Rick Steves - Rick Steves Tour. Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice

Rick Steves Walks and Tours eBooks are straightforward, self-guided walking tours throughsome of Europes most popular destinations, designed for easy reference on your mobile deviceor eReader. Tours and Walks are available for must-see locations throughout London, Paris,Rome, Florence, Venice, Amsterdam, Budapest, Vienna, Athens, and Istanbul.

Rick Steves Tour: British Library, London

Rick Steves Tour: British Museum, London

Rick Steves Tour: National Gallery, London

Rick Steves Tour: National Portrait Gallery, London

Rick Steves Tour: St. Pauls Cathedral, London

Rick Steves Tour: Tate Britain, London

Rick Steves Tour: Tate Modern, London

Rick Steves Tour: Tower of London

Rick Steves Tour: Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Rick Steves Tour: Westminster Abbey, London

Rick Steves Walk: Bankside, London

Rick Steves Walk: City of London

Rick Steves Walk: West End, London

Rick Steves Walk: Westminster & Whitehall, London

Rick Steves Tour: Carnavalet Museum, Paris

Rick Steves Tour: Eiffel Tower, Paris

Rick Steves Tour: Louvre Museum, Paris

Rick Steves Tour: Orsay Museum, Paris

Rick Steves Tour: Pere Lachaise Cemetery, Paris

Rick Steves Tour: Pompidou Center, Paris

Rick Steves Tour: Versailles

Rick Steves Walk: Champs-Elyses, Paris

Rick Steves Walk: Historic Paris

Rick Steves Walk: Left Bank, Paris

Rick Steves Walk: Marais District, Paris

Rick Steves Walk: Montmartre, Paris

Rick Steves Tour: Appian Way, Rome

Rick Steves Tour: Borghese Gallery, Rome

Rick Steves Tour: National Museum of Rome

Rick Steves Tour: Palatine Hill, Rome

Rick Steves Tour: Pantheon, Rome

Rick Steves Tour: Pilgrims Rome

Rick Steves Tour: Roman Colosseum

Rick Steves Tour: Roman Forum

Rick Steves Tour: St. Peters Basilica, Rome

Rick Steves Tour: Vatican Museum, Rome

Rick Steves Walk: Heart of Rome

Rick Steves Walk: Trastavere, Rome

Rick Steves Tour: Accademia, Venice

Rick Steves Tour: Ca Rezzonico, Venice

Rick Steves Tour: Correr Museum, Venice

Rick Steves Tour: Doges Palace, Venice

Rick Steves Tour: Frari Church, Venice

Rick Steves Tour: Grand Canal Cruise, Venice

Rick Steves Tour: Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice

Rick Steves Tour: St. Marks Basilica, Venice

Rick Steves Tour: St. Marks Square, Venice

Rick Steves Tour: Venices Lagoon

Rick Steves Walk: Three Walks in Venice

Rick Steves Tour: Accademia, Florence

Rick Steves Tour: Bargello Museum, Florence

Rick Steves Tour: Duomo Museum, Florence

Rick Steves Tour: Medici Chapels, Florence

Rick Steves Tour: Museum of San Marco, Florence

Rick Steves Tour: Pitti Palace, Florence

Rick Steves Tour: Uffizi Gallery, Florence

Rick Steves Walk: Renaissance Florence

Rick Steves Tour: Anne Frank House, Amsterdam

Rick Steves Tour: Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Rick Steves Tour: Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam

Rick Steves Walk: Amsterdam City Center

Rick Steves Walk: Jordaan District, Amsterdam

Rick Steves Walk: Red Light District, Amsterdam

Rick Steves Tour: Hofburg Imperial Apartments, Vienna

Rick Steves Tour: Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

Rick Steves Tour: Ringstrasse Tram, Vienna

Rick Steves Tour: St. Stephens Cathedral, Vienna

Rick Steves Walk: Vienna City Center

Rick Steves Tour: House of Terror, Budapest

Rick Steves Tour: Thermal Baths, Budapest

Rick Steves Walk: Castle Hill, Budapest

Rick Steves Walk: Leopold Town, Budapest

Rick Steves Walk: The Castle Quarter, Prague

Rick Steves Tour: Athens Acropolis

Rick Steves Tour: Ancient Agora, Athens

Rick Steves Tour: Acropolis Museum & National Archaeological Museum, Athens

Rick Steves Walk: Athens City Center

Rick Steves Tour: Bosphorus Cruise, Istanbul

Rick Steves Tour: Chora Church, Istanbul

Rick Steves Tour: Grand Bazaar, Istanbul

Rick Steves Tour: Hagia Sophia, Istanbul

Rick Steves Tour: Istanbul Archaeological Museum

Rick Steves Tour: Topkapi Palace, Istanbul

Rick Steves Tour: Turkish and Islamic Arts Museum, Istanbul

Rick Steves Walk: Historic Core of Istanbul

Rick Steves Walk: Istanbul City Walls & Neighborhoods

Rick Steves Walk: Istanbul New District

Rick Steves Walk: Istanbul Old Town Backstreets

Peggy Guggenheim (1898-1979)an American-born heiress to the Guggenheim fortune and niece of Solomon Guggenheim (who built New Yorks modern-art museum of the same name)made her mark as a friend, lover, and patron of modern artists.

As a gallery owner, she introduced Europes avant-garde to a skeptical America. As a collector, she gave instant status to modern art that was too radical for serious museums. As a patron, she fed starving artists such as Jackson Pollock. And as a person, she lived larger than life, unconventional and original, with a succession of lovers that enhanced her reputation as a female Casanova.

In 1948, Peggy retired to Venice, renovating a small, unfinished palazzo on the Grand Canal. Today its a museum, decorated much as it was during her lifetime, with one of the best collections anywhere of 20th-century art. Its the only museum I can think of where the owner is buried in the garden.

(See map)

Cost: 12, usually includes temporary exhibits (displayed near the caf and museum shop).

Hours: Wed-Mon 10:00-18:00, closed Tue, last entry 15 minutes before closing.

Getting There: The museum, overlooking the Grand Canal, is at Dorsoduro 704, a five-minute walk from the Accademia Bridge (vaporetto: Accademia) or from La Salute Church (vaporetto: Salute). A cool way to cross the Grand Canal is via the S.M. del Giglio traghetto (runs 9:00-18:00) or the Dogana traghetto from St. Marks Square (9:00-14:00; both traghetti 0.50).

Information: The ticket desk and museum shop sell an excellent 5 mini-guidebook. Tel. 041-240-5411, www.guggenheim-venice.it .

Tours: Audioguides cost 7. You can book a 1- to 1.5-hour guided tour (60) by calling the museum. Art interns guarding the works are happy to tell you about particular pieces if you ask.