Venice: Rialto Market & Cicchetti Food Tour with Gondola Ride

Three Cicchetti Stops & a Gondola Ride Through Venice's Working Market

You meet your guide at the Rialto Fish Market and spend 2.5 hours moving through three cicchetti bars with prosecco tastings, watching locals at the market, then riding a gondolino across the canal for a final tasting and gelato. The group stays at six people, so you're never lost in a crowd, and everything (food, drinks, transport, guide) is included in the price.

Step-by-step itinerary

Venice market and cicchetti tasting

• Meet guide at Rialto Fish Market
• Explore market and watch locals bargain
• Taste cicchetti and prosecco at two bars
• Ride gondolino across canal
• Enjoy final cicchetti stop in Venetian style

The Experience

Someone's pointing at a pile of squid you've never seen before, asking the vendor a question in rapid Italian, then turning to translate. That's your guide at the Rialto Fish Market, the UNESCO-protected heart of Venice's food culture for centuries. The market opens early and fills fast: locals haggle over sea urchins and spider crabs, and you're standing right there watching how a city actually eats. This isn't a museum version of Venice. It's the real market where fishmongers still work the same stalls their families have worked for generations. The 2.5-hour tour keeps the group to six people, which means you can actually hear what's happening and move through the narrow aisles without getting swept along by a crowd.

After the market, you walk into the narrow streets and stop at two cicchetti bars: the kind of place where locals stand at the counter with a small plate of finger food and a glass of prosecco, not sitting down, just eating and moving on. Cicchetti are Venice's version of tapas: tiny croquettes, marinated vegetables, seafood on crostini, things you'd never think to order but taste exactly right. The prosecco is cold and sharp. Then comes the part that feels like cheating. You hop into a gondolino (a smaller, working gondola, not the tourist kind) and ride across the canal to the third cicchetti stop. By then you're not thinking about being a tourist anymore. You're just hungry and the city is moving past you on the water.

The tour wraps with one more cicchetti tasting and your choice of gelato or dessert. The whole thing takes 2.5 hours and includes everything: the guide, the food, the drinks, the gondola ride. You don't have to figure out which market to visit, which bars are real, or how to get across the canal. The guide handles the logistics and the introductions. You just show up hungry.

What’s included

• Professional local guide.
• entry to the Rialto Fish Market.
• three cicchetti tastings at authentic Venetian bars.
• prosecco at each cicchetti stop.
• gondolino ride across the canal.
• final cicchetti tasting with gelato or dessert.

Days and timesTue · Thu · Sat · 11:00

AgesAges 18+ · 3 to 17 years · Under 3 — Free

Meeting point and pickupNo pickup · ends where it startsMeeting point, per the operator: “In front of the Chiesa di San Giacomo di Rialto. Your guide will be holding a LivTours sign.”

Cancellation and refundsFree cancellation up to 24h before the start. After that, no refund.

Prices and times updated yesterday

Good to know

Easy physical levelPublic transport nearby

Operated by LivTours

Is this one for you?Book this if you want to eat like a Venetian without spending the morning researching which bars are real or figuring out how to cross the canals: the guide and the small group size mean you're learning the city's food culture instead of navigating it.

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Top questions

Can children come?

3 to 17 years; under 3, free.

Is the gondolino ride included or an extra cost?

The gondolino ride across the canal is included in the tour price.

How many cicchetti tastings are there?

Three cicchetti stops with tastings, plus a final gelato or dessert stop. Prosecco is served at the cicchetti bars.

What's the maximum group size?

The tour is limited to six people, keeping it small and intimate.

Do I need to pay a Venice entry fee?

On certain dates, day visitors to Venice may be required to pay a €5 access fee. Check the official Venice tourism site (cda.ve.it) for current dates and exemptions.

What if I don't drink alcohol?

Prosecco is part of the experience at the cicchetti bars. Contact the operator about non-alcoholic alternatives if needed.

How much walking is involved?

The tour is suitable for all fitness levels. You'll walk through the market and between cicchetti bars, with one gondolino ride included.