Peggy Guggenheim Collection: Tickets and Tours

The Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice is one of the most important museums for modern European and American art, attracting plenty of visitors in the city.

With its collections that include Cubism, Surrealism and Abstract Expressionism, your visit to the museum can be a welcome departure from Venice’s dominating Renaissance art.

So get your Peggy Guggenheim Collection ticket early, and immerse yourself in the mastery of famous modern artists such as Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali and Jackson Pollock.

Continue reading our guide to learn more about the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, one of the most exciting museums in Venice.

What are the prices of Peggy Guggenheim Collection tickets?

• Adult (age 19-64): €16
• Youth (age 10-18): €9
• Senior (age 65-99): €14
• Student with ID (age 25 and younger): €9
• Children (age 9 and younger): Free

Are there are any discounted ticket rates?

Seniors over aged 65 qualify for discounted admission at €14. Students under 26 (with current student ID) and visitors aged 10-18 qualify for discounted admission at €9.

Members of various clubs and organizations, such as FAI and Touring Club Italiano also qualify for discounts.

Can I visit for free?

Free admission to the collection applies to children under 10 and disabled visitors and assistants. Peggy Guggenheim Collection organization-affiliated members also enter free.

Free admission for Thursday from 2 PM to 6 PM only applies to residents of the City of Venice, people born in Venice, and students at Venetian universities and vocational schools.

Should I book in advance?

It’s advisable to book your tickets to the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in advance before they’re sold out, so you can skip the queue and reserve the best time slot for your visit.

What are the best Peggy Guggenheim Collection tours?

The Peggy Guggenheim Collection provides an in-house guided and private tours depending on your tickets.

Guided tour of Peggy Guggenheim Collection

Explore one of Europe's most esteemed museums of modern art with a single entrance ticket to the fascinating Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice.

Your guided tour includes the entrance ticket to the Peggy Guggenheim Collection. You can explore the collection on your own, admiring modern art by famous artists such as Picasso, Magritte, Calder and other modern artists.

Then wander through the Patsy R. and Raymond D. Nasher Sculpture Garden where you can see fine works by amongst others Duchamp-Villon, Giacometti, Minguzzi, Richier, Merz, Moore, and Richier.

Also admire the Hannelore and Rudolph Schulhof  Art Collection of Italian, European and American artists from 1945 to the present day. The collection includes works by top artists such as Andy Warhol, Willem de Kooning, Claes Oldenburg and Anish Kapoor.

Peggy Guggenheim Collection private guided tour

Discover the extraordinary Peggy Guggenheim Collection, one of Italy’s most important art museums, on a private guided tour in Venice. Admire the vast collection in the museum on European and American art works dating back to the first half of the 20th century.

Stroll through the Nasher Sculpture Garden and marvel at the works of masters such as Duchamp-Villon, Giacometti, Moore and Richier.

The collection is housed in the Palazzo Venier dei Leoni, beautifully situated on Venice’s Grand Canal. The Palazzo once served as the residence of wealthy American heiress Peggy Guggenheim, with most of the art works displayed coming from her personal collection. Your meeting point is in front of the museum entrance.

Wandering through the museum with a private guide, you’ll discover various masterpieces by American and European artists from the first half of the 20th century. You’ll admire the works of famous Pablo Picasso, René Magritte and American artist Jackson Pollock, to name some.

Also admire works by European and American painters and sculptors from 1945 to the present, bequeathed to the Guggenheim Foundation by Hannelore and Rudolph Schulhof in 2012.

These works have since been permanently accommodated at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection and include masterpieces by Capogrossi, De Kooning, Oldenburg, Stella, Warhol and Kapoor.

Stroll through the Nasher Sculpture Garden at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, the only venue in Europe where Nasher Collection works are on continuous display.

The Sculpture Center offers rotating exhibitions of works from the Nasher family collection and special exhibitions from other museums and private collections. Here in the Sculpture Garden you can admire the works by among others, Duchamp-Villon, Giacometti, Minguzzi, Mirko, Moore and Richier.

What will you see inside?

At the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, admire the modern masterpieces of Pablo Picasso, Alexander Calder, René Magritte, and Jackson Pollock from Surrealism, Cubism and Abstract Expressionism art styles.

Also visit the temporary exhibitions alongside permanent collections and wander through the famous Garden of Sculptures alongside Venice’s Grand Canal. The collection was created by the famous American heiress Peggy Guggenheim, and originally put on for the first Venice Biennale after WWII.

The next year, she acquired the Palazzo Venier dei Leoni, an 18th century unfinished palace, beautifully located on Venice’s Grand Canal, to house the collection.

She was assisted in the collection by distinguished artists such as Howard Putzel, Marcel Duchamp and Nellie van Doesburg. She was buried in the Sculpture Garden along with all her dogs.

The Guggenheim Museum Palazzo

The building on the Grand Canal housing the Peggy Guggenheim Collection dates back to 1749. In this year, a noble Venetian family, the Veniers, commissioned the Italian architect Lorenzo Boschetti to design a five-story palazzo on the Grand Canal.

Extenuating circumstances hampered the building’s construction, with the result that the single-storey palazzo did not go beyond that. Over the years, the palazzo changed owners several times before Peggy Guggenheim acquired it as her permanent residence, and subsequently, as an art museum.

The Hannelore and Rudolph Schulhof Collection

In 2012, 80 works of American and European painters and sculptors from after 1945 were bequeathed to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation by Hannelore and Rudolph B. Schulhof. These works  are permanently accommodated at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection.

When Peggy Guggenheim left New York for Venice in 1947, it left her collection with only sporadic postwar European and American art.

As the Schulhofs began collecting where Peggy Guggenhein left off, their bequest perfectly extended and enriched the Guggenheim Collection’s post-war art with great works.

Added to the Cubist, Surrealist, and early American Abstract Expressionist art in the Collection, its reach was extended into the 1970s/80s. Art works in the bequest include that of Alberto Burri, Willem de Kooning, Jasper Johns, Anish Kapoor, Frank Stella and Andy Warhol.

The Sculpture Garden displays works by Tony Caro, Jenny Holzer, and Isamu Noguchi, among others.

How do I get there?

To get to the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, take the Water Bus Line 1, heading to Lido, from the center to Accademia or Salute stop. From St. Mark's Square, take the Water Bus Line 2, direction Piazzale Roma, and disembark at Accademia stop.

What are the opening times?

The Peggy Guggenheim Collection is open daily from 10 AM to 6 PM, but is closed on Tuesdays and 25 December.

When is the best time to visit the Peggy Guggenheim Collection?

The best time to visit the Peggy Guggenheim Collection is first thing in the morning or later in the afternoon when the museum is less busy. Reviews indicate that usually there are lots of schoolchildren in the morning.

Which other museums can be visited in Venice?

• Leonardo Da Vinci Museum in Venice
• Accademia Galleries in Venice
• Ca' Pesaro Museum in Venice
• Giorgio Cini Foundation in Venice
• Correr Museum in Venice

Travel tips

• Make sure to book your ticket to the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in advance.
• An audio guide is available at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection entrance for €7 in several languages.
• Get there early, as the art museum can get quite busy, s0 you can avoid the crowds and have more time to explore the collections.