Discover the Best Tiramisu in Venice at This Iconic Shop

Do you love tiramisu? 

Of course you do.

Is there anyone who doesn’t love it??

Now, how about eating a delicious tiramisu while walking along the canals of Venice? Sounds like a dream? 

It is. And we’ll tell you how you can make that dream your reality. Just read on!

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Here’s a little bit about our journey, if you are new here! If you know us, feel free to skip this part.

After leaving our old life in Scotland in March 2022 (it rains too much there), we travelled full-time for almost 2 years. Sounds fancy, doesn’t it? Well, it was. If you think that carrying overpacked backpacks in 45°C heat around streets that aren’t even on Google Maps is fancy. And that’s just 1% of all the fun we had! 😆

During the 2 years we volunteered in Italy and Bulgaria (free travel while learning new skills, anyone?), explored other amazing European countries and backpacked Southeast Asia. Even our secret wedding was more of an expedition than a wedding. 😅

And, of course, we researched and planned everything ourselves, because you gotta keep the budget low, right? If you are like us, you’ve come to the right place, because we want to share all the useful tips and info with you!

Excited? Good. Let’s get into it so you can go on your own adventures too!

Best tiramisu in Venice – the secret

We’ll start this post untraditionally because why not? You’ve got to keep life interesting!

Here is the secret to the best tiramisu in Venice:

It doesn’t come from a cafe.

Oh no.

We are not that predictable.

The best tiramisu comes from a gourmet shop.

But that’s all we’ll tell you for now because, first, let’s talk about the magic that happens in Venice.

The magic of Venice

First of all, let’s talk about Venice a bit.

We know that it’s on many people’s bucket lists. 

But we’ve also heard an interesting opinion about Venice.

Venice – controversial opinion

Apparently, it’s a place you just need to see once, in a day or two, and there’s no need to go back.

We disagree. 

We’ve been to Venice twice and would go back in a heartbeat.

Why? 

It’s a beautiful city built on water with no cars. Do we need any more reasons than that??

We do?

Okay, here are more reasons.

Reasons why Venice is amazing

It’s one of those places where you don’t have to do anything. You don’t need to go to a museum or see all the churches. As long as you appreciate beauty, you can just walk around and be perfectly happy with that. So if you want a relaxing city holiday where you don’t have to plan much, Venice is perfect. 

It encourages exploration and creativity. The maze of streets of Venice is basically asking you to just wander around and get lost. See what you discover. It’s wonderful.

And you know what else?

It does kinda feel like there is something magical going on in the city.

The magic

Have you read the book The Thief Lord? If not, we highly recommend it. It’s a story about the magic that hides among the canals of Venice.

If you aren’t a fan of books, it has also been adapted into a movie.

If you are looking for ways to romanticise your trip to Venice even more, get the book and read it just before going. Or even better, read it while you are in Venice!

And watch the movie on one of the nights too – you can see which locations you recognise or go looking for them the next day!

Money-saving tip for Venice

Let’s address a big concern people usually have when it comes to Venice.

Everyone knows the city is beautiful.

But everyone also knows that it is eeeexpensive.

As (sort of) budget travellers, we are always looking for ways to save money.

So, while we have visited Venice twice so far, we have always saved where we could during the trips.

The good news?

We’ve compiled all of our Venice money-saving tricks and hacks into a guide, just in case you want to save yourself some ££££ too!

Now, we’ll be transparent: it is a paid guide because it does have all our secrets. 

But we know you are smart.

You can do the math.

The guide is just a few pounds but it will save you £££ when you go to Venice.

Travel math!

You need to know this

Before we tell you which place has the best tiramisu in Venice, Italy, we’ve got to confess something.

This is NOT a sponsored post.

We’ll say it again.

We didn’t get paid to write this post.

We didn’t even get free tiramisu in exchange for this post (although we wish we did!).

It might look like it – posts where bloggers go on and on about one product or one place are often sponsored.

So we wanted to make it clear.

We just genuinely love this place. And their tiramisu.

So much so that it was one of the top things we knew we wanted to do again as we were planning our second trip to Venice.

And we frequently consider going back. For the magic, for the spritz and for THE tiramisu.

The best tiramisu in Venice

But now, what we are all here for. 

Tiramisu! (Extremely craving one now.)

Where can you find the best tiramisu in Venice, Italy?

The gourmet shop you are looking for is called I Tre Mercanti.

It has the perfect location – just a 5 min walk from St Mark’s Square!

You can stop by on your way from the Rialto Bridge as you head to the square. Just make sure to add it to your map as a stop because the quickest route between the bridge and St Mark’s Square doesn’t actually pass the tiramisu shop. (But it only adds 2 extra minutes to your journey. +All the tiramisu-eating time, of course.)

Why is this the best tiramisu in Venice?

Wait, are you questioning our judgment? 😲

Just kidding!

We are not expecting you to just take our word for it – with no evidence! (although the best evidence really is going to Venice and trying it yourself, let’s face it) (Yes, you can totally use this as a justification for booking a trip to Venice)

The key facts:

• I Tre Mercanti is locally owned – it was founded by three Venetian guys
• They focus on using the best-quality ingredients
• Their tiramisu is always fresh (you’ll find out why, if you keep reading)
• They honour tradition and, over the years, have perfected the original recipe to create their traditional tiramisu flavour
• But they are also innovative, offering tiramisu in a variety of quirky flavours – more on that below!

The flavours

Let’s talk about the flavours because we know we got you curious in our last point.

There is the traditional one, the classic tiramisu. Yum. Must try.

But then there are the quirky, innovative flavours that you have to try too.

It’s basically like a normal tiramisu but with a twist.

