The Sweet Taste of Venice

Italians love their coffee but there are certain rules one must follow if you’re going to do Italian café culture the right way. This coffee and dessert tour of Venice makes you a bonafide caffè expert, but more than that, it also introduces you to the traditional pasticcerie of Venice. Learn the history of local sweet treats as you wander through the most local neighbourhoods in town!

You meet your local guide at the steps of the Santa Lucia train station (the only train station in Venice) and then begin your adventure exploring the Cannaregio neighbourhood.

The first stop on our Venice food tour is in a family bakery where Venetians start their day with a quick breakfast! Your guide will show you how to order the right coffee while sipping your cappuccino and tasting a brioche.

Following, we will discover the heart of the ancient Jewish Ghetto, a neighbourhood that is 500 years old and remains an important piece of the Venetian community. If you wish, ask your guide to stop to buy some local desserts from the Kosher oven!

We then continue our way toward the Castello neighbourhood, the largest sestiere on the island and home to the Arsenale, or Naval Dockyard, of the city. We explore the narrow lanes of the area before stopping into our next pasticceria, an elegant family-run spot that’s the most beloved and famous place to get seasonal desserts during the holidays: panettone at Christmas,  colomba at Easter… depending on the time of year, you get a mix of different desserts to try, appropriate to the season. You also have the chance here to relax your legs in the main square of the neighbourhood, overlooking the beautiful Church of San Giovanni e Paolo.

Finally, we head to our almost-last stop on this Venice food tour to enjoy the famous tiramisu! Learn everything about this Veneto dessert while enjoying a delicious homemade one.

From there, we walk toward our ending point at the Rialto Bridge, but we’re not quite finished yet. Do you love chocolate? We do too, so we can’t miss the opportunity to visit an atelier of chocolate, where you get a gourmet tasting while seeing how this tasty treat is made!

Then, it’s time to say a presto at the steps of Rialto Bridge, where your local guide gives you some tips for continuing your day in Venice, or gives you directions to head back to your hotel.

Additional information

Inclusions: Local English-speaking guide, and food and drinks as set out in the itinerary (coffee, three dessert samples and an alcoholic drink).

Exclusions: Additional food and drinks, alcoholic beverages, souvenirs and personal shopping, and tips/gratuities for your guide.

Dress standard: Please wear comfortable shoes for walking, and bring a hat and sunscreen during the summer months.

Your Trip: For your Urban Adventure you will be in a small group of a maximum of 12 people.

Confirmation of booking: If you have your voucher, your booking is confirmed. We’ll see you at the start point. Get in touch if you have any concerns or require more information via the email address or phone number (business hours only) on your voucher.

Child Policy: Children between the ages of 6 and 11 inclusively are permitted on this tour at the rate listed above. Please select ‘child’ above when booking. Children below the age of 6 are not permitted on this tour.

Local contact

Office phone number: + 39 348 980 8566
Email address: [email protected]

My friend and I booked the Sweet Taste of Venice tour on our last full day in Venice. Our highly informative guide was Ludo, who was also super nice and just great to be around. She knew all kinds of little details about the history of Venice as she took us on our tour from one sweet spot to another. We loved learning about things we’d have otherwise walked on by if we were by ourselves, loved the food recommendations she gave us for later excursions, and we especially loved all the sweets and coffee we got to have. If you take a tour, ask for Ludo. She was awesome, as was the tour!

Mr. Mike B. from USA travelled on 18 Sep 2019:

We had the pleasure of joining Francesca for the Sweet Taste of Venice tour on our last day in Venice. We enjoyed an intimate tour group of 8 where we got a healthy dose of culture walking through Cannaregio and a little bit of Costello. Information about the Jewish Ghetto was particularly informative and interesting – Francesca had a wealth of information to share. We then got a healthy dose (admittedly, more delicious than healthy) of Venetian treats. All three stops featured family owned businesses, each with a particular speciality. At our first stop, we had the chance to enjoy brioche and coffee. After a longer walk, our second stop provided savory treats. Ham and cheese croissant and mini pizzas along with Venetian Spritzes. Francesca saved the best for last – a chocolatier featuring some amazing tiramisu and a uniquely crafted cold chocolate drink. We were advised it’s served cold in the summer and hot in the winter. We finished our tour near the Rialto bridge around noon, allowing you easy access to additional sights for the afternoon. Overall, an outstanding experience to wrap up our Italian vacation!

Mr. Tim M. from Canada travelled on 27 Jul 2019:

My husband and I ended up being the only two people in our tour. Our guide, Camilla, was fantastic. She is very friendly and knowledgeable and very easy to talk to. We visited 3 food establishments. The first we had a delicious cappuccino and croissant. the next we had a Spritz and small plates, and at the last place we had the best tiramisu, and I don’t even like tiramisu, but this was out of this world. The food and beverages were good, but what made this tour great was Camilla. We learned so much about Venice, visited areas we probably wouldn’t have seen, and she even recommended a restaurant which my family said was the best meal they had the entire 3 weeks in Italy.

