Nadia was recommended by a good friend. She is an excellent guide brimming with knowledge of…read moreVenice, now and in the past. We're taking another excursion with her tomorrow, our second during our two week holiday here. She not only knows where to go, but who's who. Great recommendations for restaurants too.

Not sure what to say about Linda, other then she is an extraordinary human being. If you will need…read morea tour guide in Venice, look no further. Nobody is better. I found Linda on TripAdvisor and communicated my wishes for a private tour for a small group, several months in advance of my trip. My partner and I were actually planning a March wedding in Venice, and inviting several friends. We wanted a fun tour with lots of info, as many of our friends had to be in and out of Venice within a couple days, and a tour is a must. Linda was kind and very prompt in returning emails and calls. Her emails showed a strong level of attention to detail, and she was processing every request and making sure that the tour was exactly what I was hoping it would be. I mentioned I was planning my wedding in Venice (which is basically her home), and that is where the unbelievable level of support and service was delivered. Linda offered her assistance in planning the event. Linda is a very warm and kind person, and I cannot imagine what I would have done without her! She is so through and detail oriented. If you mention something to Linda, it's going to happen. Her follow through rivals the silicon valley A-type event planners that I know, but her kindness, calm and spirit is what designates her as the absolute best. This is not an exaggeration. She is the best. Linda helped me find a venue, plan a menu, charter a beautiful wooden boat, hire a photographer (with a days notice), coordinate vendors for handmade venetian party favors, select wines, provide restaurant recommendations, and give the most unbelievable trip that I could have ever imagined. Its cliché to say that it was perfect, but it really was! She made sure that my every desire was made. Linda saved me hundreds of dollars- by providing contacts and ensuring they were quality vendors. Linda does not give fluff services, everything is top notch. You cannot plan a wedding in Venice, or any event, without connections, and Linda has them. I was ecstatic with every single recommendation and person she referred to me. If you have not seen the Palazzetto Pisani hotel, you must!!!! Linda took so much time to listen to what we wanted for our day. On the arrival day, she took hours to get all details pinned and the surprises in order for our guests. When our guests arrived the next day and we took our tour, everyone had a blast! Linda is an encyclopedia of Venice knowledge, but she does not bore you. Her tour was so interesting and showed not only the top destinations, but also the lesser known, and in my opinion, more interesting corners of the city. She arranged a gorgeous lunch and a private boat. My friends were amazed at the tour! We had such a fun time hanging out with her and learning about her life and the ways of the people of Italy. It was like having (an amazing) lunch with an old friend. Everyone mentioned it was the highlight of their vacation. For our wedding, she really took on an interesting role, almost like a wedding planner/point of contact person for the day. She did a flawless job! She escorted us around Venice on an incredibly busy Sunday with a photographer...holding up walking traffic on the bridges so we could get amazing pictures. She got us into exclusive hotels and areas for our pictures. The things she pulled off, I would have never even dreamed of. Our wedding was picture perfect. It would have been so much more stress, money and low quality without her. I cannot say enough good things about this wonderful person. I now consider her a friend, and I owe an amazing vacation and fairytale wedding to her.

We booked the Cicchetti of Venice Tour and it was one of the highlights of our trip to Europe! Out…read moreof all the organized tours we took on our trip, this is the only one that 100% delivered what it promised (and then some)! Our guide, Cecilia, was phenomenal! It was like we had an old friend showing us her hometown. It was great to have Cecilia with us because she took us walking along the back streets of Venice where we stopped in and sampled food and wine in several local bars. These were places we would never have found on our own. We didn't have to worry about anything, Cecilia got us a table and handled all of the ordering. We never had to pay another cent out of pocket for any food, wine or transport, making this tour an exceptional value. We sampled many different local wines and lots of cicchetti (vegetables, cheese, meat, fish and more). All were delicious and exciting and the entire tour was a very intimate, educational experience. We even got to try our hand at crossing a canal in a local traghetto (though I wasn't brave enough to stand up during the crossing). We had 5 other couples on our tour and it was wonderful to get to mingle and explore a foreign city with other excited foodies. If you love food and like to experience and learn about different cultures, book this tour; you will not be disappointed! I cannot recommend it highly enough!

We did a good and wine tour with Eisa (Elizabetta) last night and it was amazing…read more A true wealth of knowledge and extremely helpful. This is a must do on your first night, she gives you tips and tricks for navigating. The city and avoiding the true tourist traps (of which there are many). Urban Adventures prides themselves on responsible tourism supporting the local shops and restaurants. She even showed us a local spot that we could get 1.5 liters of amazing wine for only 3.50 Euros. Literally cheaper than water that you can pay up to 4 Euros for at most places. We are now trying to book similar tours on other legs of our stop, great way to get a feel for the really local culture!

