Last updated on August 8th, 2024
If you are coming to Venice for the food, I firstly want to congratulate you on making one of the better decisions in your life. Two days enjoying the best food in Venice will be some of your best days spent in Italy!
After living in Italy for over a decade and traveling the peninsula for over 20 years I have come to believe that the best way to visit and understand Italy, its traditions, customs, and culture is through eating and drinking .
And Venice, Italy is no exception. No matter how much time you spend in Venice, it’s important to carve out time to enjoy the unique culinary traditions of the Lagoon.
In this article, I will share with you my carefully-planned two day Venice Itinerary for foodies looking to visit the city through a culinary lens. I will go over exactly how to spend your days – what food activities to consider and where to eat along the way.
Don’t have 48 hours in Venice? Consider my 24 Hour Food Itinerary for Venice instead.
Note: If you can, plan this two day Venice itinerary for foodies Thursday-Saturday when all my suggested eateries will be open. If you plan for other days, you might run into some recommendations that are closed. If that is the case, I have included some alternatives.
Jump to Section
Day 1 – Venice Itinerary For Foodies
Breakfast
No need to wake up at the crack of dawn to have breakfast in Venice. At your leisure, head to one of the best bakeries in Venice for your morning pastry and coffee, leaving enough time to shop the Rialto market before lunch.
Pasticceria Tonolo
Closed: Mondays
Pasticceria Tonolo is my favorite bar for breakfast in Venice if you are looking for a classic Italian breakfast.
This bar and bakery is best known for their large cream puffs filled with all sorts of flavors such as classic pastry cream, whipped cream, chocolate, hazelnut cream and more!
If you are looking for something lighter, there are classic Italian pastries as well to choose from or small cookies.
Winter Travelers: Pasticceria Tonolo is famous for their frittelle (fried dough balls covered in sugar) during the Carnevale celebration in February. If you come at this time, these are what you should be ordering.
Visit To The Rialto Market & Food Shopping
After eating at Pasticceria Tonolo, head to Venice’s most famous open air market selling some of the lagoon’s best seafood and local produce.
Leisurely walk through the food stalls, feeling free to take pictures, chat up the vendors and ask for suggestions and samples (please only do this if you are really interested in purchasing).
Travelers With Special Diets: The Rialto market is a great place to pick up snacks for vegans, vegetarians and gluten-free travelers in Venice.
Start at either the fish section or the fresh produce section, being sure to see both. For a full guide on what to look for and buy at the Rialto market including my top tips for shopping at open air markets, read Shopping at the Rialto Market in Venice and Food Markets in Venice Worth Your Time.
Aliani Casa del Parmigiano
Right off the produce section of the Rialto market in Campo Bella Vienna is Aliani, one of the best and oldest cheese shops in Venice famous for their Parmigiano Reggiano, cured meats and other local cheeses.
Mid Morning Coffee Break
Market food shopping is tough work so be sure to take your time and refuel with some of the best coffee in Venice.
Caffe Del Doge
Caffe del Doge is one of the few coffee roasters in Venice who have a variety of single Arabica coffee beans and hand selected blends roasted closeby.
Locals come for the coffee, not the interior or pastries, hich are ok, but nothing to write home about. Instead, talk to the barista about what kind of coffee you want (cappuccino, espresso, caffe corretto, etc.) and they will help you decide which blend is best for you.
Good To Know: You can have the coffee beans bagged up to bring home with you, just ask!
Foodie Shopping Continued
After a coffee jolt, continue on to the following historic stores for some of the best food souvenirs to buy in Venice.
Bring It Home: For a full guide on food shopping in Venice read Best Food Souvenirs from Venice.
Drogheria Mascari
Drogheria Mascari sells one of the most ample and well curated selection of local foods including local spices, honey, jams, chutney, spirits, wine, chocolates and candy.
Because they cater to local Venetians as well as tourists, they have an excellent selection of basic ingredients such as artisan pasta, rice, olive oil and vinegars to choose from as well.
Giacomo Rizzo
Giacomo Rizzo is Venice’s pasta shop. Come here for any kind of shape, color and kind of pasta with attention to ‘Made in Italy’ brands, particularly regional specialties such as bigoli, a kind of spaghetti made from buckwheat flour. Don’t miss their fresh pasta section as well!
The store has a wide selection of pre packaged sauces and other condiments for dressing pasta, including olive oil and squid ink.
