at ghettovenezia.com.
• The museum: its permanent exhibition is being renovated, so the tour is what is on offer. Shoulders and knees must be covered in the synagogues.
• Closed: Saturdays, Jewish holidays, 1 January and 25 December. The museum’s opening-hours page lists the holiday dates, and the ticket office shuts 45 minutes before closing.

The Jewish Ghetto guide has the tickets, the tour options and the history.

4. The Fondamenta degli Ormesini and Campo dei Mori

Free · always open · Al Timon at Fondamenta degli Ormesini 2754

Leave the Ghetto Nuovo over the Ponte de Gheto Novo to the Fondamenta degli Ormesini, the canal-side street of bars, and follow it and the Fondamenta de la Sensa to Campo dei Mori, 520 m on.

• The Moors: four stone figures are set into the wall of the Palazzo Mastelli del Cammello, named for the camel carved on its front. Three of them are said to be the Mastelli brothers, merchants from the Morea who reached Venice in 1113: Rioba, Sandi and Afani. Sior Antonio Rioba, at the corner, has an iron nose fitted in the 19th century, and rubbing it is said to bring luck.
• Tintoretto’s house: Tintoretto bought a house on the Fondamenta dei Mori in 1574 and lived there until he died in 1594. A plaque marks it, and you see it from the street.

5. Madonna dell’Orto

Free · Monday to Saturday 10:30 to 17:00, last entry ten minutes before closing · closed to visitors on Sundays · Campo Madonna dell’Orto, Cannaregio 3512

Tintoretto’s tomb slab in Madonna dell’Orto. Photo: Didier Descouens, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

The church is 115 m from Campo dei Mori. Its brick Gothic front dates from 1460 to 1464, and its name comes from a statue of the Madonna found in a vegetable garden (orto) nearby. Tintoretto’s parish church holds his tomb in the chapel to the right of the apse, with his children Marietta and Domenico, and in the apse two of his canvases about 14.5 m tall, the Worship of the Golden Calf and the Last Judgement. Cima da Conegliano’s altarpiece is here too.

• Hours: Mass is at 9:00 on weekdays and 11:30 on Sundays and holidays, and visitors are not admitted on Sundays. On 6 January and 8 December the Chorus churches open at 12:00, and they are closed on 1 January, Easter, 15 August and Christmas.

Venice churches lists the other free churches.

6. The Fondamenta della Misericordia

Free · always open

The Ponte Chiodo on the Rio di San Felice. Photo: Didier Descouens, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Follow the Fondamenta Gasparo Contarini and the Fondamenta dell’Abbazia to the Fondamenta della Misericordia, 510 m from the church. Its bare brick bulk is Sansovino’s Scuola Grande della Misericordia, begun in 1507 and left without the marble facing it was meant to have. Its hall is an exhibition venue that opens with its programme. With the Ormesini, the quay is one of Cannaregio’s two bar streets: see cicchetti and bacari.

A short way along, at the Ramo de la Misericordia, is the Ponte Chiodo on the Rio di San Felice. It is named for the Chiodo family who owned it, and it has no parapet.

7. The Gesuiti

Church free · open in a morning and an afternoon session · Campo dei Gesuiti

Angels and the IHS monogram on the front of the Gesuiti. Photo: Wolfgang Moroder, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.

The route follows the Rio di San Felice and the Fondamenta Zen to the Campo dei Gesuiti, 490 m from the Misericordia. The church of Santa Maria Assunta, the Gesuiti, was rebuilt by Domenico Rossi between 1713 and 1728, and it holds Titian’s Martyrdom of St Lawrence. The church publishes each season’s timetable on its own site.

Detour: the Fondamente Nove

Free · always open · 430 m from the Gesuiti

The Fondamente Nove is the lagoon quay on Venice’s northern edge. Line 12 leaves from it for Murano, 9 minutes, and Burano, about 41 minutes: see Murano, Burano and Torcello. Walk back to the Gesuiti to continue.

8. Santa Maria dei Miracoli

Exterior free, always visible · Campo Santa Maria Nova

Santa Maria dei Miracoli beyond a bridge over the Rio dei Miracoli. Photo: Jorge Franganillo, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.

From the Gesuiti walk down to the Strada Nova and turn south to the church, 540 m. Pietro Lombardo and his sons designed it in 1481, and it was finished in 1489. The marble front and the canal side, seen from the Ponte dei Miracoli, are the sight.

9. The Strada Nova and Campo Santi Apostoli

Free · always open

Campo Santi Apostoli is 360 m on. It is the end of the Strada Nova, the long street that runs from the Ponte degli Scalzi by the station to this campo. It is a shopping street, and the Ca’ d’Oro stands on it a few minutes west of the campo. Ca’ d’Oro has been closed since 2 February 2026, and the regional museums authority plans to reopen it in spring 2027. Its Gothic front is best seen from the Grand Canal.

• The free tour: Venice Free Walking Tour’s 11:00 tour starts at the old well in Campo SS Apostoli. Venice walking tours compares the guided walks.

10. The Rialto

Free · produce market Monday to Saturday 7:00 to 20:00 · fish market Tuesday to Saturday 7:00 to 14:00

From the campo follow the Salizada San Giovanni Grisostomo to the Rialto Bridge, 470 m, and cross it. The market is on the far bank, 220 m on: the walk ends at the Rialto Mercato stop beside it, and the Rialto to St Mark’s walk starts there. The bridge and the market are covered in the Rialto Bridge and market guide.

