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Venice Evening Food Tour: Cicchetti, Wine & Sit-Down Dinner

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1/14

Duration2h 30m

GroupUp to 12

LanguagesEN

Mobile ticketAccepted

Four stops through Cannaregio: how Venice actually eats at night

You taste cicchetti and wine at four local bacari in Cannaregio, sit down for a full Venetian dinner with your choice of three dishes, and finish with artisanal gelato. An English-speaking guide leads a small group through the neighborhood's hidden streets, sharing how locals actually eat in Venice. The fixed itinerary and all tastings are included, so you don't arrange stops or worry about what to order.

2h 30m

Step-by-step itinerary

Evening food tour in Cannaregio

Meet near Teatro Italia
Visit first Bacaro for cicchetti and Spritz
Walk through Cannaregio to second stop
Taste fish cicchetti and drink ombra wine
Stroll along Strada Nuova street
Enjoy sit-down meal with pasta or codfish
Sample artisanal gelato with two scoops
Tour ends near Rialto Bridge with tips

The Experience

Your guide is already waiting near Teatro Italia, checking the time, ready to move. You don't know yet that the next few hours will feel less like a tour and more like being let into the rhythm of how locals actually spend an evening in Venice. The Cannaregio district isn't the postcard version—it's where Venetians live, where the bars are small and the wine pours in small glasses called ombra, and where cicchetti (those thumb-sized bites of fish, meat, cheese, bread) are the reason people stop by at all. You'll hit four of these bacari in sequence, tasting your way through nine different preparations, each one paired with something to drink. The first stop brings you meat-based cicchetti and a Venetian Spritz—that's the one with Aperol, prosecco, and a splash of soda, the color of a sunset. Your guide will explain what you're tasting and why it matters, but mostly you'll just eat and listen to the sound of the bar around you.

After a short walk through the narrow streets, the second bacaro appears, and you're ordering ombra—a small glass of local wine—alongside more cicchetti, this time built around fish. The guide shares stories about Venetian traditions while you're standing at the bar, the way locals do. Then comes Strada Nuova, the main pedestrian street that cuts through Cannaregio, lined with shops and older buildings. It's busy but not touristy in the way the Piazza San Marco is. You're moving through it with purpose, heading to the sit-down meal, which is the anchor of the evening. Here you choose: squid ink pasta, baccalà with polenta, or parmigiana. It's a real plate, not a tasting portion, eaten at a table in a quiet square. This is where the evening slows down, where you're not moving between stops anymore.

The last thing is gelato from a family-owned shop—two scoops, and the guide will tell you what makes it different from ice cream (less air, more density, served warmer). By the time you're walking back toward the Rialto Bridge, where the tour ends, you've had wine, cocktails, and prosecco across the stops, and the guide will hand you a few names of other places to try if you come back. The group stays small—semi-private, which means you're not herded through with thirty other people. It's the kind of evening that doesn't feel rushed, even though it's only four hours.

What’s included

Nine tastings across four bacari in Cannaregio, including meat and fish cicchetti.
a glass of ombra (traditional Venetian wine).
a Venetian Spritz.
prosecco.
a sit-down dinner with your choice of squid ink pasta, baccalà with polenta, or parmigiana.
two scoops of gelato from a family-owned gelateria.
a short walking tour through Strada Nuova.
and an expert English-speaking guide who shares insider tips on local eating traditions and other places to visit in Venice.

Good to know

Moderate physical levelPublic transport nearby

Operated by The Tour Guy

Is this one for you?Book this if you want to eat the way Venetians actually do in the evening—moving between small wine bars, tasting real cicchetti, and sitting down for a proper meal—without having to find the places yourself or figure out what to order. The semi-private group and fixed itinerary mean you're not navigating alone or waiting in line.