Le Mercerie, San Marco Shopping (Self Guided), Venice

As well as the historic buildings, beautiful architecture and gondola rides, Venice is also a great place to shop. The most famous streets for shopping are in the Le Mercerie area of the San Marco District. The streets and boulevards stretch all the way from the Rialto Bridge to St. Mark's Square and are packed with stores and stalls selling just about everything under the sun. Among the many items you can purchase here are the latest fashions, jewelry, costumes and souvenirs.

For luxury shopping, head to the shops and boutiques of Calle Larga XXII Marzo. Its highlights include boutiques filled with lines from the biggest names in Italian and international fashion, such as Gucci, Hermès and Prada. The name of this thoroughfare is linked to a very important day in the history of Venice. On March 22, 1848, the Republic of San Marco declared independence from the Habsburg Austrian Empire.

Other popular shopping streets include Merceria San Salvador, Merceria San Zulian and Merceria dell’Orologio. Leave no shelf or rack unturned as you search for that little something special to take back with you, whether it’s a creation from one of the world’s most famous designers or a kitschy souvenir.

Image Courtesy of Flickr and Simone.

How it works: A discovery walk features a route using which you can explore a popular city neighborhood on your own. This walk, along with other self-guided walks in over 1,500 cities, can be found on the app "GPSmyCity: Walks in 1K+ Cities" which can be downloaded from Apple App Store or Google Play Store to your mobile phone or tablet. The app's built-in GPS navigation functions allow following this walk route with ease. The app works both online and offline, so no data plan is needed when traveling abroad.

Download The GPSmyCity App

Create Your Own Self-Guided Walks in Venice

Guide Name: Le Mercerie, San Marco Shopping
Guide Location: Italy » Venice
Guide Type: Self-guided Walking Tour (Discovery)
Travel Distance: 1.8 Km or 1.1 Miles
Author: jenny

Walking Tours in Venice, Italy

Create Your Own Walk in Venice

Creating your own self-guided walk in Venice is easy and fun. Choose the city attractions that you want to see and a walk route map will be created just for you. You can even set your hotel as the start point of the walk.

Jewish Ghetto Tour

Founded in 1516, the Jewish Ghetto in Venice was the oldest of its kind in all Europe. At the time, Venice received order from the Pope to expel all Jews from the city, but the Venetian government opted to lock them onto a small island in the district of Cannaregio. Since then this small area has been the center of Jewish life in Venice, with buildings rising vertically to accommodate the rising... view more

Tour Duration: 1 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 0.4 Km or 0.2 Miles

Venice Introduction Walking Tour

Although most experts agree that the Venetian lagoon emerged nearly 6,000 years ago, the area of today's Venice remained mostly uninhabited, except for a small population of fishermen, up until the 5th century AD when the hordes of Gothic barbarians, looting their way into Rome, drove many a people away from their homes on the mainland to take refuge on the coastal Venetian islands.

Those... view more

Tour Duration: 3 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 4.1 Km or 2.5 Miles

Venice's Hidden Art Treasures

Among the first things springing to mind when talking about Venice, apart from the canals and gondolas, of course, is Art and Architecture. Indeed, Venice is one of the few cities in the world where Art and Architecture have merged in a stunning multiplicity of forms. The city is even renowned for its unique (Venetian) pictorial school famed by the likes of Tintoretto, Titian, Veronese, Castagno... view more

Tour Duration: 2 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 3.6 Km or 2.2 Miles

Dorsoduro Walking Tour

One of the six districts of Venice, Dorsoduro’s name translates as “hard bridge” due to the area's relatively high terrain. Home to some of the city’s highest spots, it also comprises some of Venice’s most picturesque canals, historic locations and cultural venues, including the Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute; the Gallerie dell’ Academia & the Ca’ Rezzonico – both... view more

Tour Duration: 1 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 2.1 Km or 1.3 Miles

Piazza San Marco Walking Tour

All of Venice’s roads seem to run into Piazza San Marco – the commercial, religious, and political heart of the city. With a glowing reputation as one of the finest squares in the world and arguably one of Europe’s primary tourist attractions, it certainly has a lot to offer to visitors.

Start your exploration with a tour of the pink-and-white marble Palazzo Ducale, which takes you... view more

Tour Duration: 1 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 0.6 Km or 0.4 Miles

Titian's Paintings Walk

One of the greatest painters of all time, Tiziano Vecelli – better known as Titian – was a pioneering figure of the Venetian school of Italian Renaissance painting. His career was successful from the start, and he became sought after by patrons, initially from Venice and its possessions, then joined by the north Italian princes, and finally the Habsburgs and papacy.

Equally adept with... view more

Tour Duration: 2 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 3.6 Km or 2.2 Miles

View all walking tours in Venice, Italy

Useful Travel Guides for Planning Your Trip

15 Distinctively Italian Things to Buy in Venice

Venice has been a tourist mecca for over a century now, with millions of visitors flocking in every year to see this unique place on the face of the Earth. Many, if not all, of these people seek to obtain something memorable as a token of their stay in this city. By far, not all of them know which...