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!!

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!

Walking around Venice was a real treat!…read more You become emerged in the culture of Venice Italy! And there's so much that you can't see unless you walk around and checkout the city. I'm pretty lazy lol So, normally I don't like walking around. Venice has so much to see by foot though. It makes it worth the effort in walking around. There's so much to see to really enjoy Venice fully!

Do this tour! My guide was Simona and she was awesome. The tour was about 2 hours or so and she…read moreshowed the group the unbeaten path of tourists. The thoroughness of the details of Venezia was amazing. The entire tour was new to me and helped me understand Venezia and its history a lot more.

Date of tour: May 28, 2025…read more Love, love, love Anna and this tour! When it comes to a food tour, the guide is as important (if not more) as the stops on the tour and the food that is featured. A great guide makes or breaks a tour and Anna did a wonderful job. She has clearly cultivated a relationship with these vendors and takes the time to talk about the backgrounds of the food, of the restaurants and bars, creating a rich, vibrant story. Our tour happened to be entirely comprised of Americans, though given it's an English tour, that should not be all that surprising. It was a wonderful group of people that we enjoyed spending nearly three hours with--that's also important but certainly out of the hands of the tour and more just luck of the draw! The description on the Viator website didn't quite match the tour, but Anna did such a great job that I have no complaints there. We really got a great sense of Venezia from the tour and it was so sad to part ways with the group when it was time to say goodbye. Highlights on the tour: Meat croquette, calamari, shrimp pasta, and the mac and cheese balls. Definitely look for this Eat Like a Local Tour in Venice, you won't regret it!

I had an amazing time on on the Eat Like a Local tour. I learned so much about how Italians eat,…read moreand the difference between local food and tourist traps. I tried wines I hadn't heard of, cafe corecto, pastry, gelato, many different types of cicchetti, and the best prosciutto and balsamic. Martina was an amazing guide! I felt very welcome doing this tour as a solo traveler.

The "Venice for Beginners: The Lagoon" that Walks Inside Venice provided was an amazing experience…read more Our tour guide Roberta Curiel was witty, fun, informative, and relaxed - a perfect guide. Our private boat whisked us away from our hotel in Venice and quickly brought us to Murano Island. On Murano, we had a fantastic tour of glass manufactory and watched master craftsmen create intricate and stunning glass pieces worthy of a Museum. It was fun to explore their galleries of beautiful glass masterpieces and we had ample time to explore and purchase some one of a kind treasures to have shipped home. After Murano, it was a enjoyable boat ride to the Island of Burano where our guide explained and showed us the history of and secrets of this charming fisherman's village. After tasting some gelato, our boat delivered us back to our hotel in Venice. Overall, the tour was all we had hoped for and more. Since I am a huge fan of glass, Roberta modified the tour so we could spend more time on Murano with the overall tour length being just right. Although the tour was a bit expensive, the ease of travel, the amazing guide, and the chance to see the glass works and visit these beautiful island made it a good value. This tour is perfect after exploring bustling Venice allowing for a more relaxed and open-aired adventure. I believe the tour to be a great value and is perfect for couples like us or families and small groups of friends wanting to explore the other Venetian Islands.

These are all walking/some boat tours that can be found and scheuduled online. The process is easy,…read morewent very smoothly and efficiently. I never had a thought it would not go as planned and it did not. This is a top class tour!! They get back to you, tell you exactly what is included and ask what you want and really try to tailor the tour to your needs/wants. We did the Cicheti and Nizioleti and the Cooking Class and both were beyond excellent. I would give them both 6 Stars if I could!!! Roberta was our guide for the Cicheti and Nizioleta and it was so much fun to see the side of Venice like a local and eat the local food and wine! She was a great guide, and made the experience so much fun!! She made wonderful recommendations as well. The cooking class with Chef Michele was above and beyond. It was actually the best day of our entire trip and will be a great memory as well as a definite repeat should we ever return. Chef is simply the best and visiting the market was just icing on the cake!! I will use this tour group again and will schedule more with them because you see Venice the right way... instead of with all those silly tourist with selfie sticks.... Highly recommend!!