Where to eat

Cantina Aziende Agricole

Rio Terà Farsetti 1847/A, off the Fondamenta degli Ormesini · +39 041 722149

A wine bar with a counter of cicchetti, the small bar plates of Venice. Gambero Rosso lists the filled toasts, baked meatballs of meat or fish, and aubergine with cheese. Stop here after stop 3 and eat at the counter, because a table can add a cover charge.

Al Timon

Fondamenta degli Ormesini 2754 · +39 041 5246066

A wine bar and osteria on the Ormesini, with a wooden boat moored outside where people drink in warm weather, according to Condé Nast Traveler. It names meat cicchetti, and its own site calls it a steakhouse. Ask about the cover charge before you take a table. Stop here after stop 3.

Gelatoteca Suso

Salizada San Giovanni Grisostomo 5801 · daily 9:30 to 23:15

A gelato shop on the last stretch to the Rialto, making artisan gelato since 2010. It has a vegan line, Tuttogusto. See where to eat in Venice for the bars and restaurants beyond the route.

The best day to go

The timing that works, Tuesday to Friday: be at the station for 9:30, at the Ghetto for the 10:00 tour (9:00 on Fridays), at Madonna dell’Orto by midday, and at the Rialto before 14:00 to catch the fish market. What closes:

• 25 December and 1 January: the Ghetto is closed, and so are the Chorus churches, including Madonna dell’Orto. Easter Sunday and 15 August close the churches too.
• Jewish holidays: the Ghetto is closed, on dates the museum lists.
• 6 January and 8 December: Madonna dell’Orto opens at 12:00.
• Until spring 2027: Ca’ d’Oro is closed.

What does not close: the streets, the campi, the Ponte delle Guglie, the Fondamenta degli Ormesini and the Fondamenta della Misericordia. A Monday still makes a good walk: the Ghetto tours, Madonna dell’Orto and the produce stalls are all open.

The access fee, in 2027. The Comune lists 72 days between 26 March and 15 August 2027 when the access fee is payable again, from 08:30 to 16:30: every Friday, Saturday and Sunday, plus 29 March, 26 to 29 April and 31 May to 3 June. A Tuesday to Thursday walk falls outside them except on 27 to 29 April and 1 to 3 June. Who pays and how much are to be announced by 31 December 2026: see the Venice access fee.

Getting there and back

• To the start: Santa Lucia is the station for every train into the old city, and the Ferrovia vaporetto stops are in front of it. Venice public transport has the tickets, and Venice airport to the city the coach and boat from Marco Polo.
• From the end: the Rialto Mercato stop, beside the market, and the Rialto stop, by the bridge, are on line 1, and line 2 calls at Rialto. Line 1 runs on to San Marco.
• A shorter finish: the traghetto from Campo Santa Sofia, on the Strada Nova, crosses the Grand Canal to the market for €2, instead of the Rialto Bridge: see the gondola ride.
• In reverse: the route works from the Rialto too, but the fish market closes at 14:00 and the Ghetto’s last English tour is at 17:00, 16:00 on Fridays.

What to do with the rest of the day

• The next walk: the Rialto to St Mark’s walk starts at the Rialto market where this one ends and runs 2.6 km through San Marco to the Piazzetta.
• The Ghetto in depth: the Jewish Ghetto guide compares the museum tour with the guided ones.
• Bars and food: cicchetti and bacari names the bars of the Ormesini and the Rialto, and Venice food tours compares the tastings.
• The whole trip: what to book before you go to Venice has the closed days for every sight, and Venice in one or two days places the walk. To sleep in Cannaregio, see where to stay in Venice.

Common questions

How long is the Cannaregio walk?

4.1 km from Santa Lucia station to the Rialto market, measured along the streets: about an hour of walking. With the synagogue tour, Madonna dell'Orto and a stop for lunch it takes half a day.

Is the Cannaregio walk free?

The streets, the campi, Madonna dell'Orto and the sanctuary of St Lucy cost nothing. The synagogue tour at the Jewish Ghetto is €15, plus €2 if bought online, and the sanctuary's bell tower is a booked guided visit.

Which day is best for the Cannaregio walk?

Tuesday to Friday, starting at 9:30. The Ghetto is closed on Saturdays and Jewish holidays, Madonna dell'Orto is closed to visitors on Sundays, and the Rialto fish market, where the walk ends, is shut on Sunday and Monday and closes at 14:00 on the other days.

Do I need to book anything for the walk?

Nothing is compulsory. Tickets for the Ghetto's synagogue tour are sold online or at the ticket office in Campo del Ghetto Nuovo, and only the bell tower of the sanctuary of St Lucy must be booked ahead.

Where does the Cannaregio walk start and finish?

It starts at Santa Lucia station, where the Ferrovia vaporetto stops are, and finishes at the Rialto market. The Rialto Mercato stop on line 1 is beside the market, and the Rialto Bridge is 216 m away.

Will I pay the Venice access fee on this walk?

Not now. The Comune lists 72 days in 2027, from 26 March to 15 August, when the access fee will be payable again, from 08:30 to 16:30: every Friday, Saturday and Sunday, plus 29 March, 26 to 29 April and 31 May to 3 June. Who pays and how much are to be announced by 31 December 2026.