Whether you're a foodie or just want to experience the local cuisine, food tours are a good way to learn about a city and its foods. You'll get a walking tour of a neighborhood or city center with stops at several places to taste local food and drink specialties. Most food tours last about 3 to 4 hours and include no more than 10 or 12 participants. Here's a selection of tasting tours in several Italian cities.
Cicchetti Tour in Venice
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Learn to like a local in Venice with this cicchetti food tour led by Monica Cesarato. You'll visit 3 or 4 osterie to try the typical small plates of Venice, accompanied by a spritz or glass of prosecco, as Monica gives you a good introduction to Venice.
Eating Italy Food Tours in Rome
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Eating Italy Food Tours 4-hour tasting tour includes stops at 10 shops, cafes, and restaurants in Rome's Testaccio neighborhood, the root of traditional Roman cooking. The tours are a perfect mix of story-telling, interacting with locals, walking, and eating in an off-the-tourist-track neighborhood and include a lunch of typical pastas with wine. Eating Italy also offers a Trastevere tour.
The Roman Foodie
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Explore Rome and its cuisine on a Fresh Market Lunch Tour or Trastevere Evening Tour. We took the evening tour which included stops for an apertivo, fried baccala, pizza, and local specialties on the way to a pasta dinner with wine (shown in the photo). Of course, the evening ended with gelato.
Florence for Foodies: Tour and Taste
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Enjoy tastes of 8 typical Florentine dishes on this guided walking tour of Florence's foodie gems. You'll visit a coffee bar, a special sandwich shop, a gelateria, and the San Lorenzo market.
A Visit to Naples' Most Traditional Pizzerias
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Pizza originated in Naples and the city is still known for its pizza. On this tour through the historic center, led by an art historian and pizza expert, you'll learn about the city's history and taste the typical fried snacks and visit top pizza makers. You'll also get a guided visit of an archaeological site under a church.
Flavors of Lucca
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Take a guided walk through the center of Lucca, a town in Tuscany surrounded by walls, to the Piazza dell'Anfiteatro, originally a Roman amphitheater. Along the way you'll taste buccellato, the typical sweet bread with dried fruits, visit a coffee bar and chocolate shop, and enjoy a glass of local wine or beer in the piazza.
Milan for Foodies: Tour and Taste
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This 3-hour walking tour is held in the Brera neighborhood of Milan, taking in several food shops, a local bar, and a top gelateria for a taste of gelato. You'll taste several traditional Milanese dishes including Mondeghili meatballs and try the bicicletta, a local specialty drink.
Savor Sorrento: Exploring Tastes and Culture
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Sorrento, on the Amalfi peninsula, is known for its lemons and limoncello liquor and you'll get an inside look at how it's made on this tour. Sample typical foods of Southern Italy with 13 food and drink tastings at 8 different locations while walking through the town.
Food, Art, and Wine in Bari
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Explore the picturesque old town of Bari, in southern Italy's Puglia region, stopping at several monuments and visiting an historic bakery to taste typical breads along with a glass of the region's wine.
Ham and Cheese: Parma for Foodies
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This tour takes place in the countryside around Parma and is a driving rather than walking tour. You'll visit a parmigiano cheese maker, prosciutto di Parma producer, Balsamic vinegar producer, and a winery where you'll have lunch. There's also a stop in Torrechiara to see the village and castle. The tour can be booked with or without transportation.
Gelato and Vino in Florence
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Gelato and wine are two of the things for which Italy is most famous. In this 45 minute tasting, you'll sample 2 Tuscan wines served with traditional appetizers at a wine bar followed by 3 flavors of gelato at a top gelateria. You'll also get an inside look at how gelato is made.
Another non-walking tour option is Wine and Chocolate in Florence, a tasting of chocolates and 3 wines at a historic wine shop.
Learn to Cook On Your Italian Vacation
Taking a cooking class is another great way to learn about the local foods and culture.