Rialto to St Mark's Square on foot: a self-guided walk through San Marco's lanes, 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 the Rialto market and finish at San Marco Vallaresso: 2.6 km, about 35 minutes of walking and half a day with the stops. Go on a Tuesday to Saturday morning: the fish market is open Tuesday to Saturday until 14:00, and on Sundays the Basilica opens at 14:00 and Santo Stefano is shut. The Bovolo staircase is €9, open daily. Book the Basilica (€10, a named slot) and the Clock Tower tour (€15) ahead. Or book a walk: the St Marco to Rialto walk with a spritzad is from €27 (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.

The route starts where the Cannaregio and Ghetto walk ends. It crosses the Rialto Bridge, then goes by the squares of San Marco to reach St Mark’s Square from the side, and ends on the waterfront. Prices are the adult rate in euros from each operator.

Walk it with a guide

A guide adds the stories, and none of the walks below includes entry to the Basilica or the Palace. Prices are GetYourGuide’s lowest “from” prices, per person.

• Venice: St Marco - Rialto Walking Tour & Spritz Like a Localad, by City Tours Co: from €27, 4.2 stars from 3,693 reviews, 1 to 3 hours. It runs this route the other way, from the company’s desk by St Mark’s Square to the Rialto Bridge by Santa Maria Formosa and Marco Polo’s house, with a spritz in a bacaro.
• Venice: City Center Historical Guided Walking Tourad: from €27, 4.4 stars from 2,509 reviews, 1 to 2.5 hours. It covers the San Marco area and the Rialto and passes La Fenice. Entry to the monuments is not included.
• Venice: Street Food Tour with a Local Guide and Tastingsad, by Food Raphael Tours and Events: from €45.60, 4.8 stars from 3,057 reviews, 2.5 hours. It starts in Campo San Bartolomeo, crosses the Rialto Bridge to the market, calls at the Frari and ends in Campo Santa Margherita. Venice walking tours compares the rest.

1. The Rialto market

Free · produce Monday to Saturday 7:00 to 20:00 · fish Tuesday to Saturday 7:00 to 14:00 · closed Sundays · Rialto Mercato stop, line 1

A produce stall at the Rialto market. Photo: Andrzej Otrębski, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

The city’s markets page says Rialto has been the city’s market for almost a thousand years. The fish market (pescheria) is in the Loggia Grande and Loggia Piccola at Campo de le Becarie, and the fruit and vegetable market (erberia) is at the Casaria and Campo de la Pescheria.

• Go in the morning. The fish market closes at 14:00.
• Mondays: the fish loggias are empty, and only the produce stalls work.
• Eat nearby: Cantina Do Mori, All’Arco and Cantina Do Spade are within a few streets: see cicchetti and bacari.

The Rialto Bridge and market has the rest.

2. The Rialto Bridge

Free · always open

The Grand Canal and the Riva del Vin from the Rialto Bridge. Photo: Zairon, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Follow the Erbaria and the Ruga dei Oresi to the bridge, 216 m. The Rialto is the oldest of the four bridges over the Grand Canal, and the first crossing here was a pontoon bridge in 1173. The Comune dates the present single-arch stone bridge to the last decades of the 16th century, and it was built by Antonio Da Ponte. From the top you look up and down the Grand Canal.

• The terrace that shut: the free rooftop terrace of the T Fondaco dei Tedeschi, behind the bridge, has been closed since 1 May 2025. Best views in Venice says where to go instead.
• Crossing the canal: a traghetto, a gondola ferry, is €2 and the bridge is free.

3. Campo San Bartolomeo

Free · always open

Campo San Bartolomeo, with the Goldoni monument in the middle. Photo: Jean-Pol Grandmont, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0.

Cross the bridge and follow the Salizada Pio X, 148 m, to the campo. Its bronze of the playwright Carlo Goldoni, by Antonio Dal Zotto, was unveiled on 20 December 1883.

• The Mercerie: the lanes of the shopping street start at Calle dei Stagneri, and they lead to the Clock Tower in 440 m. Take them to skip stops 4 to 6.
• Gelato: Gelatoteca Suso has a shop in the Sotoportego de la Bissa, off the campo.

