Venice 7-Day Itinerary: Sestieri, Lagoon, Padua, Verona

How should you spend 7 days in Venice?

Give five days to Venice itself, one area a day: San Marco, Castello and the Biennale, San Polo, Dorsoduro with San Giorgio Maggiore, and the lagoon islands. Use the other two for trains to Padua, for Giotto’s Scrovegni Chapel, and to Verona. Alternate city days with trips so that no two long days fall together.

A week changes Venice from a sprint into a stay. The Venice 3-day itinerary packs San Marco and Castello into one day, Rialto and Dorsoduro into another and the islands into a third; this plan gives each district its own day, adds the Scuola Grande di San Rocco and San Giorgio Maggiore, and leaves the lagoon twice by rail.

Hours, prices and train counts were checked on official pages on 16 and 17 October 2026, or on dated reporting where official Venice pages blocked checking. Sleep in the historic centre so the early mornings are yours; where to stay in Venice compares the sestieri, and the best time to visit Venice covers tides, fog and fee days.

What should you book, and what about the access fee?

Book the Basilica slot, the Doge’s Palace at least 30 days ahead for the €30 online price, and the Scrovegni Chapel at least a day ahead. Buy a 7-day ACTV pass at €65 if you will ride boats daily. Overnight guests did not pay the 2026 access fee; check 2027 rules before you travel.

The Doge’s Palace sells its St Mark’s Square Museums ticket at €35, or €30 online at least 30 days before your visit, and a €50 Museum Pass valid for six months. The Basilica’s ticketing FAQ describes timed online slots with QR entry. In Padua, the tourist board says the Scrovegni Chapel must be reserved at least one day ahead. Europe for Visitors lists ACTV passes at €25 for one day, €45 for three and €65 for seven, timed from the first scan and not valid on ATVO buses or Alilaguna boats.

In 2026, day visitors aged 14 and over paid €5, or €10 if they booked within four days, to enter the historic centre between 8:30am and 4pm on 60 designated days, while overnight guests and Veneto residents were exempt, according to ANSA via L’Adige, AGI and a US Army Garrison Italy summary. Murano, Burano, the Lido and Pellestrina were outside the zone.

For 2027, BlueNews reported in July 2026 that the system should restart around Easter, when Easter Sunday is 28 March 2027, and that higher prices had been floated for some days. The official portal sat behind a bot check when we tried it, so we cannot give 2027 dates; confirm them on the Comune di Venezia site, and ask your hotel how it handles the exemption.

Days 1 and 2: how do you take San Marco and Castello slowly?

On day 1, enter St Mark’s Basilica at its 9:30am opening, then give the afternoon to the Doge’s Palace, ideally with its Secret Itineraries tour. On day 2, walk east into Castello for the Biennale at the Giardini and Arsenale, which runs until 22 November 2026 and returns on 8 May 2027.

The Basilica opens from 9:30am to 5:15pm from Monday to Saturday and from 2pm on Sundays and holy days, with last entry at 4:45pm, its ticketing FAQ says. The Doge’s Palace opens from 9am to 7pm until 31 October and from 9am to 6pm from 1 November to 31 March, with last admission an hour before closing; its Secret Itineraries tour costs €40. A slow day 1 gives both buildings the time the 3-day plan cannot.

The Biennale Arte runs until 22 November 2026 at the Giardini, the Arsenale and venues across the city, and the Biennale Architettura runs from 8 May to 21 November 2027, open from 10am to 6pm and closed on Mondays. Between the two seasons, Castello’s residential streets east of the Arsenale are worth a morning without a ticket.

Check our church dress guide before the Basilica, and consider whether a gondola earns its price with is a gondola ride in Venice worth it?

Day 3: what should you see in San Polo and Santa Croce?

Start at the Rialto market early, from Tuesday to Saturday, then walk through San Polo to the Scuola Grande di San Rocco, where more than 60 paintings by Tintoretto still hang where they were made to hang. Finish with a ride on line 1, which runs the length of the Grand Canal.

The Rialto fish and produce markets trade from Tuesday to Saturday from about 7am, with produce stalls listed until 1pm, according to VeniceXplorer; arrive early, because the market serves residents and restaurants first. The Scuola Grande di San Rocco opens every day from 9:30am to 5:30pm, with the ticket office closing at 5pm, and is closed on 25 December and 1 January; its site also mentions Easter, so check before a holiday visit.

San Rocco holds Tintoretto’s best-known cycle of Old and New Testament scenes, and its site stresses that the paintings remain in their original positions, which is why it rewards a slow hour rather than a quick look. In the evening, line 1 zigzags along the Grand Canal from Piazzale Roma to the Lido, the cheapest way to see the palaces from the water.

Day 4: how do you plan the Padua day trip?

Take a morning train from Venezia Santa Lucia to Padova and build the day around a timed slot at the Scrovegni Chapel, which must be booked at least a day ahead and opens from 9am to 7pm. Arrive early: the tourist board warns that latecomers cannot enter. Italo alone lists 18 daily trains.

Italo lists 18 trains a day each way between Venezia S. Lucia, Venezia Mestre and Padova, from €8.90; compare times for your date before you set off. Padua makes a gentle trip, close enough that you can be back in Venice for dinner without watching the clock.

