COFFEE AND CHOCOLATE DELIGHTS IN VENICE
With “Coffee and Chocolate delights” you will experience a gourmet side of historical Venice.
Indulge in coffee and chocolate from the finest boutiques that have spoilt generations of Venetians and international celebrities, for more than three hundred years.
Our tour begins in St. Mark Square, also known for the most elegant 18th cent. Coffee houses in the city, Caffè Florian, Caffè Lavena, and Caffè Quadri, used Murano glass cups for hot chocolate.
Your expert guide will introduce you to the history of these overseas raw fruits imported from Mexico and Ethiopia in the 17th cent.
The fancy Cafés in St.Mark Square share lots of features: perfect location, unique decoration, and the profound social impact on the city.
Florian glorious tradition was not over at the fall of the Venice Republic. It became a meeting point for patriots in the Resurgence period, soon before the Unification of Italy.
The tour “Coffee and Chocolate delights” continues with a distinguished chocolate store in Castello district renowned for its quality and the wide variety of cocoa delights.
With the help of the master chocolatier, you will enjoy a true cocoa tasting, and sample premium chocolate varieties of distinct smoothness, characteristic taste, and innovative flair. Learn what a ‘praline’ or a ‘truffle‘ is, how someone happened to combine new ingredients and create exquisite ‘dragées’ and gianduia!
Like chocolate, coffee seemed exotic, even magical,
HIGHLIGHTS
- Piazza San Marco
- Chocolate store at San Lio
- