The Venice Biennale alternates between art and architecture, and the art exhibition falls in even-numbered years. The 61st International Art Exhibition, In Minor Keys, runs from 9 May to 22 November 2026 at the Giardini and the Arsenale. A one-access ticket covering one entry to each venue costs 30 EUR, or 16 EUR for students and under-26s (La Biennale di Venezia, 2026b).
Anyone arriving in 2027 will see architecture instead. The 20th International Architecture Exhibition, Do Architecture, curated by Wang Shu and Lu Wenyu, opens on 8 May 2027 and closes on 21 November 2027, with a pre-opening on 6 and 7 May (La Biennale di Venezia, 2027). The two exhibitions use the same two main venues and the same ticket structure, so the practical advice below carries over, though 2027 prices will be published closer to the time.
Both venues sit at the eastern end of Castello, roughly 25 minutes on foot from Piazza San Marco or a short vaporetto hop. The official estimate for a self-guided visit is about three hours per venue, which is why a single ticket lets you use its two entries on days that need not be consecutive (La Biennale di Venezia, 2026c).
Which Biennale is on in 2026, and what is on in 2027?
The art and architecture exhibitions take turns, and the order is the opposite of what many guides state. Art runs in even years and architecture in odd ones. In 2026 the 61st International Art Exhibition, In Minor Keys, is open from Saturday 9 May to Sunday 22 November. It was conceived by Koyo Kouoh, who died on 10 May 2025, and the Biennale states that it is carrying out the exhibition as she conceived and defined it (La Biennale di Venezia, 2026a).
In 2027 the 20th International Architecture Exhibition takes the same venues from 8 May to 21 November, with a pre-opening on 6 and 7 May. It is titled Do Architecture and is curated by Wang Shu and Lu Wenyu, appointed on the recommendation of the Biennale president Pietrangelo Buttafuoco (La Biennale di Venezia, 2027).
If your dates fall outside those windows, there is no main exhibition to buy a ticket for. The Biennale also runs separate dance, music, theatre and film programmes on their own calendars, and a combined ticket pairs one art entry with one performance for 40 EUR (La Biennale di Venezia, 2026b). The founding of the institution in 1895 and its later crises are covered on the Biennale history page.
How much does a Venice Biennale ticket cost in 2026?
The standard ticket is called a one-access ticket, and it is the one most visitors want: it covers one entry to the Giardini and one to the Arsenale, and the two entries may be used on days that are not consecutive. It costs 30 EUR full price, 20 EUR reduced for over-65s and Venice residents, and 16 EUR for students and anyone under 26, with valid identification required at the entrance (La Biennale di Venezia, 2026b).
If you want to come and go more than once, the multiple-access tickets are personal and exclude closing days: 40 EUR for three consecutive days and 50 EUR for seven. At the other end, full accreditation for the whole run costs 80 EUR, or 45 EUR for students and under-26s. Holders of FAI, ACI, COOP, TCI and several other partner cards pay 26 EUR on production of the card at the ticket office, and a visitor with certified disability pays 20 EUR, with free entry for one accompanying adult.
Children up to and including six go free, and from seven they pay the 16 EUR under-26 rate. Groups of 10 to 25 pay 20 EUR a head for adults, 15 EUR for university students and 10 EUR for secondary school students, bookable online only.
Opening hours, closing days and how long each venue takes
Hours change with the season. From 9 May to 27 September both venues open 11:00 to 19:00, with last admission at 18:45, and the Arsenale stays open until 20:00 on Fridays and Saturdays, last admission 19:45. From 29 September to 22 November the day shifts earlier and shortens: 10:00 to 18:00, last admission 17:45 (La Biennale di Venezia, 2026b).
