It’s easy to fall in love with Venice from the canals and gondolas to the culture and charm, but Venice is also a culinary destination with so much to offer foodies and travellers who enjoy diving into the local cuisine. From food tours to guided tastings to must-try dishes and local specialities, we’re sharing our tips on how to make the most of a food-focused trip to Venice. Don’t forget to pack your appetite!
Cicchetti & Wine Tour of Venice
Learn about Venetian culture and history with Cicchetti & Wine Tour of Venice where you’ll sip wine and sample Cicchetti, small snacks or side dishes served in traditional Venetian wine bars known as Bacari. The two and half hour Urban Adventures tour is a great way to sample some of the best local wine and food in Venice. In addition to historic bars, you’ll also visit a local market and take a ride on a traghetti, a passenger ferry used by locals to get around.
Acquolina Cooking School
Eating traditional Venetian dishes is one thing, but learning to make them yourself is entirely another. Give yourself the best souvenir of all by taking some cooking skills back home with you from Venice. Acquolina Cooking School gets consistently rave reviews on TripAdvisor. The half-day culinary experience involves learning to prepare four to six traditional dishes using local, seasonal produce. A full day course is also available, which also includes a visit to Rialto Market and some wine bars.
Drogheria Mascari
Foodies in Venice will want to pay a visit to Antica Drogheria Mascari, which is one of the oldest speciality food stores in Venice. The shop opened in 1948 on Calle degli Spezieri (street of the spice merchants) and stocks many items that can be tough to find elsewhere in the city. Browse ingredients used in traditional Italian cooking including various spices, truffles, dried mushrooms, olive oils, balsamic vinegars, sweets and much, much more. There’s also a small collection of wines from some of the best Italian winemakers.
Prosecco Wine Tour
About an hour’s drive from Venice you’ll find the vineyards of the prosecco region and anyone interested in finding out more about how the bubbly wine gets from the vine to the glass can do so with an informative wine tour. Throughout the tour, you’ll see the cellars, wine press and fermentation room (and of course sample a glass of prosecco) and you’ll also delve more into the nature of prosecco and learn about the how it’s made, from grape picking to bottling. In addition to visiting wineries and sipping prosecco, you’ll enjoy a traditional Venetian lunch.
i Tre Mercanti
Another specialty food shop stop to make in Venice is i Tre Mercanti where you’ll find all kinds of products specific to the area, as well as from other regions in Italy. They’re also well stocked with wine and serve paninis (so you can try some the ingredients they sell in sandwich form) as well as 16 flavours of tiramisu.
Rialto Market Walk
No culinary-focused trip to Italy would be complete without a visit to the Rialto Market. This is where locals stock up on fresh seafood, meat and produce so if you want to shop like a Venetian, this is where to start. You can either visit on your own or if you want a more immersive experience book a walking tour. The Rialto Market Walk is a two-hour walking tour through the market where you’ll learn about the market’s history as well as the products that are native to Venice. Having a better idea of ingredients specific to Venice will not only be interesting, but also help you better understand what you’re eating at local bars and restaurants.
Sweet Venice Cake & Chocolate Tour
Anyone with a sweet tooth will want to check out the Sweet Venice Cake and Chocolate Tour. This three-hour exploration of all things sugary in Venice will show you where you can get the city’s best cakes and chocolates, and learn about the traditions behind some of Italy’s most loved desserts such as tiramisu. And since you’ll be walking in between sample stops you don’t even have to worry about the calories.
Pastificio Giacomo Rizzo
Pasta fans should take note of Pastificio Giacomo Rizzo, which has been making fresh and dried pasta for more than four generations. They make a wide variety of pasta types, many of which you likely won’t see in your local grocery store. Pasta is made using traditional hand and roller techniques followed by slow drying.
Featured image: Richardjo53, The Grand Canal Venice via Flickr CC BY-SA 2.0