Padua’s tourist board says the chapel opens daily from 9am to 7pm, with evening visits from 7pm to 10pm between 25 March and 3 November and between 27 December and 6 January, and closes on 25 and 26 December and 1 January. A full daytime ticket costs €15, or €11 for evening visits and for daytime visits on non-holiday Mondays, including a €1 presale fee. The board dates Giotto’s fresco cycle to 1303–1305 and notes that the chapel is on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Choose an evening slot from spring to early November if you want the chapel to end the day rather than shape it, and check the last train back. If you prefer to keep moving, the Milan to Venice train guide shows how Padua fits a longer rail trip across northern Italy.

Day 5: why make Dorsoduro and San Giorgio a slow day?

Because it follows a travel day. Spend the morning at Ca’ Rezzonico, the palace museum of 18th-century Venice, which closes on Tuesdays, then walk to the Zattere for lunch facing the Giudecca Canal. In the afternoon, take line 2 across to San Giorgio Maggiore, whose basilica opens daily until 6pm.

Ca’ Rezzonico opens from 10am to 6pm until 31 October and from 10am to 5pm from 1 November, with last admission an hour before closing, and charges €15. The Gallerie dell’Accademia is a short walk away, but its site blocked our checks, so confirm its hours before you swap it in on a Tuesday.

The San Giorgio Maggiore abbey says its basilica opens every day from 9am to 6pm and that line 2 reaches the island in about three minutes from San Zaccaria; its bell tower is temporarily closed for maintenance, with no reopening date given, so treat the island as a church visit and a view across the basin rather than a climb.

This is also the day to rest. If it rains, keep Ca’ Rezzonico and the basilica, both indoors, and drop the Zattere walk; Venice in the rain has more covered options.

Day 6: how do you do Verona as a day trip?

Take a fast train from Venice to Verona Porta Nuova, about an hour, then a bus from the station forecourt to Piazza Bra and the Arena. Walk on to Piazza delle Erbe, once the Roman forum, and decide whether Juliet’s courtyard, ticketed since May 2025, is worth it. Summer evenings bring the Arena’s opera festival.

Italo lists seven daily trains between Venice and Verona Porta Nuova, with a journey of 1 hour 1 minute, from €8.90; the Arena di Verona puts the high-speed trip at about 1 hour 10 minutes and says buses 11, 12, 13, 51 and 52 run from the station to Piazza Bra, with lines 90 to 98 on holidays and evenings.

The Arena’s visitor page calls the amphitheatre the symbol of the city, describes Piazza delle Erbe as a former Roman forum and notes that a ticket has been needed for the courtyard of Juliet’s House since May 2025. The 104th Arena di Verona Opera Festival runs from 11 June to 11 September 2027; if a performance tempts you, stay overnight rather than racing for the last train.

Verona is a full day; Padua is not. If you only have energy for one trip, keep Padua, which is closer, and use the spare day for Cannaregio or a second island.

Day 7: should you end on the islands or the Lido?

End on the lagoon islands from autumn to spring, taking line 12 from Fondamente Nove to Murano, Burano and Torcello at an unhurried pace. In summer, swap Torcello for an afternoon on the Lido, reached on line 1. Neither the islands nor the Lido were in the 2026 access-fee zone.

VeniceXplorer gives line 12 a boat every 20–30 minutes in high season and every 30–60 minutes in winter on its run via Murano Faro, Mazzorbo and Burano to Torcello, though its notes date from 2025, so check AVM’s current timetables. Guided groups are capped at 25 people on the islands as in the centre, NPR reported via WPR.

The 3-day plan races through all three islands; with a week, spend longer on Torcello and Burano and come back by late afternoon to pack. On a departure day, skip the islands and stay close to Piazzale Roma; getting around Venice compares the airport boats and buses, and Venice with kids covers pacing for families.

How should you adapt the week to tides, rain and heat?

From October to February, check the tide forecast each evening and move San Marco, which floods first, to a dry-tide day. In July and August, when highs average 29°C, do the trains and museums in the middle of the day. Carnival, from 23 January to 9 February 2027, is the one winter crowd peak.

Acqua alta is mainly an autumn and winter event, Il Post explained, and in 2022 it reported that the Basilica floods once the tide passes about 80 cm, while the MOSE barriers are raised only for tides forecast above 110 cm (Il Post). Highs run from about 8°C in January to 29°C in July and August in the 1991–2020 normals for Venezia Tessera, and May is the wettest month on average.

Carnevale di Venezia runs from 23 January to 9 February 2027. The FCDO warns of pickpocketing in city centres and at major sights, and notes that swimming in Venice’s canals is an offence.

Which tours are worth booking for a week in Venice?

Book the Doge’s Palace’s own Secret Itineraries tour, a guided Basilica visit if the mosaics matter to you, and a cicchetti walk for one evening. Padua and Verona are simple by train, so a guide there is optional. Check group size against the city’s 25-person limit and read cancellation terms.

Compare inclusions, such as a Basilica slot or museum entry, the meeting point and the cancellation terms; our GetYourGuide vs Viator vs Klook comparison explains the platforms. For free and low-cost days, see Venice free things to do and things to do in Venice.

For the city overview, see the Venice destination guide, Venice hotels and Venice eats. Arriving from Milan? See Milan to Venice by train or plane.

• Is a week too long for Venice? No; five city days and two train trips keep it unhurried.
• Will I pay the access fee? Under the 2026 rules, not if you sleep anywhere in the municipality.
• Padua or Verona first? Padua; it is closer, so it suits the first trip of the week.
• Do I need a car? No; trains, waterbuses and your feet cover every day.
• Where should I stay? See where to stay in Venice.