VenetoInside.com is an authorized third-party resale site that focuses on activities and tickets to…read moreattractions in the Veneto region. While most people associate the Veneto with Venice, it also covers popular cities Verona (of Romeo and Juliet fame) and Padua (a university town). Most people know about VenetoInside.com if they are doing research for independent travel as they are the authorized retailers of skip-the-line tickets to St. Mark's Basilica and St. Mark's Campanile (bell tower). The tickets are on sale during peak season (April 1 to November 2) and can be booked 10 minutes before the chosen time. Skip-the-line for the bell tower can be booked from April 1 to October 31. When you purchase the tickets make sure to follow the directions exactly. I highly recommend buying skip-the-line tickets especially during peak tourist season. Though the basilica doesn't charge admission, you are not allowed to skip the line. With limited vacation time, it's certainly worth paying a few euros to maximize your sightseeing. https://www.venetoinside.com/attraction-tickets-in-veneto/tickets/skip-the-line-saint-marks-basilica/ https://www.venetoinside.com/attraction-tickets-in-veneto/tickets/st-marks-bell-tower-skip-the-line-entry/ Alternatively I bought a guided tour ("St. Mark's Cathedral and it's Treasures") which is a tour with skip-the-line privileges and admission to the Treasury and Pala d'Oro, which is normally separate from the basilica. They also promote exclusive access to the St. Mark's Baptistery and Zen Chapel. I had no problem with buying my ticket and redeeming it for my tour. My only issue was that the guide's accent was so thick I had to supplement my visit with Rick Steves' audioguide. Not only was I able to understand much more, that audioguide was free. https://www.venetoinside.com/tours-activities-in-veneto/tour/venice-st-marks-cathedral-and-its-treasures-skip-the-line/ The other popular option is skip-the-line guided tours of the basilica and Doge's Palace, the other major attraction in Venice. This makes sense as they are literally next to each other. The only reason why I didn't do this is because I wanted to do the Secret Itineraries tour, which is sold separately and bought directly from the Doge's Palace website. *** Another popular excursion in Venice is visiting the islands in the Venetian lagoon: Murano, Burano and Torcello. There are two options for doing this. https://www.venetoinside.com/tours-activities-in-veneto/tour/half-day-excursion-murano-burano-torcello/ (guided tour) https://www.venetoinside.com/tours-activities-in-veneto/tour/hop-on-hop-off-venice-islands-boat-tour/ (DIY option) The DIY option did not exist at the time of my visit (~July 2018) so I chose the half-day visit. I made the most of my half-day tour as it included a glassware demonstration in Murano and transportation via chartered boat (as opposed to a vaporetto) with information given in English, Italian, Spanish and French. Subsequent visits I will do the DIY option as this will give me time to explore the colorful houses in Burano and have lunch and visit the chapel/climb the bell tower in Torcello. While perusing the reviews of the activities it seems like whoever responds to the negative reviews treats the review writer with disdain, mostly accusing the person for not paying attention to the instructions. I found this quite rude. There is a certain level of decency that should be respected when responding to negative reviews - hospitality 101. I hope they take this into consideration.

Easy to buy skip the line tix for the basilica and just show them on your phone. Very convenient…read more Don't pass up the 'extra' tours inside the basilica. They are all worth the extra few Euros. We especially enjoyed the last one which let you go upstairs to see the amazing gold mosaics up close and most wonderful you can go out on the roof overlooking the piazza- stunning views. No pics allowed inside but the vistas from this roof terrace were super. Can't believe I missed this on an earlier visit.

Great little Hotel, clean comfortable rooms. Nice more then adequate breakfast. However the best of…read moreall was the accommodating friendly, warm and helpful staff. The staff helped with recommendations, tickets and directions. They made us feel wanted and welcome

We were very happy with the hotel overall. Location is very good but tricky to find. Hotel staff…read morewas fantastic, very nice and helpful. Room was nice, as was the breakfast.

A little expensive but very convenient. Nice large Mercedes van to the dock. Transferred to…read morebeautiful private wooden boat. We skipped the gondola ride and enjoyed this convenient transportation from the airport instead. Tip: grab some beers at the dock to enjoy your boat ride.

We used Blitz as our VIP Private Transfer while in Venice and staying at the JW Marriott. This…read moreentailed both a private SUV service and a beautiful boat trip to the island (we had the same model Angelina Jolie's character drove in "The Tourist". Exceptional, punctual and courteous service. Each of our Drivers and Captains were top-notch and helped to make our beautiful journey all the better! Everyone was as friendly as can be! We highly recommend Blitz for all your transportation needs while in Venice.