2 Day Venice Itinerary: Day One

Morning

Since your vacation in Venice is only two days long, make sure you get up early! Wake up as early as you can, get ready, and head out the door as soon as you can so that you can get a good breakfast in before starting to explore the city. Head out the door and find a local coffee shop or stand to purchase a typical Italian breakfast: coffee and some kind of sweet pastry.

If you would like to not only enjoy the Coffee but get to sample five different pastries and two different drinks as you walk around the city and see famous landmarks, one of the best food experiences in the area you might like is the”Good morning Venice: Coffee, deserts with Highlights of Venice“. Espresso is a great option to give you the energy to get through your busy day and a brioche bun is a satisfying bite to eat.

After you eat breakfast, spend an hour or so exploring Venice. While there’s plenty to do in this exciting city, it’s always a good idea to spend at least some time simply wandering around and soaking in everything that the city you’re visiting has to offer.

Once you finish your breakfast and have spent time wandering through the city, you can now intentionally wander towards the Rialto Market. This market is located near the Rialto Bridge and is a place where you could spend a few hours exploring the selections of fruits, vegetables, fish, and more. This is a lovely place where you can pick up some groceries to sustain you throughout your trip, or you can also pick up a bite to eat for your lunch.

Afternoon

Spend your afternoon exploring Doge’s Palace. This historic structure dates back to 810 and was built in the unique Venetian Gothic style. It’s been a museum since 1923 and you can visit today to experience the collections that are housed here and view the incredible historic structure as well. You could spend hours exploring this palace on your own but you can also pay for a guided tour. If you’re hoping to have more time to relax and experience the city you may want to consider the tour – the guide can point out the things you need to know and you can make sure you don’t miss anything before heading on.

Evening

As the sun starts to set, it will be time to head to dinner. The evening meal in Italy is typically consumed quite late but you can start around 5:00 pm if you’re hungry with drinks and appetizers from any of Venice’s local bars or restaurants. While the restaurants of Venice have plenty of delicious meals to offer, there are several items that are exceptionally tasty in this canal city. You can try any kind of seafood dish such as risotto al nero di seppia, a risotto made with squid ink!

You can choose to end your evening after your meal and get rested for Day Two, but there are plenty of options if you want to continue drinking and eating late into the evening. You can also wander the city in the evening and admire the waterways and beautiful views under the stars.

Check an amazing list of dinner places and dining experiences in Venice here.

2 Day Venice Itinerary: Day Two

Morning

On your second day in Venice, you’ll be waking up early to make sure you can make your way to St. Marks Basilica and beat the majority of the crowds. You don’t have to wake up extremely early but you should give yourself enough time to get in line to visit the illustrious cathedral by 9:00 AM, just a half-hour before it opens. This line will get you into the church for free! But if you’re not interested in waiting, you can purchase a ticket to enter for just a few euros, or you can also choose to take a guided tour for an even more in-depth experience.

Afternoon

Once you finish exploring St. Mark’s Basilica, you can head to the classic Venice activity: a gondola ride. The standard package consists of a 30-minute experience costing anywhere from 80 to 100 Euros depending on the time of day you want to take your ride. The midday time will be cheaper but you can choose to participate in this activity later in the evening if you wish to have that sunset experience.

A gondola ride in Venice is something everyone should experience. Gondolas were initially used as a regular method of transportation throughout the canals of Venice but they are no longer used that way. Today gondolas are used for pleasure and to carry on the long tradition of using these ornately carved boats. Gondolas are a persevering symbol of Venice’s history and culture and you’ll love your time seeing the city as you float through it.

Finish your afternoon by heading to St. Mark’s Campanile, a bell tower. The current construction was built in 1912 but the original building dates back to 898. You can take an elevator to the top of this building and soak in an incredible view of the entirety of Venice.

Evening

For your last evening in Venice, you can take another gondola tour in the moonlight, or you can head to the historic Teatro de Fenice to catch a show. This theater is considered to be one of the most important in Italian theatrical history as well as the global history of opera. Its name translates to the “Theater of the Phoenix”, a nod to the theater’s mission to preserve the traditions of theater through the many fires of the 18th century that destroyed several other theaters. Its name is a nod to the fact that its existence allowed opera to “rise from the ashes”.

