Venice Food Tours: Cicchetti & Bacaro Tours
A Venice food tour is a bacaro crawl: five or six wine bars in Cannaregio, the Rialto or Dorsoduro, a cicchetto and an ombra at each, with a guide who knows which counters are still run by the family that opened them. Compare the top-rated tours below, then read our notes on neighbourhoods and formats.
Cicchetti and bacaro tours
Street food and market tours
Formats: cicchetti and wine tours at sunset; street food walks with a market visit; Cannaregio and Jewish Ghetto food tours; “eat like a local” tours crossing the Grand Canal by traghetto; wine-bar tastings of Veneto wines.
What you will taste: baccalà mantecato, sarde in saor, polpette, fried mozzarella in carrozza, a slice of pizza-like focaccia, fritto misto in a paper cone, tramezzini, and wines from the Veneto and Friuli, with a spritz to start.
Price and time: 45 to 100 dollars for two and a half to three and a half hours; evening tours cost more and include more wine.
Which neighbourhood
Cannaregio is the classic: the long fondamente of the north side, the Jewish Ghetto, and a run of bacari where Venetians still outnumber visitors. The Rialto has the oldest bacari in the city around the market, and tours here start with the Pescheria if they run in the morning. Dorsoduro and the Zattere have the student bars and the sunset. San Polo and Santa Croce are the quieter middle. A good tour keeps to one or two of these; anything that promises San Marco is walking you past tourist bars.
What a good tour does
Five or six bacari, a cicchetto or two and a glass at each, at least one sit-down plate such as a risotto or a pasta, a traghetto crossing of the Grand Canal on the standing gondola ferry, and a guide who explains the ombra, the saor and why the fish is what it is. Groups of eight to twelve. The most-booked tours have thousands of reviews at high averages and are the safe first choice.
Timing
Bacari fill from six; the sunset tours are the best. Morning tours pair the market with early cicchetti. Sunday is weak, since the Rialto market is closed and many bacari rest.
Frequently asked questions
Is a cicchetti tour enough for dinner?
Yes; twelve or more cicchetti and a plate across three hours replaces dinner comfortably.
What is an ombra?
A small glass of wine, the traditional bacaro pour, a couple of euros each.
Are Venice food tours vegetarian-friendly?
Partly: many cicchetti are fish, but polpette, cheeses, vegetable crostini and fried snacks carry a vegetarian route with notice.
Read next: Venice cicchetti and bacari explained
How we choose
We list only experiences with a strong rating over a meaningful number of reviews and free cancellation where available, and we favour small-group and family-run hosts. FindEatLocal earns a commission when you book through GetYourGuide or Viator links on this page; it doesn’t change the price you pay. More about how we choose.