LEGO Icons 11388 Venetian Neighbourhood: £449.99 UK price, release date and free Water Taxi

LEGO Icons Venetian Neighbourhood (11388) goes on sale on 4 November 2026, and LEGO.com UK lists it at £449.99. For that you get 5,682 pieces, 17 minifigures, a canal with a gondola, a tower with a moving astronomical clock and a 3D-printed street piano that plays real notes. LEGO Insiders members can buy the set three days early, from 1 November, and between 1 and 8 November the 40898 Venetian Water Taxi is added to purchases. Prices checked on 20 October 2026.

Key facts at a glance

• Set: LEGO Icons 11388, sold on LEGO.com UK as "Venetian Neighbourhood", 18+

• UK price: £449.99 at LEGO.com (checked on 20 October 2026)

• Piece count: 5,682, which works out at about 7.9p per piece (the Brickset figure, which matches our own arithmetic from the price and piece count)

• Release: 1 November 2026 for LEGO Insiders, 4 November 2026 for everyone

• Gift with purchase: 40898 Venetian Water Taxi (322 pieces) when you buy 11388 from 1 to 8 November, while stocks last

• Dimensions: over 48 cm high, 63 cm wide and 31 cm deep according to LEGO.com

• Minifigures: 17, including gondoliers, musicians, tourists and masked carnival-goers

• Features: a piano that plays when you turn a vase, a knob that drives the astronomical calendar, removable roofs and floors

• Other retailers: as of 20 October we found no listing of 11388 outside LEGO.com

What is LEGO Icons 11388 Venetian Neighbourhood

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It is a diorama for adults that recreates a slice of Venice laid out along a canal. Instead of a single building, as in many LEGO architectural models, you get a whole scene: three buildings, an arched bridge, water, a gondola and life along the waterfront. The set belongs to the Icons line, the collector-focused range for builders aged 18+.

LEGO announced the model on 15 October 2026. Box images and the piece count had leaked online beforehand, so the launch was not a complete surprise, but the set had not appeared in any official 2026 previews. Brick Fanatics calls it this year's "surprise" Icons set, much like the November release of 10366 Tropical Aquarium a year earlier.

How much LEGO 11388 costs in the UK and the price per piece

LEGO.com UK lists the set at £449.99. With 5,682 pieces, that comes to about 7.9p per piece. Brickset gives the same figure, and our own calculation agrees. It is not a number published by LEGO.

What this means in practice: it is one of the most expensive Icons sets of the year. Many commenters on Brickset feel the scene should be bigger for the money. Others praise the design as one of the best-looking minifigure-scale sets around. Your verdict depends on how much you are paying for the look and how much for the brick count.

Worth noting: on 20 October 2026 we found no listing of 11388 at Smyths, Argos, John Lewis or Hamleys. The only confirmed price in pounds is therefore the LEGO.com one. If other shops list the model later, their prices may differ.

Release date: 1 or 4 November

Both dates are correct, and they apply to different groups of buyers:

1. 1 November 2026 (Sunday): early access for LEGO Insiders members

2. 4 November 2026 (Wednesday): general sale at LEGO.com and LEGO Stores

The product page on LEGO.com UK currently shows only the second date, with the note "Coming soon on 4 November 2026". The earlier Insiders date comes from the LEGO press release. Some sites quote only 1 November and others only 4 November, hence the confusion in the headlines.

If you want to be sure you get in before the gift runs out, a LEGO Insiders account is free and worth setting up before 1 November.

Gift with purchase: 40898 Venetian Water Taxi

According to the LEGO press release, anyone who buys 11388 between 1 and 8 November 2026 will receive 40898 Venetian Water Taxi. It has 322 pieces, an 18+ rating, a water taxi boat, a jetty, captain and tourist minifigures and two pigeons.

Things to watch out for:

• Condition: buying the 11388 set itself. No source mentions a minimum order value

• Stock: the offer runs while stocks last, so 8 November is the cut-off date, not a guarantee

• UK: the press release does not list countries, so the terms for the UK are not confirmed

• Separate 40898 page: LEGO.com UK also has its own page for 40898 Venetian Water Taxi, showing £24.99 and out of stock, with no offer terms

Brick Fanatics suggests the water taxi might be attachable to the canal in the main diorama, but stresses that this is not confirmed.

Three buildings on the canal

The scene is made up of three main structures:

1. A luxury villa

2. A glassblowing workshop, a nod to the Venetian glassmaking tradition

3. A tower with an astronomical clock

The roofs and floors lift off so you can look inside. Along the waterfront there are lamp posts, mooring posts, trees and balconies, with pigeons dotted here and there. The gondola fits under the arched bridge together with two gondoliers.

The astronomical clock tower

There is a knob on the side of the tower. When you turn it, the astronomical calendar dial moves. The dark blue dial nods to the Torre dell'Orologio in St Mark's Square, while the tower's silhouette and height are closer to the Campanile. Some Brickset readers feel the tower and spires do not look especially Venetian. That is a matter of taste, but bear in mind that the model is inspired by the city rather than a faithful copy of a specific corner of it.