They’ve got flavours like Nutella, pistachio or blood orange & chocolate.

How good do they sound??

Something special for grown-ups

If you are like us, you’ll love this.

They do boozy versions, too!

Now, we know that tiramisu, traditionally, also has alcohol in it.

But nowadays, in restaurants or cafes, you rarely find one like that.

And anyway, we are not talking about the classic alcoholic ingredients like coffee liquor.

We are talking about innovative takes.

For example, coffee and Sambuca liquor tiramisu? 

Or one we tried – coconut and rum! It was actually one of our favourite flavours!

Need to know

Here is something that is very important. 

Even though, according to the I Tre Mercanti website, they do have 25 experimental flavours, they are not all available all the time.

There is always the traditional flavour, of course. 

But the special flavours get rotated.

We are not sure how often they change them now, but it’s worth passing the store every day if it’s on your way. And let’s face it, Venice is small, so it *totally* can be on your way, if you want it to. 😉 That’s the strategy we used when we were there.

That way, you can check the flavours daily and see if they have any new ones! (Or just get more of the ones you’ve already tried; we won’t judge!)

The special feature you’ll love

Okay, we know that this shop sounds pretty special already, but there is one more thing we haven’t told you about.

You can watch the tiramisu being made, live, in the window of the shop!

That’s how you know it’s always fresh!

Isn’t that cool?

Make sure to pay close attention – you might even learn a trick or two and then be known as the friend who makes the most authentic-tasting tiramisu!

The price

We have to admit, it isn’t the cheapest tiramisu you’ll ever eat.

A tub of the traditional flavour (normal tiramisu) will cost you €4.50, and the special flavours are even more expensive (2025 prices).

But.

Here, you pay for quality.

Do you want the best tiramisu in Venice?

Well then.

PS: Remember that if you want to save money on your trip to Venice, you can check out our handy guide. It’s specifically written so you don’t have to live off of instant noodles for 10 years after your holiday!

Our tips for the best tiramisu in Venice, Italy

Tip no. 1: Watch where you sit

The lack of benches in Venice encourages tourists to sit on the various bridge steps or stairs leading into houses, whether to rest or to eat delicious food – like tiramisu!

It’s what travellers do, right?

We’ve eaten meals in all sorts of places, from the side of the road in Vietnam to the low walls of Dubrovnik.

Don’t do this in Venice

Sitting your butt on the bridge stairs in Venice could lead to an unpleasant situation.

Why?

It’s forbidden to sit in high-traffic areas, which in Venice is many places, seeing as the streets are so narrow and traffic jams are caused pretty easily.

What can happen?

You might get fined. And you know what that means?

Less money for the best tiramisu in Venice!

And now that is a PROBLEM.

The solution

You have a few options for eating your yummy tiramisu:

• You can eat it in the shop
• You can take it to go and eat it while walking 
• You can have it as a takeaway and stand somewhere where you don’t get in the way of others
• You can take it to go and carry it to a park with benches

Basically anywhere, but in the way of an old Venetian lady dragging her heavy shopping bags home. Be considerate. The poor locals get enough of a workout walking across all these bridges every day, they don’t need to be avoiding tourists as well. (Even if they are eating the best tiramisu in Venice!)

Tip no. 2: Don’t forget to snap a pic or two!

There is a canal right outside the i Tre Mercanti store, which makes for a perfect photo op as you enjoy your yummy tiramisu! 

There is usually a gondola or two docked, too!

Tip no. 3: Manage your money well

The tiramisu is not cheap. You pay for quality, so it’s fair enough. After all, you are eating the best tiramisu in Venice, Italy!!

How do you manage your budget then?

You can allocate money prior to your trip just for tiramisu.

Here is what you can try:

Next time you want to buy something you are not 100% sure you need, think about how many tubs of tiramisu you could have instead for that price (you can use the price of €5 per tub, so it’s easier math).

But you don’t just have to do mental math. You can actually put that money aside in a piggy bank (real or virtual), so you know it’s set aside for tiramisu!

We do travel math calculations like this all the time – it’s one of the tricks that helped us save money for full-time travel.

Remember to check out our guide on saving money in Venice, too. Trust us. Once you try the tiramisu, you will be wanting more, so make sure you have extra money saved for it.

What to do if you are craving tiramisu

If you are craving the best tiramisu in Venice right now, you know what you have to do:

1. Get our guide so you know how to save ££££ on your trip to Venice. Because the more you save, the more you can spend on tiramisu! Don’t tell us that’s not a smart plan.
2.  Check the flights (we do this on Skyscanner or Google Flights).
3. Get your accommodation sorted. Way in advance. This is Venice, and good places get booked up early on.
4. Sort out your insurance. Every year, there are news reports about someone falling into the canal in Venice. Now, we are not saying that will be you, but it’s better to be safe than sorry, right? 😏 When travelling, we trust SafetyWing and True Traveller to cover us. Both are fantastic companies that actually make you feel like a valued customer – such a rarity in the insurance world!

In case you are wondering…

Are you reading this post and wondering the whole time: why did we specify a few times: Venice, ITALY?

Well, here is the thing.

One never knows.

The more we travel, the more we discover that people love to capitalise on things, including actual geographical places.

And so you can find Venice in Vietnam or China, as well as in many American states. 

So it’s always best to specify.

And yes, you could look at it from a more positive point of view. You could say that it’s not about profit but about bringing travel experiences and destinations to people who are not able to physically go see them.

But we don’t have that much faith in the world to believe that! 😅

Where have you eaten the best tiramisu so far? And have we convinced you to go try this one? Because we have certainly convinced ourselves that we need another trip to Venice…