Whether you’re a seafood fan, a pasta fiend, or simply want to get to know Venice’s food scene like a local would, you’re in the right spot. In a tourist epicenter like Venice, it can be all too easy to be sucked into a tourist trap that would have you believe you’re trying authentic Venetian food.

I can say this, because me and many of my friends and family have done the same thing! That’s why I’ve gone ahead and detailed the 7 top Venice food tours out there, that are well worth your time and money and will immerse you in local culture. Let’s jump right in!

Best Food Tours in Venice

	Eat, Drink and Repeat: Venice Wine & Food Tasting Tour	Private Food Tour – 10 Tastings with Locals in Venice	Venice Food Tour - Eat like a Venetian
Meeting Location:	Campo S. Giacomo di Rialto, 30125 Venice	Campo Manin, 30124 Venice	Basilica dei Santi Giovanni e Paolo, Campo S.S. Giovanni e Paolo
Tour Length:	2 hours	3 hours	3.5 hours
Start Time(s):	11:30 AM & 5:15 PM	Between 10:00 AM & 6:00 PM	11:30 AM & 5:30 PM
What’s Included:	Wine tasting and food, Local guide, Lunch, Dinner, Snacks and Alcoholic Beverages	10 food & drink tastings (vegetarian alternative available), guide for commentary of highlights of the city along the way	Dinner (5 Aperitivo stops in beautiful Cannaregio), alcoholic beverages, bottled water
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Our 7 Top Picks For The Best Venice Food Tours:

1. Eat, Drink and Repeat: Wine and Food Tasting Tour in Venice
2. Venice: Private Food Tour – 10 Tastings with Locals
3. Venice Food Tour – Eat like a Venetian
4. Venice: Local Secrets of Venice Tapas & Wine Walking Tour
5. Experience Venice Like a Local: Small Group Cicchetti & Wine Tour
6. Venice: Food Tasting Tour with Cicchetti Dishes and Wine
7. Eat Like a Local: 3-hour Venice Small-Group Food Tasting Walking Tour

Venice Food Tour Reviews

1. Eat, Drink and Repeat: Wine and Food Tasting Tour in Venice

What to Expect on the Tour

Starting things off on the right foot, I bring you the Eat, Drink and Repeat: Wine and Food Tasting Tour in Venice. Even if you have a packed itinerary, I guarantee you have at least a couple of hours to fit in this either lunch or dinner tour!

It’s the perfect alternative to going out to eat, and you will be able to try and learn much more about classic Roman dishes than you would just by going out to a restaurant on your own.

It was actually surprising how much we tried and learned in just a couple of hours, thanks to our local expert guide to lead the way! While the food and wine are plentiful and delicious, you can also count on having a full-fledged walking tour complete with captivating anecdotes and historical accounts.

What Makes This Tour Great

There are plenty of cool stories and legends surrounding the different buildings, wine, and food in the area, so these 2 hours just fly by. While you shouldn’t expect a sit-down restaurant setting, you’re going to try enough food and wine to equate to a full meal.

More specifically, you’ll try 6 different, top-notch regional wines or cocktails, along with 6 or more food pairings. The guide is not only well-versed in the area’s history, but is a wine enthusiast and foodie themselves, which is invaluable to have in a foreign country!

With a small group size, it’s a very intimate and personalized experience, so you’re not just another head in a crowd full of people! It was so fun and full of fantastic tips and recommendations, that I’d say my entire Venice trip would truly have been different if I didn’t go on this tour.

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2. Private Food Tour – 10 Tastings with Locals in Venice

What to Expect on the Tour

Next up, we have the fantastic Venice: Private Food Tour – 10 Tastings with Locals experience! This one is a bit longer than the previous tour, though you’ll probably notice that it’s because you’re receiving almost double the tastings with this selection.

One thing that I’ve come to realize is that Venice is an incredibly versatile city, with virtually endless food, wine, and tour options out there – this one feels friendly and welcoming.

