Venice Biennale: world art in gardens and shipyards

The Venice Biennale is one of the oldest and most influential contemporary art exhibitions in the world. Every other year, artists and national pavilions take over the Giardini, the historic Arsenale and dozens of palaces across the city, turning Venice into a giant open-air gallery.

Fun facts

• The first Biennale opened in 1895, making it older than almost any other major art exhibition.
• Countries present their own artists in national pavilions, a format often compared to the Olympics of art.
• The Arsenale was once the shipyard of the Venetian Republic, able to build a galley in a single day.

What to see

• The national pavilions set among trees in the Giardini della Biennale.
• The long main exhibition inside the Corderie, the old rope factory of the Arsenale.
• Free collateral events in palaces and churches scattered around Castello and Dorsoduro.

What to taste

• Cicchetti, small Venetian bar snacks eaten standing at a bacaro with a glass of wine.
• Sarde in saor, sweet-and-sour sardines with onions, a classic Venetian recipe.
• Spritz with Aperol or Select, the local aperitivo born in the Veneto.

What to do

• Buy a multi-day vaporetto pass if you plan to hop between venues.
• Walk the quiet backstreets of Castello near the Giardini for local trattorias.
• Take the vaporetto along the Grand Canal at sunset.

💡 Tip: A standard ticket covers one visit to each main venue, so plan a full day for the Giardini and another for the Arsenale. From Marco Polo airport take the bus to Piazzale Roma; Treviso airport has coach links too.