The venues close on Mondays. Two official pages disagree on the exceptions: the opening-hours table lists 16 November alone, while the frequently asked questions and the visit-planning page both give 11 May, 1 June, 7 September and 16 November, so check the date against the site before building a Monday around it (La Biennale di Venezia, 2026b, 2026c). Individual pavilions keep their own hours on top of this. The Netherlands pavilion is shut on open Mondays and every Tuesday, though its exterior is treated as a sculpture and stays visible, and the Austria pavilion opens Wednesday to Sunday, 10:00 to 17:00.
Allow about three hours per venue for a self-guided visit, which is the Biennale's own estimate. Doing both in one day is possible and tiring; splitting them across two days is what the one-access ticket is designed for. Guided tours take longer.
Getting to the Giardini and the Arsenale
Both venues are on the water and both have their own vaporetto stop. For the Giardini, take ACTV line 1, 4.1 or 5.1 to GIARDINI BIENNALE; line 6 also serves it, but only from Piazzale Roma. For the Arsenale, take line 1 or 4.1 to ARSENALE. Arriving from Punta Sabbioni, line 14 goes to San Zaccaria, where you change to 1, 4.1 or 5.1 for the Giardini or 1 or 4.1 for the Arsenale (La Biennale di Venezia, 2026c).
A standard 75-minute Rete Unica ticket, which covers the waterborne network as well as the buses, trams and People Mover, costs 9.50 EUR. It excludes routes 16 and 19, the Casino route, all Alilaguna services and any journey to or from Marco Polo airport. Travel cards cost 25 EUR for one day, 35 EUR for two, 45 EUR for three and 65 EUR for seven; visitors aged 6 to 29 can buy a 72-hour Rolling Venice ticket for 27 EUR, which needs a 6 EUR Rolling Venice card (AVM Actv, 2026).
From the airport, the Alilaguna Blu line runs to the Arsenale. There is no equivalent airport service to the Giardini. The Arsenale ticket office is at Riva Ca' di Dio, by the ARSENALE stop; the Giardini office is on Viale Trento, Castello 1260.
The national pavilions and the collateral events around the city
The national participations are the heart of the exhibition, and in 2026 they are spread across three settings: 29 pavilions in the Giardini, 25 in the Arsenale and 46 in the city centre (La Biennale di Venezia, 2026a). The last group is the part visitors most often miss. Those shows sit in palazzi, churches and warehouses scattered through the sestieri, each keeping its own hours, and your Biennale ticket does not control access to them.
Special Projects are staged at Forte Marghera, in Mestre on the mainland, which is a separate trip rather than a detour. A performance programme ran from 6 to 11 May around the opening week, so the first days of the exhibition carry events the rest of the run does not.
Guided tours come in two shapes. A booked private tour, available in Italian and eight other languages, costs 90 EUR for one venue or 150 EUR for two for adults, with lower rates for school and university groups. Scheduled tours that you join cost 10 EUR a person per venue and do not include admission, and the Biennale's own answers quote 10.50 EUR once the advance sales fee is added. Both need a reservation (La Biennale di Venezia, 2026b).
Which months are quietest, and what Biennale season does to beds and boats
Opening week in May is the busiest stretch of the run, with the performance programme of 6 to 11 May concentrating press and collectors in the city (La Biennale di Venezia, 2026a). The autumn window from 29 September to 22 November is the calmer half, with the trade-off that the day is two hours shorter and last admission falls at 17:45, so an afternoon arrival leaves less time than the same arrival in July (La Biennale di Venezia, 2026b).
Two practical points follow from the calendar. Mondays are closed except for a short list of dates, so a weekend trip that runs into Monday loses a day at both venues. And the multiple-access tickets exclude closing days from their count, which makes the three-day ticket poor value across a Monday.
Venice's access fee applies on 60 non-consecutive days in 2026, beginning 3 April, and the Biennale directs visitors to the city's own site for the day list and the exemptions (La Biennale di Venezia, 2026c). Tickets for the exhibition are sold online, so the queue that matters is at the entrance rather than the ticket window. Visit Venice has no sourced figures for what Biennale season does to room rates, so none are published here.