When I say that, I mean like it felt like Venice had opened its arms and welcomed us, thanks to our fantastic tour guide who took us to more “local” or even “hidden gem” spots that I know I wouldn’t have seen, otherwise.

What Makes This Tour Great

Our guide was incredibly friendly, making it feel like we’d been friends forever – taking us around the city while sharing interesting facts and stories along the way.

She even asked us at the beginning of our tour about our specific interests, tailoring our time to make it as personalized to our tastes as possible!

Sure, we covered plenty of the typical “highlights” of Venice, though I’ll say I learned a ton of cool facts about various structures and statues that I hadn’t heard from other guides up until that point.

I loved the classic gelato and spritz tastings at local spots, where the atmosphere was lively and lighthearted, chatting with the rest of our group about our experience.

I made some friends, made some great memories, and definitely improved my perspective on certain dishes that didn’t quite taste the same in the US!

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3. Venice Food Tour – Eat like a Venetian

What to Expect on the Tour

So, the first time I visited Venice, I thought I really had a solid grasp on what “Venetian” food was. After all, I’d done my Google search and found what I thought were the right dishes to try, and the right restaurants to stop at.

The Venice Food Tour – Eat Like a Venetian carefully led me back onto the right path, steering me clear of tourist traps with inauthentic dishes and to the good stuff steeped in tradition and flavor.

This is a tour that led us through the charming backstreets of the legendary city, with our knowledgeable guide there to answer all of our questions and explain everything in an easily digestible way.

What Makes This Tour Great

I discovered things on this tour that I know you won’t find on your average cookie tour, including plenty of cool houses, government structures, art, and of course, food and wine!

Meeting in the center of Venice, I found it easy to access and everybody seemed to just walk on over when it was time to begin. You’ll do more than just try different dishes – you’ll learn the history behind each one, adding to the experience!

Sample delicious cicchetti (a kind of Venetian tapas), crisp prosecco, fresh seafood, savory cheeses, and much more. If you’re looking to meet other travelers from around the world, this is also a wonderful opportunity to do so, with fun and adventure practically guaranteed!

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4. Venice: Local Secrets of Venice Tapas & Wine Walking Tour

What to Expect on the Tour

The Venice: Local Secrets of Venice Tapas & Wine Walking Tour was one of the first I’d taken when I arrived in the city.  I’d wanted to check out some of the local bars but didn’t want to get caught in the tourist traps nor did I want to commit any faux pas without a local there to help me out.

Luckily for me, this tour helped me with both of those concerns, with a friendly, local guide to share their plentiful knowledge and make me feel like I know what I’m doing!

When you take one of the more run-of-the-mill Venice walking tours, it’s a situation where if you’ve taken one, you’ve taken them all. You’ll walk down the same main streets, hear the same history lessons and stories, and try the same restaurants.

However, if you want to stroll down the back alleys and streets and sample delicious selections of Cichetti, wine, and more, you’re in the right place.

What Makes This Tour Great

Our tour started off with us actually meeting our guide at the first traditional bar (bacaro), where he shared fun facts and historical information about the city of Venice and how it intertwines with its food.

After sampling some amazing cichetti and wine, we then went through quite literally hidden alleyways, over bridges and canals, and other routes that were clearly (and gratefully) off the main tourist path.

This was definitely a more laidback ambiance with a super friendly guide, but I preferred this atmosphere, making it easier to learn. While I’m not sure if it’s a rule, our group only had a couple of people in it, which made it that much more intimate and personal!

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5. Experience Venice Like a Local: Small Group Cicchetti & Wine Tour

What to Expect on the Tour

If you’re in the mood for an unforgettable foodie adventure in Venice, look no further than the Experience Venice Like a Local: Small Group Cicchetti & Wine Tour!

This is actually one of the shortest tours on this guide, but it’s a great introduction to Venetian culture, highlighting some of the top landmarks and dishes while adding in some more local attractions.

After all, it’s the hidden gems where locals go for the best bites that have ended up being my favorites with the best dishes around!

One of the most standout points for me was how much variety and quality each food stop offered, along with the unwavering hospitality that made it feel like we were instant friends.