I love tours done by professional guides, they bring a lot of value to the most touristic parts of…read morea city. What I discovered with Riccardo and the Free Walk in Venice is another way to complement the touristic tours : walk in the non touristic areas to see the true parts of the city, experiencing the life of true Venetian and getting insight that professional tour guides would never dare to tell you. So my advice to you : go through both experiences and you will get the best out of your trip in Venice.

My first time in Venice and I was told about these great free walking tours.. Our guide today was…read moreLucia, an art student who was passionate about the city she lives in. Her knowledge and humour really brings the tour to life and luckily we had a small group of around 7 of us so she really was able to give us her personal touch. The little stories relating to the history of Venice and the reasons behind each one was enlightening as well as entertaining. Lucia ended the tour with a map she had devised adding little touches on it with details of places to eat.. Her favourite place to visit and lots of different ideas.

We spent this evening with professional photographer Stefano Mazzola as he took us all over his…read moreVenice. Rather than a historical tour, this is instead a lesson in capturing natural light as it filters throughout the canals and bridges. For example, Stefano demonstrates a fantastic angle on a photograph on his camera, and then patiently assists, to be sure that you have it correct on your camera, too. I learned more about settings on my camera and why I should use one setting over another as we move around the city. Stefano would turn down an alleyway and we would pop out the other side to find another beautiful area that I would not have found on my own. We also paid for family portraits that Stefano took at several locations, too. I strongly recommend booking the photo tour with Stefano. (Also, as this is 3+ hour walking tour, please wear comfortable shoes. And remember your camera!)

My wife and I had the pleasure of joining a walking tour of Venice hosted my Antonio Barbini. The…read moreexperience greatly exceeded our expectations. We learned of Antonio's services through the recommendation of our concierge at the Europa and Regina Hotel. The price of our tour included admission to the Basilica di San Marco (St. Mark's Cathedral) as well as the Doge's Palace. Both of those has substantial lines that our tour was allowed to bypass! There were many other highlights like seeing Parrochia Santa Maria Formosa and Spiral Staircase. So many sights that the tour time flew by. What made this walking tour incredible was our host, Antonio. He is a local Venetian who studied specifically for this role. He is a walking historian that amazed us with both his knowledge and ability to clearly share his thoughts. Our Tour was in English, but Antonio speaks ten different languages! (English, Italian, French, Japanese, Chinese, Portugues, Spanish, German, Russian and Arabic!). Had we not taken Antonio's tour, and visited places like the Doge's Palace, we would have missed out on really knowing and appreciating what we were seeing. I highly recommend Antonio's Venice Deluxe Tour.

My wife and I just back from a 17 day vacation in Italy - we have many great days and tours, but…read moreour tour of Venice with Antonio-a real Venetian that truly loves his city was a real treat. The special part was just spending time with Antonio and hearing all of his stories of the real Venice (a city that holds his heart) He made time for us to have a Spritz, Gelato and to finish the day he treated us to the best Bellini in all of Venice. His knowledge of the sites is incredible - St. Mark's Basilica is incredibly beautiful and he made it ever more special with his unique point of view. Any visit to Venice would be ever more special if you included a tour with Antonio (Venice Deluxe Tours). Truly worth every Euro!

THE BEST FOOD TOUR that I've ever been on!!!!!! We did the "lunch tour" of Venice (I wish the…read more"dinner tour" wasn't booked or I would've done that too!!). Adam and Maya are Americans that fell in love with the city (and people) of Venice while on vacation and subsequently moved there. This couples' love of Venice, along with their brand new sidekick, Sarah, REALLY shines through on this food tour. Even while simply walking down the street you will get to experience their bonds with the locals. All 3 are the absolute BEST guides- friendly, funny, quirky, knowledgeable, and most importantly, passionate about the food. The tour lasted about 4 hours (wear your walking shoes), and was JAM packed with interesting information- from the food, to the people, to the architecture, to the culture. What I liked most about this food tour, was after arriving at each cafe, you usually got to choose which food or which wine (red or white) you wanted to try. That's an aspect of a food tour I haven't experienced before- usually all the samples of food and drinks are pre-chosen for you. Adam taught us several miscellaneous pieces of information about Venice, that you too will find intriguing and make you fall in love with the city of Venice. He explained to us that in Venice it is illegal to sell food the next day, from the day before ("leftovers")- so that was cool to see firsthand (as we continued from cafe to cafe throughout the day, you saw that the available samples dropped). I don't think I can even pick one "favorite" stop on this tour- important to note that all the stops you visit are owned by local Venetians. All of the tapas, chichetti, sandwiches, pasta, gelato, pastries, and wine were all SO fresh and so tasty- I had no other wish than to have more time in Venice to go back and eat at all the places again!! You will definitely not leave hungry, and like us, you'll be guaranteed to leave with new friends and fond memories. I will continue to recommend this food tour to friends and family for years to come- I have yet to stop talking about it!! I learned SO much, and I enjoyed myself on this tour more than any other tour that I did (over 2 weeks) in Italy.

