Palazzo Grassi & Punta della Dogana Guide: Tickets, Hours & Pass Compatibility

Palazzo Grassi and Punta della Dogana are the two Venice venues of the Pinault Collection, French billionaire François Pinault's contemporary-art foundation. Palazzo Grassi is an 18th-century palazzo on the Grand Canal near Campo San Samuele; Punta della Dogana is the city's former maritime customs house, at the narrow point where the Grand Canal meets the Giudecca Canal. Both were converted into exhibition spaces by architect Tadao Ando while preserving their historic shells.

A single combined ticket (EUR 20 adult / EUR 15 reduced / EUR 7 for ages 20-26) admits to both venues for whichever exhibitions are currently on view. This is important: unlike a conventional museum, neither venue has a fixed permanent collection on permanent display — both operate only during the Pinault Collection's own scheduled exhibition periods, typically running for several months at a time, and close to the public in between. Always check the official exhibition calendar before planning a visit.

Standard hours during an exhibition period are Wednesday-Monday, 10:00-18:00 (last entry 17:00), with both venues closed every Tuesday and on 25 December. No reservation is required for individual visitors. Residents of the Metropolitan City of Venice and students at partner universities (Ca' Foscari, IUAV, Accademia di Belle Arti, Venice International University, Conservatorio Benedetto Marcello) enter free on Wednesdays.

Neither venue is part of any Venice city pass tracked on this site. The Pinault Collection is an independent, privately funded foundation, entirely separate from the city's MUVE civic museum network, the Chorus churches circuit, and the Venezia Unica City Pass bundles.

Palazzo Grassi, completed in 1772 for the Grassi merchant family, was one of the last grand palazzi built on the Grand Canal before the fall of the Venetian Republic. It later passed through Fiat's ownership before François Pinault acquired it in 2005 and reopened it as a contemporary-art venue in 2006, with interiors remodeled by Tadao Ando.

Punta della Dogana occupies Venice's 17th-century Dogana da Mar, the maritime customs house that once inspected and taxed goods entering the city at the junction of the Grand and Giudecca canals. Pinault restored the triangular building with Ando in 2009, keeping its original brick structure and timber roof trusses visible inside the galleries. The point outside the building is a well-known spot for large-scale outdoor sculpture installations tied to the current exhibition.