North End Pizza & Cannoli Tour: Self-Guided Boston Food Walk

Walk the North End at your own pace, eating where locals have eaten for a century.

A self-guided food and history tour of Boston's North End using the WalknTours smartphone app, starting at Galleria Umberto and moving through authentic Italian shops, pizzerias and cannoli makers that opened between 1900 and 1932. You navigate the route yourself, stop when you want, and finish with a picnic in the Prado while learning the immigrant stories behind Prince Pasta and the neighborhood's transformation. The tour takes 50 minutes to just over an hour, though the pace is entirely yours.

Step-by-step itinerary

North End pizza, cannoli and picnic tour

• Start at Galleria Umberto for lunch
• Visit Polcari’s Coffee for rare coffee
• Learn about North End Jewish history
• Try cannoli at Bova’s
• Eat Sicilian slice at Parziale’s
• Try brick oven pizza at Regina’s
• Enjoy espresso and cannoli at local spot
• See Old North lantern site
• Have picnic lunch in the Prado park
• Walk by Saint Leonard Church
• Pass one of oldest squares, Disney filming site
• View Paul Revere’s historic home

The Experience

The tour starts at Galleria Umberto, which serves Sicilian pizza by the slice for around $2 — but note that they're only open for lunch, 10:30 to 2:30, and close often, so check their schedule before you go. From there the WalknTours app guides you through stops at Polcari's Coffee, which has stood since 1932 and still sells rare spices and Hawaiian Kona; Bova's, opened in 1926 and now known for cannoli that locals line up for; and Regina, which runs a brick pizza oven originally built in 1888 and fired by coal, now rated among the best in the USA. Each stop comes with the history — how Antonio Bova went door-to-door with samples to save his shop, how the first pizza slice ever served in the Northeast came out of Parziale's in 1907, how Polcari's founder rolled up his sleeves to build his American dream.

You move through the neighborhood at your own speed, picking up food as you go. The route passes the Old North Church, where Robert Newman hung two lanterns in the belfry to signal Paul Revere that the British were coming, and the Paul Revere House, built in 1680 and the oldest building in downtown Boston. You'll walk by one of the oldest squares in the USA, the filming location of Disney's Enchanted, and see the Saint Leonard Church, which opened its basement to services in 1891 and now sits surrounded by peace gardens. The neighborhood itself tells the story — in 1900, a third of the North End was Jewish, with more than 50 synagogues in Boston; today it's the second most Jewish city in the US.

The tour ends with a picnic in the Prado, one of the most beautiful parks in the Northeast and a local hangout. You unpack what you've collected — the pizza, the cannoli, the coffee — and eat while the app tells you the story of Prince Pasta: how the founders came from Italy and arrived in Boston to start the company, an immigrant's tale and the American dream playing out in a neighborhood where that story happened over and over. After the in-person tour, you also get access to a virtual remote version of the same route on the app, so you can revisit it or share it.

What’s included

• Access to the self-guided "North End Pizza, Cannoli and Picnic Tour" on the WalknTours app.
• audio guide in English.
• virtual remote version of the tour you can take after the in-person walk.

Good to know

Easy physical levelStroller friendlyPets welcomePublic transport nearby

Operated by WalknTours

Is this one for you?You set your own start time and pace, which means you can time your arrival at Galleria Umberto to catch them open during their lunch window (10:30 to 2:30), and linger at any pizzeria, cannoli shop or coffee spot without a group waiting. The route takes 50 minutes to just over an hour, but the day is yours to stretch or compress.

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Top questions

What time does Galleria Umberto close, and why does it matter for this tour?

Galleria Umberto, where the tour starts, is only open for lunch from 10:30 to 2:30 and closes often, so you need to check their schedule before you book. Starting here means timing your tour to catch them open is part of planning the day.

How do I navigate the tour if there's no guide walking with me?

The tour is self-guided on the WalknTours app on your smartphone. The app gives you the route, the stops, and the history and stories at each one, so you navigate at your own pace and can pause, backtrack, or linger anywhere you want.

What's the story behind Regina's brick pizza oven?

Regina's oven was originally built in 1888 and was fired by burning coal back then. It's now rated one of the best pizza ovens in the USA and still serves classic Neapolitan-style thin-crust pizza.

Where do I eat lunch on this tour, and what's the Prince Pasta story?

You picnic in the Prado, one of the most beautiful parks in the Northeast. While you eat the pizza and cannoli you picked up along the way, the app tells you the story of Prince Pasta — how the founders came from Italy and arrived in Boston to start the company, an example of the immigrant journey that shaped the whole neighborhood.

Can I take this tour more than once, or revisit it later?

After you take the in-person tour, you get access to a virtual remote version on the WalknTours app, so you can revisit the route, the stops and the stories anytime or share it with someone else.

What happened at the Old North Church, and why is it on this tour?

The Old North Church is famous for Robert Newman, who climbed the high belfry and hung two lanterns to signal Paul Revere that the British were coming. It's a landmark in the North End's history and sits along the route you walk.