Bologna Private Food Tour With A Local: Pasta, Markets & Gelato

Great food, a fun way to explore Bologna, and Andrea was an excellent guide! Definitely recommend this tour.

Andrea was an incredibly personable tour guide. His in depth knowledge of the food in Bologna benefitted our tummies greatly. Throughout the day we nibbled on bread and cured meats, wine to wash it down. Tasted glorious balsamic at Gusti and then finished with traditional rice cakes and shortbread pasta cakes (this is not the correct name). We hardly had room for gelato but managed to rally and eat two sweet scoops at all. Don't sleep on booking this tour. You'll learn a ton, eat a lot and walk most of it off as you wander the city!

This was such a great experience! I learned about the origins of the food and the regions that they come from. I loved Antonia, she was a great host. Very flexible with my schedule.

The walking tour was great. Learned a lot about the history of Bologna and the present as well. Andrea was informative, funny and introduced us to some cured meats that we had not tried before. A nice way to spend the morning.

Nicola was a great guide and showed us true Bologna food gems that we would not have found on our own.

Our host, Antonia, was exceptional. She made our afternoon in Bologna a wonderful adventure. We sampled a variety of traditional dishes native to Bologna and received a great orientation to the food culture and an introduction to the history of the region. We highly recommend for a new visitor to the region. Thanks for a wonderful afternoon!!!

Claudio was absolutely outstanding! From the moment we met him in Bologna, he was kind, attentive, and clearly passionate about creating a memorable experience. He thoughtfully tailored our time together to match our interests, weaving in fascinating historical details and vibrant touches of local culture. The food and wine selections were nothing short of incredible—each stop felt like a hidden gem. Claudio’s knowledge and warm personality made this experience truly special. Highly recommend!!

Be ready to eat and learn the history of Bologna! Andrea was great as a guide and his love of Bologna shined through.

An absolutely incredible tour given by Gabriele! Walking around the city we got to experience so much of Bologna’s history. Gabriele was very kind and extremely knowledgeable. We had many laughs and amazing food. His recommendation for our dinner later was absolutely perfect and delicious. We couldn’t ask for a better way to be introduced to this lovely city. 10/10

It was excellent. Our guide Gabriele was incredible, very knowledgeable. He also told us a lot about Bologna.

We had a wonderful tour of Bologna with Nicola in mid-May 2024. Nicola is a PhD student studying history, and my husband and I were history majors, so this was a great match for us. We had a wonderful tour of the major sights in Bologna's main square, as well as the amazing shields and crests at the Archiginnasio Library. The tour was less food-focused as it was on sights until the last part of the tour, which was fine with us; we had Bolognese street food with Nicola of Mortadella panini as well as Tigelle - with a special local delicacy thrown in, pig lard mixed with parm cheese - not an every day eat but it was super interesting and we were happy to try it. Nicola has an extensive list of Gelateria that he loves and we went to one that had "whipped cream" gelato - it was unbelievable. If you love history and want some local street food flavor thrown in, this is the tour for you. Grazie, Nicola!

Would have liked a day filled with popping in and out of markets tasting many foods unique to Bologna. As foodies ourselves, we could have done what the guide did without her. Sara was a very nice person who was very knowledgeable about the history and sights, but we were expecting and exciting food experience, not just ordering food and eating in the local market, which is what we did.

Elisa was a great guide who made learning about Bologna very enjoyable. We had a lovely gelato and then a meal of ragu and bruchetta, cheeses, meats, spreads and breads. Topped this off with an aperol spritz. A great tour.

Antonia made this such a special experience! Her knowledge of the city and its history added that special element to the incredible food!

Lorenza was an amazing guide! We saw the city and sampled some amazing food. Would highly recommend to anyone.

Everything we ate was delicious and our guide, Daniele, was so knowledgeable and kind. We ate and learned a ton!

We had a beautiful morning with Mirko on this tour! Not only did we get to try some amazing food (& wine!) typical to Bologna, we got to see & learn a LOT about the history of the city in a short amount of time. Plus, Mirko was able to customize the tour for us, based on us not having as much time as we should have had for the tour - and we had such great conversation with him! I absolutely recommend this tour - even with careful planning we would have missed a LOT about the city if we tried to do it ourselves. Enjoy!

If I could I’d rate Marina Nasi a “15”. She is great! She took the time to listen to what we were interested in learning. Then she took us to the restaurant district and we walked and talked about the unique foods in Bologna. It was totally interesting and worth it. She made recommendations for lunch that allowed us to taste a range of delicious foods. Yum. This tour introduced us to the uniqueness of Bologna. We felt welcomed and relaxed.

entire experience was memorable, including a selection of shoppes and experiences only known to locals.

This was an absolutely wonderful choice. Mirko was simply fantastic - incredibly knowledgeable, engaging and hilarious. He went above and beyond to ensure that I had a special experience and he absolutely delivered. The city itself is stunning and packed with incredible history. The food is exquisite. I’m so happy I did this tour.