Once the show finishes, you can head out to get post-theater drinks and a bite to eat. Make sure you take your time soaking in what Venice has to offer before heading back to your hotel to get a good night’s rest. You only have 48-hours to spend in this famed canal city so make sure this time is memorable and incredible!

Here is the full list of shows and performances in Venice you might enjoy.

Travel Guide & Resources for this 2 Day Venice Itinerary:

Ready to plan your own 2 days in Venice Itinerary? Here you can find the best flights, train tickets, or rent a car for your trip to Venice. Also, here you can browse our list of the best hotels in Venice to stay in or check out some of the top hotels in Venice below.

Need more ideas to add to your 2 days in Venice itinerary? Find top attractions & things to do in Venice in addition to what already mentioned here.

Video Guide: 2-Day Venice Itinerary How to Spend 2 Days in Venice

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Travel resources for planning a 2-day trip to Venice

To make planning a trip to Venice easier, we included some of our recommended travel resources below. You can search and find the best flights, transportation options, hotels to stay in, tours/activities, and things you can do in each destination during your trip to Venice.

Flights: 

Agoda: Search thousands of destinations around the world & quickly compare prices to find amazing deals on the best flights.

CheapOAir: You can find airline tickets, hotel rooms, rental cars, and vacation packages all on one site!

Kiwi.com: What we like about Kiwi is the fact that they are able to create combinations of flight, train, and bus tickets and offer them in a single itinerary. Also, Kiwi has what they called “Nomad” which helps you find the best way of visiting multiple destinations, saving you time and money.

JetRadar: You can search and compare airfares from 726 airlines and dozens of travel agencies and systems.

Hotels: 

Agoda: Agoda is one of the world’s largest online travel accommodation platforms with a network of over 2,000,000 vacation rentals and hotels worldwide.

Hotellook: They have more than 250,000 hotels in 205 countries, working with data from more than 10 online booking systems, such as Booking.com, Agoda.com, Hotels.com, Expedia, and others.

Transportations: 

Airport Transfers: KiwiTaxi, Viator

Train: EuRail, Trainline or RailEurope 

Bus: Flixbus: Very affordable (as low as $6) and convenient way to transfer between cities in Europe.

Car Rentals: AutoEurope, EconomyBookings, or  GetTransfer (transfers & car rentals with a personal driver)

Bike Rental: BikesBooking (Bikes & scooter rentals) 

Transportation Comparison: Omio (search, compare, and book tickets for buses, trains, and flights all in one site)

Tours & Activities:

TakeWalks (WalkofItaly): This is our favorite site for walking tours & day trips.

Tiqets: Great site for entrance tickets. It offers directly bookable, instantly available, and completely mobile tickets for museums, shows, and attractions all over the world.

Musement: They have good activities and tours in Italy and Spain, also many great day trips you can choose from.

GetYourGuide: A large number of tours, excursions, and other travel activities

Viator: The largest one. It has everything from tours, attractions, shore excursions, and private guides in over 2,700 destinations worldwide. It also has many transportations and transfers options and some unique experiences we didn’t find anywhere else.

Need help planning a trip to Venice?

Want to plan a trip to Europe but only can spend 2 days in Venice? If you find this type of trip planning to be too complicated to plan on your own, we’re here to help!

At MultiCityTrips, multi-destination travel and complicated itineraries such as a short trip where you only have 2 days in Venice are our specialties. Contact us today to learn more about how one of our experienced travel experts/destination specialists can personalize your multi-city vacations at the best price.

Don’t want to start from scratch and need some trip inspiration? Check out our marketplace for customizable pre-designed packages available right now for many amazing destinations.

To learn more about how our process of trip planning works in detail, please see our “How It Works” page or check out our video on “How to Plan a Multi-City Trip to Europe in  5 Easy Steps”  here.

Have questions for us? Schedule a FREE Call with us here or contact one of the travel experts/destination specialists at [email protected], call/text us at (888)223-2316 today.