PETA Germany member and guest author Martin Schempp writes about his love for this unique island city.

Whether you should visit Venice at least once a year is a good question. To me, there’s no debate, because I am in love with Venice—in love with its grand Renaissance palaces, its quiet avenues and canals, its idyllic parks, and the Venetians’ aloof politeness. These are the reasons I go to Venice once a year.

And once a year, I ask myself: How will I manage in terms of vegan food? Veganism in general is a difficult topic in Italy, as the term is just as unknown as the terms “income tax,” “speed limit,” and “no passing.”

Beautiful markets selling fruit and veggies from the region

To be clear: There are no vegan restaurants, bistros, or coffee shops in Venice. So we have to improvise! It’s easy to have breakfast in your holiday apartment, at the hotel, or at the campground. There are whole-meal rolls and tons of fruit and veggies everywhere. Things are a bit different if you’re in town. Sure, there’s always pasta with tomato sauce. But apart from that? Not too much at first glance. But don’t you worry: There’s a pizza version of pasta with tomato sauce called “pizza marinara.” It consists of pizza dough (flour, water, salt), olive oil, tomatoes, and spices—that’s it. But it’s delicious and confirms the idea that no one really needs cheese on a pizza. Most of Venice’s pizza places offer marinara on their menus. If they don’t, just ask for pizza without cheese (“senza formaggio”).

It gets a little bit harder at the small stalls, as they usually just offer a limited range of pizza varieties. But again, just ask—it may be that the pizzaiolo will make up a special pizza for the vegan guest from another country.

Also, check out some of the bistros that offer different sandwiches, often panini with vegetables. They’re easy to spot once you know what you’re looking for. Bistro Le Spighe in Via Garibaldi (Castello quarter) is not exactly vegan, but it follows a vegetarian concept and offers several vegan dishes. It uses only organic products from the region.

When the weather is nice, I enjoy eating outside on a bench in a park or at a square. I buy bread, a bag of veggies, and a bag of fruit. You can find the latter in small food shops or at the market behind Rialto Bridge, which offers a huge range of high-quality products. The Rialto market is open every day until noon. But Venice’s nicest market stalls are found on the water—boats selling vegetables and fruit. One of them is situated on the canal that extends the Via Garibaldi, while the other can be found in the Dorsoduro quarter on one of the crossing canals connecting Canal Grande with the Giudecca Canal.

So, lunch was delicious, the setting was gorgeous—now what’s missing? Exactly: dessert. For omnivores, that shouldn’t be a problem in the country of pasticcerias. Vegans, however, sometimes think they can only flatten their noses against the shop windows and look at the delicacies. No matter if we’re talking canolli, zaletti, buranelli, or macarone, Venetians will pour tons of butter into them. So vegans have to go without dessert? No way. We have ice cream! Whether it’s out of respect for animals or for their customers’ potential allergies, most ice-cream shops in Venice will put at least one type of dairy-free ice cream in their stainless-steel tubs (“senza latte”). Venchi in Calle dei Fabbri 989 is particularly eager to please vegan customers. This traditional producer of ice cream uses only natural ingredients for its diverse soy ice creams (even two types of chocolate). Nico at the Zattere riverside (Dorsoduro quarter) offers soy ice cream in nut and chocolate flavors, and you’ll get an unbeatable view of Giudecca island for free (interesting: hot pepper–chocolate ice cream).

Venice is a dog-friendly city.

Guest author Martin Schempp and his dog, Foxy, enjoying Venice

About Martin Schempp

Martin is a journalist and loves to travel. He’s also a vegan and an animal rights activist whose passion for the movement comes from the bottom of his heart. He writes exclusive reports for PETA Germany’s website, PETA50Plus, about his personal vegan travel experiences and shares priceless insider tips with readers. He usually takes his four-legged canine companion, Foxy, with him on his journeys.

All photos © Martin Schempp for PETA