4. The Scala Contarini del Bovolo and Campo Manin

€9, or €7 when the exhibition rooms are closed · daily 9:30 to 17:30, last entry 17:00 · San Marco 4303

From the campo take Calle dei Fabbri to Campo San Luca, 263 m, then Calle dei Fuseri to the staircase in its courtyard, 190 m. Pietro Contarini commissioned the spiral staircase in 1499. Its 80 steps climb a 26 m tower of Istrian stone and brick to a belvedere terrace over the roofs.

• Hours: 9:30 to 17:30 from 26 October 2026 to 28 February 2027, and 10:00 to 18:00 from 1 March 2027. It closes on 25 and 26 December, opens at 14:00 on 1 January and shuts at 16:00 on 24 and 31 December.
• Tickets: booking is recommended, not required. The €9 ticket includes the exhibition rooms, and a single €7 ticket applies when they are closed. The reduced price is €7 for ages 12 to 26, over-65s and members of FAI and the Touring Club, and children under 12 go free.
• Campo Manin, 100 m on, has the bronze of Daniele Manin, who founded the short-lived Republic of St Mark in 1848, unveiled on 22 March 1875.

Best views in Venice compares the Bovolo with the towers.

5. Campo Santo Stefano

Church free, Monday to Saturday 10:30 to 17:00 · sacristy museum €3.50, free with a St Mark’s Basilica ticket · closed on Sundays

Campo Santo Stefano and the flank of the church. Photo: Didier Descouens, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

The campo is 500 m from the Bovolo, through Campo Manin and over the Ponte dei Frati. Santo Stefano is the third largest monastery church in Venice, after the Frari and Santi Giovanni e Paolo. Its portal is by Bartolomeo Bon, and the choir stalls were inlaid in 1488. The sacristy museum holds paintings by Tintoretto.

• Closed: Sundays, 1 January, Easter, 15 August and Christmas. On 6 January and 8 December it opens at 12:00.
• The ticket: the museum is €3.50 (€2.50 for students under 25), and a Basilica ticket opens it within six months. Venice churches lists the other free churches.

6. La Fenice

Front free, any hour · visit €12, with a free audio guide · ticket office daily 10:00 to 17:00 · Campo San Fantin 1965

La Fenice is 370 m from Santo Stefano, by the Fondamenta San Cristoforo and Calle de la Fenice. The theatre opened on 16 May 1792 and says it has risen twice from its ashes. The daytime visit takes in the halls and a permanent exhibition on Maria Callas.

• Hours: visits start at 9:30, and the last entry moves with the theatre’s programme. The FestFenice schedule lists each day.
• Booking: tickets are sold at the desk, with no booking needed.
• Evenings: the 2026/27 opera season opens with Fedora on 13 November 2026, and La Fenice tickets has the dates and the seat prices.

7. Piazza San Marco and the Piazzetta

Square free · Basilica €10 · Campanile €15 · Doge’s Palace €35 · Clock Tower €15

The Clock Tower in Piazza San Marco, with the archway into the Mercerie. Photo: Zairon, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

From Campo San Fantin follow the Frezzaria to the square, 460 m, and walk through it to the Piazzetta, 150 m on, where the two columns stand beside the Doge’s Palace. Four sights here sell tickets.

• The Basilica: €10, in your name and for a time slot, sold by the Procuratoria di San Marco from 90 days ahead. It is open Monday to Saturday 9:30 to 17:15, and from 14:00 on Sundays and holidays. Bags over 40 x 30 x 20 cm and wheeled cases are refused, and shoulders and knees must be covered. St Mark’s Basilica tickets has the €20 and €30 tickets.
• The Campanile: €15, a lift to the bell chamber, closed in wind. See St Mark’s Campanile tickets.
• The Doge’s Palace: €35, or €30 online for a visit 30 or more days ahead. It is open daily, and from 1 November it closes at 18:00. See Doge’s Palace tickets.
• The Clock Tower: €15, on a guided tour of about an hour that must be booked, in English at set times, with the Correr Museum’s ticket office as the meeting point. Children under 6 are not admitted, and the steep stairs are not for anyone with vertigo or claustrophobia. The ticket also opens the Museo Correr, the Archaeological Museum and the Marciana Library rooms.

8. San Marco Vallaresso

Free · boats on lines 1 and 2 · Harry’s Bar, Calle Vallaresso 1323, daily 11:00 to 23:00

The Riva leads west from the Piazzetta to the San Marco Vallaresso stop, 290 m. Line 1 runs from here up the Grand Canal past the Rialto to Ferrovia, and line 2 calls at San Marco and Rialto. Venice public transport has the tickets.