A street piano that really plays

This is the most talked-about part of the set. A piano stands in the street with a vase of flowers on top. When you turn the vase, the piano makes real sounds.

The piano body is 3D printed. According to Brick Fanatics and TCT Magazine, it is only the second 3D-printed element in a widely available LEGO set, after the miniature train from 10361 Holiday Express Train. TCT suspects selective laser sintering (SLS) was used, but LEGO has not confirmed this.

Keep your expectations in check: Brick Fanatics warns that the tune may not impress, and one Brickset reader describes the sound in the LEGO video as plasticky plinking. It is also unknown how many notes the mechanism plays.

17 minifigures: who is on the waterfront

LEGO lists 17 minifigures: gondoliers, musicians, tourists and carnival-goers. Two figures wear elaborate costumes and carnival masks, and there is also a violinist. LEGO has not published a full character list.

A detail spotted by Brick Fanatics: one figure uses an upside-down game controller and a headpiece from the DREAMZzz range. A drawback noticed by Brickset readers: the same minifigure head appears twice in the set.

Water without a single flat surface

The canal is not a smooth plate. LEGO built it from many transparent blue studded elements, so the gondola can probably be attached in different spots. Transparent 2x2 arches represent the waves, with smooth tiles along the edges and under the bridge. One of the arches flows around a partly submerged building.

A criticism Brick Fanatics repeats: for Venice, there is not much water, and only one gondola.

Two sections, several layouts

The diorama splits into two sections. According to Brick Fanatics, you can:

• join them with the arched bridge, as in the LEGO images

• display them completely separately

• arrange them in another shape to suit your shelf space

Visible axle holes suggest that future sets could connect to this scene, but that is only an observation from reviewers, not an announcement from LEGO.

Dimensions and shelf space

According to LEGO.com, the finished model is over 48 cm high, 63 cm wide and 31 cm deep. Brickset lists a weight of 6.95 kg and a box of 52.3 x 48 x 21.8 cm (these two figures come from Brickset only).

In practical terms: a standard bookcase shelf is around 30 cm deep, so the model may overhang slightly. Being able to split the scene in two helps if you have two narrower shelves rather than one wide one. Several Brickset readers say outright that the model is too big for their homes.

How it compares with Italian Riviera and Venetian Houses

The two sets the new release is most often compared with:

• 21359 Italian Riviera (LEGO Ideas, 2025): 3,251 pieces, 10 minifigures, 38 x 31 x 23 cm. A smaller seaside scene of an Italian town

• 910023 Venetian Houses (BrickLink Designer Program, 2022): 3,470 pieces, 13 minifigures, including a gondolier and a pianist. A set from a limited programme, now mostly available on the secondary market

11388 is clearly bigger than both. Among the 2026 Icons sets, it is smaller than Minas Tirith (11377, 8,278 pieces). It is a long way off record holders such as the Eiffel Tower (10,001 pieces).

The set's weak points

Gathered from reviews and comments:

1. Price: £449.99 is a top-tier outlay, and some collectors feel the scene should be bigger for the money

2. 3D-printed elements: Brick Fanatics calls them "quite controversial", and some fans want classic bricks only

3. Piano sound: more of a novelty than a music box

4. Little water and a single gondola

5. Details: a repeated minifigure head, visible brick-built steps on the bridge, a plain back wall

No source discusses compatibility with the Modular Buildings series, so do not assume the model will connect to your modular buildings.

Where to buy LEGO 11388 in the UK

As of 20 October 2026, the only confirmed places to buy are LEGO.com UK and LEGO Stores. Soleback has a LEGO UK partnership, so this is an affiliate link. We may earn a commission via this link. If the set appears at other Soleback partners, we will update this article.

Cashback and discount codes

With a set this expensive, it is worth checking whether you can get something back. You will find current offers in Soleback promotions and codes in the discount codes section. Remember that a code from outside Soleback may block your cashback from being credited. If you want cashback to be applied automatically when you shop at partner stores, install the Soleback extension.

What to do depending on your situation

• You definitely want the gift: set up a free LEGO Insiders account and buy on 1 November, as stocks of the water taxi are limited

• You are not an Insider and do not mind about the gift: you can wait for the set to appear at other retailers and compare prices. Whether and when it will get cheaper is unknown for now

• You are short on space: measure your shelf. 31 cm deep is more than a typical bookcase, and splitting the scene in two gives you flexibility

• You own Italian Riviera or Venetian Houses: the new set does not officially connect to them, but in style it could create an Italian corner on your shelves

• You only want classic bricks: the 3D-printed piano is a single element, but if that is a dealbreaker for you, this set is not for you

You can buy the set at LEGO.com, and before you do, check the latest Soleback promotions and discount codes.