Mille Vini
Even if you don’t love wine, Millevini is a beautiful shop worth walking by, if nothing else. It’s one of the city’s best wine shops with great variety and knowledgeable staff.
Lunch
After a morning of market shopping and nibbles, I suggest a light lunch, just as local Venetians might have on a working day. This might mean a tramezzino, some street food or a quick primo piatto (first course).
SEPA
Open: Daily 11:30 pm – 10:00 pm
SEPA specializes in making good food fast, which you can take out or eat in. There is no sitting room. Rather, stand at waist high counters and enjoy your cicchetti, wine, craft beer, fried nibbles, roasted meats, baked fish and freshly prepared risotto of the day, ready at 1:00 pm sharp.
Tip: If you are traveling with small children, I don’t recommend eating here because they don’t have seating. Instead, read Kid-Friendly Restaurants in Venice and The Best Squares for Eating and Drinking with Kids in Venice.
Afternoon Island Hopping & Wine Tasting
Hop on the Vaporetto to Burano and visit the nearby Mazzorbo Island, indulging in wine tasting and a relaxing dinner on the water.
Note: You will absolutely have to get in touch with Venissa about what wine experiences they have prior to arriving and pre book your visit with them, including your dinner reservation.
Burano Island
Burano island is a one hour boat ride from the Venice mainland. Here, you will find a corner of Venice relatively untouched with some of the most authentic Venetian food.
Once you arrive, spend your time walking around the brightly colored buildings, which Burano is most famous for, and follow your nose. You should smell butter! Burano is home to the world famous butter cookie, bussolà, sometimes spelled bussolai or called buranelli or essi cookies.
Palmisano Carmelina is the best bakery to taste these cookies at, and not only! They sell all sorts of Venetian sweet treats including such as bricole, fragolini, limoncini, zaeti veneti, dogi, caorline, sbreghette, cocchini, peverini, and moretti.
Wine Tasting Experience
From here, head next door to your pre-booked wine tasting tour or other experience by Venissa Ristorante e Winery located on Mazzorbo, the smaller island attached to Burano by a footbridge.
Choose from several private wine experiences, tailor-made or pre-designed by the winery to learn about the local heritage, culture and history of Venissa wines. Choose from these four different experiences: Dorona, Viaggio, Storia and Verticale Venissa.
| Venissa Winery Experience | Length | Cost | Includes |
| Dorona | 45 minutes | €45 | Estate tour and tasting of two wines of the current release. |
| Viaggio | 1 hour | €65 | Estate tour and tasting of four wines of the current release. |
| Storia | 1.5 hours | €90 | Estate tour with a guided wine tasting including six wines (red and white), two from the Venissa Vintage Collection. |
| Verticale Venissa | 2 hours | Priced upon request | Estate tour and tasting of all vintages of Venissa Bianco from the very first one to the current release. |
Note: Each of the tours on their website have preset times. The Storia tour at 4:00 pm is best suited for this particular two day foodie itinerary in Venice. If you wish to book another tour, be in touch with Venissa directly. Alternatively, you can move your afternoon island hopping and wine experience to the morning.
Dinner
Venissa Ristorante
Fondamenta di Santa Caterina, 3, 30142 Venezia VE (Mazzorbo)
Open: Closed Tuesday and Wednesday
After your wine experience, it only makes sense to dine at the Venissa restaurant, dedicated to serving farm to table meals with sustainable practices.
The restaurant, committed to cucina ambientale or sustainable cooking, is constantly reinventing dishes that pair well with their own wines produced on the estate. In fact, they have been awarded the Green Michelin Star, given specifically to only a few choice restaurants dedicated to preserving the local flavors of Venice’s lagoon without compromising its commitment to sustainability and local partnerships.
If you want to change things up, you can have an aperitivo at the bar and then head next door to Trattoria Alla Maddalena, another one of my favorite restaurants in Venice.
As a third option (should the restaurant be closed, be already booked, etc.) head back to Burano to Trattoria Al Gatto Nero for some of the best seafood in Venice.
Day 2 – Venice Itinerary For Foodies
Breakfast
My top tip for eating breakfast as the Italians do is to eat it standing at the bar squished between the locals. It may be loud and crowded but it’s how we like to do breakfast here in Italy!
Rosa Salva
Sestiere di S. Marco, 950, 30124 Venezia VE, Italy
Open: Monday-Saturday 8:00 am – 8:00 pm
Rosa Salva is my recommendation for pastry lovers, serving up some of the best breakfast in Venice paired with amazing coffee.
