Venice is a city that runs on coffee from dawn until that last evening espresso.
Long before the espresso machine existed, the first coffee houses in Europe opened their doors right here, under the arcades of St. Mark’s Square, and the ritual never really went away.
Venetians still drink coffee standing at the bar, in a few sips, several times a day.
For visitors the challenge is knowing where to go. Between the tourist traps around the main sights and the endless bars that all look more or less the same, it’s easy to end up with an espresso that doesn’t live up to expectations.
The good news is that the city is full of exceptional places to drink coffee, from historic salons to greenhouse cafés and family-run pastry shops that have been serving the same neighbourhood for generations.
7 Coffee shops in Venice
In this guide, I’ve included a mix of historic cafés where you’re paying as much for the setting as for the drink, specialist roasters for anyone who takes their beans seriously, and quiet corners away from the crowds.
I’ve also added a couple of pasticcerie where the coffee comes with something very good on the side from fresh pastries to classic Venetian treats..
Some are famous, some are barely known outside their sestiere and together they give you a proper taste of how Venice actually drinks its coffee.
1. Café del Doge
Only two minutes from the Rialto Bridge, you’ll find one of the unmissable addresses for every coffee enthusiast: Caffè del Doge. Founded in 1952, it started life as a small city roasting company.
It stands out for its fine coffee blends, produced both for espresso and for home moka pots. Over the years the company expanded, becoming a dynamic, modern artisanal coffee brand that now sells its products around the world.
Here you can taste more than 14 varieties of espresso, including the two famous classic blends Doge Rosso 100% Arabica and Doge Nero.
📍 Caffè del Doge, San Polo 609, Venice — second location at Rio Terà dei Assassini, San Marco 3764, 30124 Venice
2. Sullaluna libreria & bistrot
Tucked along the Fondamenta della Misericordia in Cannaregio, sullaluna is a children’s bookshop and bistro all in one place.
Run by Francesca and Rodolfo, the space has a warm, slightly bohemian feel: restored beams, a Marmorino bar counter, mismatched wooden tables and shelves of illustrated books, graphic novels, cookbooks and poetry. The focus is on organic, well-sourced products, from the coffee to the handmade cakes.
Come in the morning for a quiet cappuccino and a pastry while the sestieri wakes up, or sit outside along the canal in the afternoon. If you stay into the evening, there’s a chance you’ll catch a reading, a workshop or a glass of Lunatico, the organic Prosecco the owners produce on their farm near Refrontolo.
📍 Sullaluna, Fondamenta della Misericordia, Cannaregio 2535, 30121 Venice
3. Caffè Florian
Coffee lovers can’t skip a visit to Caffè Florian, one of the oldest continuously running cafés in the world for a taste of Venice’s rich coffee culture.
Located in the very heart of the city, in St. Mark’s Square, it opened in 1720, and today you can still sip an exceptional coffee in one of its 18th-century salons.
Visiting Caffè Florian is like taking a step back in time. Imagine sitting at the table next to Charles Dickens, Giacomo Casanova or the composer Stravinsky, some of the most illustrious visitors the café has welcomed over three centuries.
As your exploration of the best coffee in Venice continues, make sure to try the house blend, ‘Venezia 1720’. It’s a combination of the finest Arabica beans from Central America and Brazil.
The luxury of having a coffee at Caffè Florian, combined with the history that only this place can offer, makes it worth spending that bit extra. Just be aware of the surcharge when the orchestra is playing.
📍 Caffè Florian, Piazza San Marco 57, Venice
4. Bottega del Caffè Dersut
Bottega del Caffè Dersut sits right beside the Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, in the San Polo district. This is a café where you can sit down, take your time and work through a menu of speciality coffees.
Try their signature Caffè Bottega, a classic coffee topped with whipped cream and a dusting of cocoa powder, the Nocciolato with pure hazelnut, or the Caffè Cocco, with chocolate, coconut syrup and coconut flakes.
Bottega del Caffè is not only one of the best coffee shops in Venice but also a place to indulge in a slightly more elaborate coffee experience.
📍 Bottega del Caffè Dersut, Campo dei Frari 3015, San Polo, Venice
5. Caffè La Serra
Caffè La Serra is one of those places that feels like a little secret. Tucked away in the Castello district, right by the Biennale Gardens, it’s a café inside a restored 19th-century greenhouse.
Surrounded by plants, natural light and a calm that’s hard to find in the more crowded parts of Venice, this is where you go to slow down. It’s a bit off the beaten path, which makes it even more special.
The menu includes a good selection of coffees and teas, plus quiches and homemade cakes if you’re in the mood for a snack. Here it’s more about the setting than the drink itself.
Whether you sit inside under the glass ceiling or outside in the quiet garden, Caffè La Serra is a lovely stop while wandering one of the city’s more local-feeling areas.
📍 Caffè La Serra, Viale Giuseppe Garibaldi 1254, Castello, Venice — near the Giardini della Biennale
6. Pasticceria Rizzardini
A few minutes from Rialto, in the small Campiello dei Meloni, Pasticceria Rizzardini has been in business since the mid-18th century, making it one of the oldest pastry shops in Venice.
Very little about it seems to have changed: dark wood, a marble counter, a handful of stools and a queue that spills out into the campiello.
There’s no room to linger here, and that’s part of the appeal. You order at the bar, drink your espresso standing up next to Venetians doing exactly the same thing, and get on with your day.
The pastries are the real reason to stop. Look for the bussolà, the meringhe and the mandorlati, and if you’re passing on a weekend, ask for the festivo, made only on Saturdays and Sundays. During Carnival the counter fills up with frittelle, the Venetian fried doughnuts, served plain, filled with cream, or studded with raisins.
📍 Pasticceria Rizzardini, Campiello dei Meloni, San Polo 1415, Venice
7. Pasticceria Rio Marin
Over in Santa Croce, a short walk from the station, Pasticceria Rio Marin sits right on the fondamenta of the canal it’s named after. It’s a proper working pasticceria, with trays of pastries coming out of the laboratory throughout the morning and a counter that’s a pleasure to look at even before you’ve ordered.
The coffee is good and generously served; the cappuccinos in particular are famously abundant, but it’s worth pairing with something almond-based, which is what the place does best.
What really sets it apart is where you drink it. Grab one of the tables outside along the water, and you get a canal view without the crowds or the prices you’d pay closer to St. Mark’s. It’s an easy first or last stop in Venice if you’re arriving or leaving by train.
📍 Pasticceria Rio Marin, Fondamenta Rio Marin, Santa Croce 784, Venice
Coffee shops in Venice
Here are seven coffee shops I recommend trying while in Venice. If you only have time for a couple, pick one for the coffee and one for the setting.
Also, try drinking at least one espresso standing at the bar, the way Venetians do.
It costs a fraction of the seated price, it takes about ninety seconds, and it’s the closest you’ll get to living Venice’s oldest daily ritual exactly as the locals still do.
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