The Best Photography Locations in Venice
Hello fellow Venice lovers, romantics, and seekers of golden light on water!
One of the most common questions I get asked — right after “where do I shoot in Paris?” — is “Serge, where are your favorite spots in Venice?” I have been photographing this floating city for years, in every season and at every hour. The whole town is a stage set that someone forgot to tear down, and the light bounces off the canals in a way that makes even an average snapshot look like a painting.
Below are my absolute favorite locations — the exact spots where I made these images. Each one has a Google Maps link so you can stand precisely where I stood, plus the camera settings and the time of day that made it work.
👉 Open the full Venice photo walking tour in Google Maps »
One quick tip before we start: Venice rewards the early riser. Be on the water at sunrise and you will have these world-famous locations entirely to yourself. By 10am they belong to the crowds.
1. The Accademia Bridge & the View to Santa Maria della Salute
📍 Ponte dell'Accademia (45.43144, 12.32861)
If I could only photograph one view in all of Venice, it would be this one. From the wooden Accademia Bridge you look straight down the Grand Canal to the great dome of Santa Maria della Salute, with the elegant Palazzo Cavalli-Franchetti anchoring the left bank. Everything lines up like it was designed for a wide-angle lens.
My favorite version is from under the bridge, shooting from a boat so the arch frames the whole scene — it turns a famous view into something far more intimate.
Best time: Sunset, when the sky behind the Salute turns molten orange and pink, into blue hour for deep magenta tones and warm window light.
📷 Sony A7R II · 28mm · f/4 · 1/10s · ISO 1250🔖 License this image — ref. VEN-01
📷 Leica Q2 · 28mm · f/1.8 · 1/1000s · ISO 100🔖 License this image — ref. VEN-02
2. The Rialto Bridge
📍 Ponte di Rialto (45.43803, 12.33588)
The Rialto is the oldest and grandest of the bridges across the Grand Canal, and it gives you two completely different photographs. Stand on top and shoot down the canal — gondolas, vaporetto stops, faded palazzos receding into the distance. Then walk down to the water at the Riva del Vin and shoot the bridge from the side, catching its single great arch and the warm light from the little shops built into the span.
Best time: Twilight and blue hour. A long exposure smooths the busy water into glass and lets the city lights bleed across the surface.
📷 Sony A7R V · 18mm · f/5.6 · 30s · ISO 100 (tripod)🔖 License this image — ref. VEN-04
📷 Sony A7R V · 24mm · f/11 · 4s · ISO 100 (tripod)🔖 License this image — ref. VEN-05
Bonus — a portrait spot: the little wooden dock at the foot of the bridge is also one of the finest places in Venice for an environmental portrait. Shoot wide open at dusk and let the great arch of the Rialto rise behind your subject.
📷 Leica Q2 · 28mm · f/1.7 · 1/250s · ISO 100🔖 License this image — ref. VEN-13
3. San Giorgio Maggiore from the San Marco Waterfront
📍 Riva degli Schiavoni viewpoint (45.43289, 12.3447)
Across the basin from Piazza San Marco sits the island of San Giorgio Maggiore, with Palladio's perfect white church and its tall brick bell tower. Shot from the Riva degli Schiavoni with the old wooden mooring posts — the briccole — in the foreground, it is one of the most serene compositions in the whole lagoon.
This is the shot to make on a gray, overcast day. Reach for a strong ND filter, slow the shutter right down, and let the water and clouds melt into silk. It works beautifully in black and white.
Best time: Any flat, cloudy morning. The worse it looks for a tourist, the better it looks for this photograph.
4. The Gondolas of San Marco at Sunset
📍 Molo San Marco gondola moorings (45.4332, 12.3401)
Right in front of Piazza San Marco, a row of gondolas bobs under their blue covers, all pointing the same way like a little fleet at rest. Get down low, use a wide lens, and let them lead the eye across the basin to San Giorgio Maggiore glowing in the last light. The quintessential Venice photograph.
Best time: Sunset, when the sky goes purple and gold and the far shore catches fire.
📷 Sony A7R V · 19mm · f/7.1 · 1/100s · ISO 100🔖 License this image — ref. VEN-08
5. The Bridge of Sighs (Ponte dei Sospiri)
📍 Ponte della Paglia viewpoint (45.43388, 12.34095)
The enclosed white limestone bridge that once carried prisoners from the Doge's Palace to the cells — legend says they sighed at their last glimpse of Venice through its windows. Photograph it from the Ponte della Paglia, and use the carved stone arch itself as a natural frame so the famous bridge sits cradled inside the foreground. A passing boat adds life and scale.
Best time: Early morning, before the bridge becomes a wall of selfie sticks.
📷 Sony A7R V · 23mm · f/7.1 · 1/200s · ISO 160🔖 License this image — ref. VEN-09
6. Piazza San Marco
📍 Piazza San Marco (45.4341, 12.33876)
Napoleon supposedly called it “the drawing room of Europe.” Shoot from the far western end toward the Basilica and the towering Campanile. When a storm rolls through and the square is wet and empty, this becomes one of the most dramatic black-and-white photographs you can make anywhere in Italy.
Best time: Just after dawn, with dramatic clouds or right after rain when the pavement turns into a mirror.
7. The Doge's Palace & Riva degli Schiavoni at Sunrise
📍 Piazzetta San Marco & the two columns (45.43345, 12.34)
My favorite sunrise spot in Venice. Position yourself by the two columns of the Piazzetta with the pink-and-white facade of the Doge's Palace on your left, and let the wet stone promenade sweep off to the right toward the rising sun. The cobblestones do all the compositional work, and at this hour you will be almost completely alone.
Best time: Sunrise. A long exposure pulls the clouds into streaks across the sky.
8. St Mark's Campanile Through the Arcades
📍 St Mark's Campanile / Piazza arcades (45.43389, 12.33867)
A composition lesson disguised as a location. Instead of shooting the Campanile straight on like everyone else, step back under the arcades and shoot through one of the great arches. The dark stonework frames the scene and an over-photographed subject suddenly feels fresh and theatrical. Always look for a foreground frame — it is the fastest way to lift an ordinary shot.
Best time: Blue hour into night, when the purple sky glows behind the tower.
Buon viaggio, and happy shooting! — Serge
Struggling To Get Good Results With Your Photos?
Apply now to finally master your tools and capture photos that have that 'WOW' factor using the Natural Drama Formula
