Venice is not just any city. The streets are made of water, there’s not a right angle to be found, and the system of convoluted alleyways can be difficult to navigate even for a local. That’s why having a personal, practical, on-site introduction can make all the difference in how enjoyable the rest of your stay can be.

Your WELCOME INTRODUCTION begins with an e-mail containing detailed arrival instructions according to your lodging and your means: air, train, or car. We’ll track your actual arrival and arrange to meet you shortly thereafter. Instead of wandering about, though, we’ll choose the perfect spot in your specific neighborhood (likely a nearby cafe) to sit, chat, and orient you to the city.

We’ll dot your map with locations for any activities you already have scheduled, make suggestions for things to keep an eye out for as you wander. We’ll have eating tips of all types, and make reservations if you’d like (definitely for your first night). We’ll include a complete explanation of the vaporetto and traghetto and how best to take advantage of them. We’ll tell you of any last minute goings-on, answer any specific questions, and include insider recommendations – all according to you personal interests and mode of travel.

MEETING INCLUDES:

• a highlighted city map
• transport system explanation and orientation, including nearest vaporetto stops
• vaporetto explanation with exclusive Venice Vaporetto Guide & cheat sheet
• the current Venice guide and calendar from the TI, with hours, openings, and current events
• dinner recommendations and reservations
• suggestions for how best to organize your time according to your interests and itinerary
• walk and orientation of immediate neighborhood

2-hour MEETING & WALK includes the intro meeting and neighborhood walk, plus a more thorough introductory walk, where we’ll point out elements that will serve you throughout the rest of your stay. We include a vaporetto & traghetto ride, coordinated city-wide explanations between maps and principal thoroughfares, shortcuts, navigation tips along orientation keys and landmarks, ways to get un-lost, along with shopping tips, notable enoteche, eateries, favorite gelato bars, and more.

INCLUDES: One-hour meeting; or one hour meeting plus one hour neighborhood orientation.

COST:
2 pp:       €55 one-hour meeting; €100 two-hour meeting and walk.
4 pp:       €65 one-hour meeting; €120 two-hour meeting and walk.
6 pp:       €80 one-hour meeting; €140 two-hour meeting and walk.

It’s late afternoon. You’ve had an exciting day, exploring and absorbing the city, and you’re ready to relax and recount your experiences with your companions over a nice glass of vino. You ease into an enoteca and review the list scrawled on the chalkboard.

Vernaccia Nera? Cesanese? Greco di Tufo? Schiop…schioppe…? You turn to the barista and sheepishly order red wine; they, sensing your anxiety, suggest a Chianti, knowing this is something you might recognize. *Whew* Crisis averted.

It doesn’t have to be this way. You’ve come too far to drink the very same wines you’d find back home – especially when that means you’ll be missing out on some of the best and most exciting Italy has to offer, many of which never leave the region, let alone the country.

Lessons of the Vine is a different sort of wine tasting: informative and unpretentious, it’s designed to introduce you to the regions, native varieties, and terriors that combine to produce some of the most delightful and interesting wines in Italy. The focus is on distinctive wines from small producers, chosen specifically for their quality and diversity. As you taste, you’ll also learn how to choose the best Italian wines both as you travel, and once you’re back home.

In fact, after experiencing Lessons of the Vine, you’ll be the one recommending Greco di Tufo…we guarantee it!

INCLUDES:

• Tasting of 5 wines, chosen according to season and theme.
• Lively, informative explanations by a native English speaker and professional sommelier, accompanied by materials for remembering the wines you experienced during the tasting
• Samples of typical antipasti to complete the event, chosen to enjoy with  your favorite wine from the tasting
• 5:00 – 6:30 p.m. (other times possible on request)

COST:

• 2 – 3pp    €55 per person
• 4 – 6pp    €45 per person

Larger groups on request.

BOATS AND A ROWING STYLE UNIQUE IN ALL THE WORLD

Since the city’s inception, Venetians have been rowing flat-bottomed, keelless boats designed specifically to navigate shallow waters of the lagoon. The famous gondola is the most evolved version, but it’s easy to spot all sorts of private rowers threading the canals and easing under bridges.

Only since the 1960s has the private motor boat become the principal mode of transport: prior to that, every family had its own rowboat (much like they’d have a car today). Since then, little by little, the all-wooden, hand-crafted boats — along with centuries, eons of traditions, have begun to slowly sink below the surface of the blue lagoon.

ARZANÀ: CURATORS OF VENICE’S NAUTICAL TRADITION

Touch an original, hand-carved felze (gondola cover), learn of the curious implements used to construct the boats, admire their collections of original cotton fishing nets, oars, forcole, and a unique gondola al fresco from 1920, and the floating collection of original wooden batele boats, all meticulously conserved in one of the most famous squeri (boat yards) in Venice.

We’ll even take a ride in a original, traditional batela, weather permitting.

INCLUDES: One-hour tour of the historic,, ex-squero Casal; short canal tour in an authentic, traditional batela boat, weather permitting.

COST:
2-4 pp:    €60
6 pp:       €80

Rates are discounted if we’re unable to take the boat ride.

How would you like to enjoy a privately prepared meal in a contemporary Venetian home? Would you prefer that meal prepared in the apartment where you’re staying? Having friends in during your stay and looking for a catering services? How about combining the meal while practicing your Italian? These creative, personable professionals are here for you.

So much of Venice’s popularity rests on its past laurels, but these two enterprising women have divined to take the city’s most treasured gastronomic and social elements to have you experience them in a contemporary and most delectable way.

La Mela (the Apple) offers three menus of primi, secondi and desserts that change with the season, and range from bio-natural to Venetian to tipically Italian in nature, all created with the freshest ingredients with the utmost skill and care. You can enjoy them in Manu’s luminous, contemporary mansarda (attic) home: a stone’s throw from the Teatro Fenice, with the San Marco Campanile peering in the window. Or, if you’d prefer, enjoy your repast and their company in your own apartment: they will bring the meal to you. Socialize with your hosts in Italian if you’d like to practice, or in your native English.

As an alternative, you might simply choose to meet for an apertivo and enjoy chat at a traditional cafe.

With each meal, you’ll receive an apple as an appropriate memento.

La Mela is available to reserve for lunch, apertivo, or dinner, any day of the week. Just write with your preferences and reserve your private Venetian meal, as you like it.

PRICES START from €35 per person and will depend on meal requirements. Meals include wine. Please note any allergies or other dietary preferences with your request.

Buon appetito!