Just make sure you don’t eat before, because it’s definitely enough food for at least the equivalent of one meal! I tried many things that wouldn’t have caught my attention if I were at a restaurant, but I’m glad I did, as I ended up loving some of the new dishes!

What Makes This Tour Great

You can expect to try cod, risotto, seafood, different breads, olives, egg, and much more. The Venetian Cicchetti I noticed, is very seafood-oriented, with things like sardines or anchovies, or ricotta and polenta on little crostinis.

They’re made to be eaten before dinnertime, and this is how I discovered that some locals eat dinner all the way up until 10 pm! Considering how packed Venice can get with tourists, the fact that we got to experience quieter spots from the eyes of actual Venetians was truly something special.

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6. Food Tasting Tour with Cicchetti Dishes and Wine in Venice

What to Expect on the Tour

This is such a quintessentially “Venice” experience, where you’ll not only get to try some of the city’s best food and wine; but you’ll also get to see plenty of iconic spots like the Grand Canal!

The Venice: Food Tasting Tour with Cicchetti Dishes and Wine experience is great for someone who just arrived in the city and wants to get a lay of the land (or water). Lasting 2.5 hours and with multiple start times available, it’s super easy to fit into even the busiest of schedules.

Meet up with your guide at Maddalena Square, right in front of the beautiful church there, and set off on your adventure. I found it was one of the most unique tours of its kin, taking us through winding streets to sample interesting bites with delicious local wines!

What Makes This Tour Great

I loved that we had a small group which made it easy to make friends while still navigating smaller eateries with ease, though you can also opt for a completely private tour.

The private tour is nice if you want the guide all to yourself or want to go on a more customized tour, but I felt that the small group setting wasn’t all that different!

Start off in the Cannaregio neighborhood, which is less visited but is one of the residential areas that many locals hang out in after work to grab some drinks. We then got to go on a traditional stand-up gondola and cross the Grand Canal to Rialto, which was so cool!

Once there, we headed to a little restaurant where I had dishes like black ink calamari, tuna balls with tomatoes, veggies, and more.

I enjoyed our stops at the Cichetti bars, as well as trying a local sandwich washed down with Venetian Spritz. My favorite had to be the delicious tiramisu though, which I wish I could make at home!

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7. Eat Like a Local: 3-hour Venice Small-Group Food Tasting Walking Tour

What to Expect on the Tour

If you think that Italian food is just pizza and pasta, well, that’s completely understandable because I used to think the same! After all, 99% of Italian restaurants I’d been to before going to Italy offered that, and maybe some tasty breadsticks.

If you want to take full advantage of the versatile Venetian cuisine, then I highly recommend going on the Eat Like a Local: 3-hour Venice Small-Group Food Tasting Walking Tour!

As the title suggests, this tour lasts around 3 hours, but the time flies by with all of the delicious food and entertaining stories along the way! If you don’t know much about Venetian cuisine and would like a great introduction to the real stuff, this is a fantastic option.

What Makes This Tour Great

The guide is a local themselves, and shares insider perspectives and tips so you’ll always know where to get some good food and drink – even after the tour.

Our adventure started off right next to the famous Rialto Bridge, which is perfect for photo ops and history lessons. We then headed off on a guided walking tour, making a total of 8 different stops.

Of course, our first stop started with coffee and pastries, so with this foreshadowing I knew it was going to be a great time. We visited all kinds of different wine bars with Cicchetti snacks, totaling to a sampling of around 6 kinds of fish, cured meats, and plenty of wine!

I love this one for couples, families, or groups of friends who are new to Venice, so give this one a go!

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Katarina Jelks

Katarina Jelks is a professionally trained sommelier from Hawaii. She received her Wine & Management Diploma from Le Cordon Bleu in Paris. Her experience working across the wine industry, in locations all around the world (France, Australia, New Zealand, the US & more), has resulted in a global perspective. She loves sharing her passion with others and helping them to chase their thirst for interesting wine and great food.