Located just close to St. Mark’s square, Rosa Salva is a favorite for many locals at any time of the day, not just for breakfast. In fact, it’s mostly full of Venetians, not tourists despite its central location.
My biggest tip for visiting Rosa Salva is to avoid it between 7:30-8:30 am during the breakfast rush before people go to work. If you can manage, get there early for the best selection. If not, not to worry, you will just have to be persistent when making your way to the front of the line.
Good To Know: Need help ordering coffee in Italian? Read How To Order Coffee in Italy – Step-by-Step + Tips.
Street Food Tour Or Cooking Class
Taking a cooking class or going on a street food tour in Venice is a great way to sample local cuisine and learn to make a traditional dish that you can recreate at home.
Consider the following food tours in Venice and choose based on what your interests are, time frame and if you have children with you.
| Venice Food Tour Name | Departs From | Length | Food Tour Focus |
| Venice: Street Food Tour with a Local Guide and Tastings | Campo San Bartolomio | 2.5 hours | Tasting tour of some of the city’s eateries while visiting historical monuments along the way including samples of cicchetti, cookies and bread with a visit to the Rialto market and bacari. |
| Yummy Cooking Class In Venice | Campo Santa Margherita | 4 hours | Take part in a small private cooking class (maximum 4 people) with award-winning chef Carolyn who will share her passion for Italian food as she walks you through a full course meal made with locally-sourced ingredients. |
| Rialto Market Food and Wine Lunchtime Tour of Venice | Church of San Giacomo di Rialto, Campo San Giacomo, 1 | 4 hours | Half-day food culture tour of Venice including the major sights and the best stops to local osterias, trattorias, pastry shops and wine bars to sample typical Venetian food. |
| Venice: Small Group Pasta and Tiramisu Class | Center of Venice (precise location shared after booking) | 3 hours | Private cooking lesson (minimum 2 people, children welcome) where you will learn to make two pasta dishes and tiramisù from scratch including drinks and appetizers. |
| Venice: Rialto Market Tour, Hands-On Cooking Class & Lunch | Al Mercà at the Rialto Market | 4.5 hours | Start the tour at Rialto market and bring home ingredients for the three course meal you will prepare and enjoy together with your chef for lunch. |
Optional Lunch
If you opt into a morning tour that does not include a lunch option or you feel that you have had enough food, skip the lunch.
Rosticceria Gilson
Open: Daily 9:00 am – 9:30 pm
Rosticceria Gilson is one of my favorite lunch spots for any kind of dietary restriction, craving or agendas. This casual takeout spot or tavola calda (cafeteria style eatery) serves an enormous selection of high quality food at excellent prices including first courses, second courses, salads, sandwiches and fried foods such as mozzarella in carrozza.
If you are looking for a larger meal, Rostericceria Gilson satisfies your needs as well. Choose from filling dishes like lasagne, grilled seafood, roasted chicken and plenty vegetable side dishes.
If you choose from the first and second courses, have it warmed up and choose a table to sit elbow to elbow with the locals.
Good To Know: They have plenty of vegetarian and vegan options to choose from.
Self Guided Bacaro Tour
After almost 48 hours in Venice, it’s time to get yourself some cicchetti and ombra. Most of the best cicchetti in Venice are located centrally close to the Rialto bridge where you have already spent a lot of your time.
Taking yourself on a bacaro tour is the best way to sample a variety of cicchetti, a pillar in Venetian cuisine. A bacaro tour can include as many or as few bacari as you like but if you hope to leave room for dinner, I suggest you go to three, ordering just one or two cicchetti at each stop.
More Options: For travelers with more time in Venice or for cicchetti lovers, learn more about extending your bacaro tour in What is a Bacaro + Self-Guided Bacaro Tour and skip dinner all together.
Stop 1: Cantina Do Spade
Open: Daily
Cantina Do Spade is my favorite place to start off on a bacaro tour because you can order just a small glass of wine, literally two sips in a shot glass, called a bicchierino, for just €1.
Pair your wine with one of their small meatballs, most famously the spicy meat version but they have several options.
Cantina Do Spade only has three small tables to sit down at. I have never managed to get one so I usually stand outside or quickly eat at the counter and am off.
Stop 2: Bar All’Arco
Closed: Wednesday
Bar All’Arco is one of the oldest and most famous bacari in Venice, serving up classic cicchetti with local wines at affordable prices.