This review is long overdue. I'm horrible at these things!…read more We had an absolutely amazing experience with Venice Bites Food Tours on the "Off the Eaten Path" Tour. Maya and Adam are great! We learned so much about not only Venetian food and drink but also all about Venice and it's history. This tour made us fall in love with Venice! My wife and I are planning a trip back to Venice in 2020 and we will be doing the Progressive Dinner tour with Maya and Adam for sure!!!

Food tours are such a great way to check out a little of the history and the cuisine in a city…read more I've been fortunate to go on a number of food tours and each one offers a little something different. I must say that this one may just be my favorite one so far. Open for two years, Venice Food Tours has a few options. I chose the Rialto Market lunchtime tour. After meeting at a central location in he city, our tour guide - Alessandra - took 13 of us on a culinary adventure that won't soon be forgotten. We began at Cantina do Spade, a wine bar, to enjoy small bites including fried zucchini flowers stuffed with baccala, calamari stuffed with red sauce, scallops, and sardines. From there, we moved to Cantina do Mari for a few snacks. The surprise here was the porchetta sandwich with grapes and the formation ubriaco, a cheese that is aged in grape skins and wine. This takes "wine and cheese" to a whole new level. Can someone say yum!!! The story behind this cheese is fascinating as well. After a few savory stops, we went to Mauro for an early dessert and we enjoyed apricot jelly pastries and Bourano Island cookies which had a shortbread like consistency and taste. The next stop was quite hearty. A small soup, pasta, and cicchetti spot that caters to workers looking for a quick and cheap lunch, Sepa served up delectable vegetarian risotto. I typically don't care for risotto because it's often too soupy or lacking in flavor but this bowl of risotto was perfect! It was smooth and creamy and honestly, it felt like a hug feels...so comforting. The caramelized onion that we tried with it added a nice sweet note. My - dare I say - favorite stops were the last two. Antico Gatoleto offered us a flavorful and light pasta with shrimp and I was able to try squid ink pasta for the first time. And then of course, we finished the tour with a traditional tiramisu from I Tre Mercanti. As we entered they were assembling the cups of dessert and the smell of dusted cocoa wafting around the place let me know that I was in for a treat. This was hands down the best version of this dessert that I've ever had! Venice Food Tour was a wonderful experience and our guide was so informative. I had the opportunity to introduce my palate to new foods and culinary combinations and to meet folks from around the world who share an interest in well...eating! Doing this on my first day in Venice was the perfect way to start my vacation. The tour lasted longer than we anticipated but none of us minded as were were enjoying the great food and each other's company. I highly recommend this tour!

This was by far the coolest thing I did in venice. Lucia was a fantastic tour leader. The other…read morefolks from the group never showed up so we had the city all to ourselves. we talked about food, wine, culture, my country (Puerto Rico), Venice, life, food and more food!! If you do this tour, bring your appetite with you, there's tons of food to try and everything was absolutely delicious!! Lucia, thank you so much for your time and attention during the tour, I absolutely loved it!! Ciao Bella!!

Mario and Rachel took my son, Joe and I on a tour in Venice. It was a tour of three small…read morerestaurants in Venice for wine and food tasting. Excellent evening with Mario giving us some history information. We were able to sample polenta with sardines, fried meatballs and several different wines. Such a great evening. Highly recommend this evening for anyone visiting Venice. Mario and Rachel were delightful guides and gave us a wonderful introduction to Venice.

This is a terrific company that offers day trips around Venice Italy, including the wine country…read more We did a one-day walking trip of Padua and it was fantastic. Rachel and Mario are the owners and she took us on a day-long fun and informative excursion that included sights, history, art, food, and wine. She is from the US originally and speaks flawless Italian and English. Che ck them out if you are in the Venice or Padua area either for a extended stay or as part of a shore excursion from Venice. We were on a Celebrity cruise and they picked us up at the dock for a wonderful day!

We did the ghost tour. It was very informative and historical. The tour guide was energetic and…read morepretty loud for a big group. This was our first day in Venice so once night fell and we were being lead around very dark corners it was nice to be with a guide as the tourists disappeared. I loved the folklore told and learned a lot about Venice from this tour. I'd highly recommend it!

One of the best tours we had while on vacation. They were very organized and professional. We…read moreexplored parts of Venice on a very nice motor boat that accommodated a group of 8 people. Our tour guide was excellent. He explained the sights and took us through the less touristy areas which was awesome because we experienced the city like locals. It was a wonderful hour long ride and very well worth the price. There's no way we would've covered so much on gondolas and we would've paid double! So glad we experienced the canals with Avventure Bellissime. I recommend them and look forward to taking another tour with them on a return visit!