Venice Food and Wine Tour

You will ride a traghetto gondola in the Rialto zone, sip on local wines and fill up on tasty Veneto treats! It's the perfect walking tour to discover some of the best art and flavors of Venice.

Your tour departs from Campo della Maddalena, a small medieval square lined with colorful houses and tall chimneys. Here, you’ll sneak into one of the most authentic and historic bars to sample the legendary Venetian version of tapas: cicchetti. Your first sampling of these traditional dishes- tasty plates of olives or marinated seafood on polenta- will be excellently paired with local wines. As your guide recounts age-old stories of this Italian “pub” and the history behind each dish, you’ll come to see how the cuisine is deeply intertwined with the culture and history of Venice.

After your first sampling, you’ll continue walking on Strada Nuova and head into another historic bar that has been welcoming clients since the 1700s.  You’ll be able to savor their most famous dish “polpette”, spicy fried meatballs. Once you’ve had your fill, the tour heads to Campo Santa Sofia, where you’ll sail on a traghetto gondola to cross the Canal Grande to enter into the geographic heart of Venice, the Rialto area.  Traghetti are similar to gondolas, but minus the singing and sitting. This is the local and authentic way to move about Venice.

Once back on land, your guide will bring you to true Venetian place, where all the locals come to fuel their kitchen - the local market. If the stands of food have your mouth watering once more, don’t worry: you’ll fill your stomach up at the next stop, a local bar filled with a wonderful selection of cicchetti and local Venetian wines and prosecco. Feel like a real Venetian as you snack on simple, yet absolutely delicious treats at this secret ‘hole-in-the-wall’ bar.

Still hungry? The tour continues to several other stops as you finish you cicchetti tour with a full belly. The tour ends at the Rialto Bridge in the center of Venice, a great location for exploring the city on your own. This tour serves as a wonderful introduction to the cuisine, history and layout of Venice. After the tour, head back later to your favorite bar. You’ll see these are some of the few hidden gems that the island has to offer!

This tour is also a great opportunity to discover wine, food and art if you are a passenger of a cruise ship arriving to the port of Venice.