Just like Cantina Do Spade, there are only a few tables so plan on standing with the crowds spilling out onto the street.
Ordering Tip: If you come to Bar All’Arco at a very busy time, you will need to be assertive. Italians don’t form lines typically so just hold your ground and ease your way to the front of the counter. If you need help ordering in Italian, read How to Order Food in Italian.
Stop 3: Osteria Bancogiro
Closed: Monday
Osteria Bancogiro is my favorite bacaro in Venice because of the atmosphere and the modern touch to their classic cicchetti. For example, order their baccalà mantecato but have it on a small slice of polenta flavored with cuttlefish ink.
Bancogiro also has fresh fish such as scampi and oysters, perfect for gluten-free travelers in Venice.
Good To Know: Most tourists don’t realize that Osteria Bancogiro has tables on the backside of the restaurant in Piazza Erberia, right on the Grand Canal!
Dinner In Venice
L’Osteria di Santa Marina is just a short walk from your last bacaro Osteria Bancogiro, specializing in seafood.
L’Osteria Di Santa Marina
Campo Santa Marina, 5911, 30122 Venezia VE, Italy
Open: Monday-Saturday
Seafood dishes at L’Osteria di Santa Marina are based on classics but always served with a modern touch. The food presentation is stunning, similar to a Michelin star restaurant presentation.
I ate here with a gluten-free friend of mine and she had plenty of options to choose from including several risotti and fresh fish mains.
Good To Know: L’Osteria di Santa Marina also offers a comprehensive tasting menu.
After Dinner Drinks In Venice
To end your evening in Venice, we are headed out for one last cocktail, digestivo, spritz or glass of wine in the undiscovered neighborhood of Cannaregio.
Learn More: Read 85+ Facts About Italian Food Culture!
Fondamenta dei Ormesini
Fondamenta dei Ormesini is a wide canal off the beaten track lined with bacari, bars, restaurants, gelaterias, and cafes, full of students and locals.
Stop in at any of these places that strike you as they are all pretty good. Al Timon, Vino Vero and Sullaluna Libreria & Bistro are my personal favorites.
If you are feeling up to an evening gelato, don’t miss, Il Bacaro del gelato, one of the best gelaterias in Venice.
Venice bound? Get prepared with all of our Venice posts:
20+ Must-Try Foods And Drinks In Venice – And My Favorite Places To Eat Them
What Are Cicchetti? + Where To Eat Them In Venice
What Is A Bacaro? + A Local’s Self Guided Bacaro Tour Itinerary
My Favorite Cicchetti In Venice – The 10 Best Bacari To Try
Best Restaurants in Venice + Nearest Cicchetti Stops
Best Gelato In Venice – My Italian Family’s 10 Favorite Gelaterie
7 Food Markets In Venice Worth Your Time
Where To Get Coffee In Venice
Where To Eat Breakfast In Venice – A Local’s Favorite Breakfast Nooks
10 Amazing Bakeries In Venice – Where to Get Your Pastry On
Best Spots In Venice For Aperitivo – My Top Bars & Squares for Pre-Dinner Drinks
Dinner On The Water In Venice – My Top 7 Restaurants
Best Pizza In Venice – My ‘Don’t Miss’ List
My Favorite After Dinner Drink Spots In Venice
Shopping at the Rialto Market in Venice – Tips + Printable
5 Street Foods To Try In Venice & Where Eat Them
Best Places To Get Takeout In Venice – My Top Picks
Where To Eat Before Catching Your Train At The Venice Santa Lucia Train Station
My Favorite Food Chains To Try In Venice
Eating Gluten-Free In Venice – Restaurants, Cicchetti & Gelato
Gluten-Free Cicchetti In Venice – What To Order (& Avoid) and How to Order
Eating Vegetarian In Venice – My Top Five Vegetarian Friendly Restaurants + Tips
Eating Vegan In Venice, Italy – My Top Five Vegan Friendly Restaurants
Eating in Venice While Pregnant
8+ Kid Friendly Restaurants In Venice
Best Squares To Eat And Drink With Kids In Venice
24 Hour Food Guide For Venice – A Self Guided Tour For Foodies in Venice
Eating Around Venice in 48 hours – 2 Day Venice Itinerary For Foodies
10 Best Food Souvenirs From Venice, Italy + Where I Buy Them