Mr. Paul J. from Canada travelled on 25 June 2019:

My wife and I were the only 2 people on this morning tour with Francesca. We opted for this tour because it got us away from the masses. We started the tour in front of the train station, which is loaded with tourists, but we were quickly lead to more remote parts of this beautiful city. Francesca was very kind and professional and we thoroughly enjoyed every minute of this tour. We were shown parts of Venice that we may not have ventured to if we were on our own. We were given a good deal of interesting facts about the areas that we walked through and she also pointed out great places for us to come back to for a nice meal or drinks, and where to get a great view of the city. This was our first morning in Venice so it was nice to get a feel for the city and to be able to ask Francesca some questions, which she was happy to answer for us. We highly recommend this morning tour-it’s worth getting up for!

Mr. Stelios L. from Australia travelled on 24 June 2019:

My wife and I visited Venice in May, pre-booked to go on the sweet tour. Our guide Sara was amazing. We were a bit late as got lost walking to the meeting point and contacted the offices who let Sara know. Everyone was very helpful and professional. The tour was amazing with so much information about the parts of Venice you would not visit normally unless you are a local. Excellent dessert samples, coffee and aperitivo! Sara also suggested various areas to visit, places to go for food as well as the Chiesa della Madonna dell’Orto which was one of our highlights of visits (would not have visited without Sara’s advice). Thank you so much!

Ms. Dani K. from United Kingdom travelled on 1 June 2019:

The best Urban Adventures tour I’ve done anywhere in the world. Sara took us for a beautiful walk along the canals, stopping at local business’ for traditional treats along the way. The food was wonderful and with a bite-sized history lesson, it was the perfect morning in Venice and the highlight of our time here. Highly recommend booking for your first or second day in Venice to really make the most of her wonderful advice. Cannot thank you enough Sara!

Ms. Sally D. from USA travelled on 22 May 2019:

My sister and I had a wonderful tour this morning with Sara from Urban Adventures. She gave us so much information on the history of Venice and took us to some amazing places off the beaten path. Loved every minute. Excellent tour guide!

Ms. North S. from USA travelled on 20 May 2019:

Sara gave us the most wonderful tour of Venice as well as introduced us to incredible sweet treats! This was an outstanding way to experience the city and visit authentic bakeries that have been in Venetian families for decades. Sara could not have been more helpful, friendly and fun!!! Highly recommend!

Ms. Lindsey S. from Australia travelled on 15 May 2019:

My husband and I took the Coffee & Sweets tour with Sabrina in the morning last May. We ended up being the only couple which made the tour even more special. Sabrina was lovely very happy, sweet, and made us feel like a Venetian friend was taking us around Venice. She told us about the history of Venice and the different areas of Venice (my husband nor I consider ourselves history buffs but we really enjoyed learning about Venice). We tried a cappuccino, spritz, hot chocolate and several sweets at different places around Venice. We went back to a couple of the places after our tour. I highly recommend this tour and Sabrina!

Mr. Ivan S. from Croatia travelled on 9 May 2019:

So many things one can say about Camilla: that she is as charming as Venice itself, that she breathes through its pores like the Adriatic sea, that the love she shows for her city is so infatuating, it makes you want to stay there forever. What started as another food tour quickly transformed into an epic bonanza of history and taste, and Camilla showed us you cannot distinguish one from the other, as they are intertwined together in a seductive harmony which makes Serenissima so hard to resist. It was truly an unforgettable experience to learn about Venice from a person that actually grew up between its canals and who continues, so passionately, to explore and to teach its everlasting secrets. Camila is a guide in its truest sense. An old school mediator. Cicerone. A real connoisseur. I remain deeply thankful, and very lucky to have had her on my tour.

Ms. Colin M. from Australia travelled on 5 May 2019:

An amazing tour with one of the best guides I have experienced. Her local knowledge, care of participants needs and information given was outstanding. The length of tour and its content was well planned and amount of walking was interspersed with food tasting.

Mr. Yves R. from USA travelled on 4 May 2019:

Camilla is a great guide, very knowledgeable. She’s friendly and kind, funny and easy to talk to. She showed us great places I wouldn’t have gone to without her and taught us also lots about her city. Was definitely worth doing!

Mr. Mark H from USA travelled on 11 March 2019:

My wife and I were thrilled with this tour! When visiting another country, it can be challenging to gain your bearings and easy to get sucked into tourist traps. This walking tour gave us a unique view of Venice from a local. We explored parts of the city we otherwise wouldn’t have and were given context that made it all more meaningful. Our guide, Camilla, was knowledgeable and engaging. She clearly knew her stuff and we felt that we learned way more about our surroundings as a result. Venice is beautiful and this tour helped us appreciate it even more (the sweets didn’t hurt, either)! We’d highly recommend adding Urban Adventures to your Venice trip.

Ms. Hannah V. from Australia travelled on 9 Jan 2019:

We signed up for this tour expecting as many as 15 people in the group. Because we were travelling during Venice’s low season, there were only two other people on the tour! Practically a private tour! Our guide Claire was WONDERFUL. She was hugely knowledgeable, fun and funny, and took us on a fascinating walking tour of all of the Sestieri of Venice. She even surprised us with our distance walked/calories burned at the end of the tour! The other two participants (another mother/daughter pair like us) were great and we stayed together after the tour to enjoy lunch. All in all a sweet and wonderful morning in Venice. Highly recommend!

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