Miana was our guide/friend for the tour. She is very knowledgeable about the history of Bologna. And very passionate about sharing. She took us to several places to have wine and food. We had street food and a sit down pasta dinner. Everything was typical Bologna food. Even went to a Balsamic store to taste (and purchased) Modena balsamic vinegar. I would highly recommend this tour.

Mirko was an excellent guide! It was apparent that he loved his city of Bologna. We had a very informed tour of the center of Bologna with key insight to some of the secrets of the community. Mirko was knowledgeable, accommodating and insightful. He was also very patient. Highly recommend the tour and ask for Mirko

Well delivered and presented by a knowledgeable guide. Good food. Great start to our Bologna break. Now we can explore with confidence.

We really enjoyed the food tour of Bologna. Geet showed us the historical hight lights in between food stops. We really enjoyed the various dishes we tried. The highlights were the deli meat and cheese tasting and gelato! Ready to go back to the deli and buy one of everything.

Took the ultimate food experience with Manuel early December. This was such a great experience! Could not have asked for a better guide. Manuel was so fun and knowledgeable. He took us to eat amazing food and we spent the day just soaking up all of the great drinks, food, and sights the city has to offer. He was super open to whatever we were interested in seeing/eating. If you want someone to show you some hidden gems this is the tour for you. Highly recommend this tour and guide!

We spent 3 hours walking around Bologna tasting all the incredible foods, and ended with great ideas of what food and wine to buy for ourselves the following few days, and where! Claudia was a perfect host, she mixed insights about the city's history and monuments with insider's tips on where to go for fresh pasta before the crowds get there, a secret take-away that serves super tasty tortellini... she was attentive to us so that our time together was perfectly tailored to what we wanted to try, and to show us new parts of the city. We felt like we got a lot out of our experience.

Gabriele met us outside our accommodation and we started our food and wine tour around central Bologna. Gabriele asked us what we liked for food and wine, then tailored our tour to suit. Gabriele took us to small boutique places that are not on the tourist trail. The food and wine that he showed us was outstanding. We went back to the places we visited after our tour to enjoy more of the wonderful food and wine Bologna has to offer. We also took advantage of Gabriele's restaurant knowledge and booked a lovely restaurant for dinner one night while here in Bologna. Thank you Gabriele for making our tour so personal and friendly. Gabriele is a lovely young man. Tamra and Mark.

Wonderful and funny guide (Andrea) who was able to engage our group, show us the market and help to explain Bologna's food culture. The tour was customizable to the desires of our group!

Our Guide Benedetta was the ultimate host, she showed us many fine aspects of the wonderful food in Bologna! Benedetta also described the area and showed us the highlights of the City. We all discussed our recent trip and this was a highlight of our 10 days in Italy. Thank you Benedetta and Cityunscripted!!

We had a great time touring such a beautiful city. Sofia was engaging and enthusiastic. She connected with us and we had fun going around trying the perfect combination of expected and unexpected.

I took this tour with my little brother (we are 29 & 25). Elisabeth was our tour guide. She was extremely friendly and made us feel comfortable immediately. She immediately addressed any dietary or food restrictions and we were on our way. The walking was not overwhelming but I do suggest wearing comfortable shoes. First we had typical breakfast piadina which was flat bread sandwiches consisting of varying fillings - some with prosciutto & cheese, some cheese & spread artichoke, etc. They were delicious! We did stop for the most famous pizza place, but coming from New Jersey (where we have the best pizza), we were not too impressed. Next, we stopped at a very busy restaurant for their famous lasagna. We have small stomachs, so we decided to split 1 piece between 3 people - and trust me that was enough!! It was a huge portion, but the best I ever tasted. It was so soft and cheesy. We then stopped for gelato at Elisabeth's favorite gelateria - where she told us a little tip not to buy gelato from the places that uncover their gelato because it is fake. The real gelato melts quickly and therefore is covered - and she was right. it was the best gelato ever! Thank you Elisabeth for a wonderful time and making us feel comfortable, it was great getting to know you!

Francesca was warm and friendly. Very knowledgeable about the town and it’s history. Took us to fabulous places to eat. We would recommend this tour as it gave a good insight to the city as a first time visitor.

I decided to take two business friends on this tour instead of having a traditional dinner and we had a wonderful time. I strongly recommend this to anyone who is going to Bologna. Our host Benedetta was very knowledgeable and did a great job education us on the culinary delights of the local area.

We spent a fantastic afternoon with Benedetta exploring Bologna and trying the amazing food of the city. We truly enjoyed being able to spend the time with someone who loves the city and loves food. We never would have learned so much if we were on our own! She was so gracious and took care of everything we needed, gave lovely insight into what life in the city is like, and even gave us an excellent recommendation for a dinner spot. I highly recommend the tour! Thank you, Benedetta, for a lovely day!

Great afternoon in Bologna. We really enjoyed the food, and loved learning more about the history of the city!

Amazing hospitality and a great guide! Antonia was an excellent guide, from showing us around the city of Bologna to even making sure I had a traditional Bologna birthday cake, Antonia was so friendly and helpful. If you are going to Bologna definitely book her as she made us feel at home and we had a fabulous day! Thanks again for making our holiday excellent! :)