Where to eat

Cantina Do Spade

Calle de le Do Spade, San Polo 859 · daily 10:00 to 15:00 and 18:00 to 22:00 · cantinadospade.com

A bacaro and trattoria a few streets from the Rialto market, serving sardines in saòr (a sweet-and-sour onion marinade), salt cod, calf’s liver with onions, meatballs and calamari, according to Gambero Rosso. A table needs a booking by phone on +39 041 521 0583, daily 10:00 to 16:00 and 18:00 to 23:00. Stop here after stop 1.

Gelatoteca Suso

Sotoportego de la Bissa 5453 · daily 9:30 to 23:15

A gelato shop that has made artisan gelato in Venice since 2010, with a vegan line, Tuttogusto. Stop here after stop 3.

Harry’s Bar

Calle Vallaresso 1323 · daily 11:00 to 23:00

The Cipriani family’s bar and restaurant, open every day, beside the last boat stop. Ask about the cover charge before you sit. See where to eat in Venice for more.

The best day to go

The timing that works, Tuesday to Saturday: be at the Rialto market by 8:00, at the Bovolo when it opens at 9:30, at Santo Stefano from 10:30 and at La Fenice before midday. Spend the afternoon on the Piazza, with a Basilica slot booked for 13:00 or later. What closes:

• 24 to 26 December and 1 January: the Bovolo shuts at 16:00 on 24 December, is closed on 25 and 26 December, and opens at 14:00 on 1 January.
• 25 December and 1 January: Santo Stefano is closed, as it is on Easter Sunday and 15 August. On 6 January and 8 December it opens at 12:00.
• Wind: the Campanile closes.
• High water: the Basilica’s narthex floods first: see acqua alta in Venice.

What does not close: the streets, the campi, the Rialto Bridge, Piazza San Marco and the Piazzetta. A Sunday still makes a good walk: the Bovolo and the Doge’s Palace are open, and the Basilica waits until the afternoon.

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: the Rialto Mercato stop on line 1 is beside the market, and the Rialto stop is by the bridge. Santa Lucia station is 1.6 km, about 22 minutes on foot: the Cannaregio and Ghetto walk is the long way round. Venice public transport has the lines.
• From the end: San Marco Vallaresso is on lines 1 and 2.
• In reverse: the route works from the Piazza too, but the fish market closes at 14:00, and the Basilica and the Clock Tower fill the morning.

What to do with the rest of the day

• The other walk: the Cannaregio and Ghetto walk ends at the Rialto market, where this one starts.
• The sights on the Piazza: St Mark’s Basilica tickets, the Doge’s Palace and the Campanile each have a ticket guide, and the Venice Museum Pass runs the sums.
• The water: the gondola ride page has the fares.
• 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 and 3 days in Venice place the walk. To sleep near the Piazza, see hotels near St Mark’s Square and where to stay in Venice.

Common questions

How long is the walk from the Rialto to St Mark's Square?

2.6 km from the Rialto market to the San Marco Vallaresso boat stop, measured along the streets: about 35 minutes of walking. The direct way by the Mercerie is 1.2 km, and with the Bovolo staircase, a church and the Basilica the full route takes half a day.

Is the walk free?

The streets, the campi, the Rialto Bridge, Piazza San Marco and Santo Stefano cost nothing. The Scala Contarini del Bovolo is €9, the La Fenice visit €12, St Mark's Basilica €10, the Campanile €15, the Doge's Palace €35 and the Clock Tower tour €15.

Which day is best for the Rialto to St Mark's walk?

Tuesday to Saturday, in the morning. The fish market is open from Tuesday to Saturday until 14:00, and on Sundays the Basilica opens at 14:00, Santo Stefano is closed and the Rialto markets are shut.

What do I need to book for the walk?

Nothing is compulsory. St Mark's Basilica sells named tickets for a time slot, the Doge's Palace's online tickets carry a slot, and the Clock Tower is visited only on a booked guided tour. The Bovolo staircase recommends booking but does not require it.

Where does the walk start and finish?

It starts at the Rialto market, beside the Rialto Mercato stop on line 1, and finishes at the San Marco Vallaresso stop on lines 1 and 2, with Harry's Bar in the street beside it.

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.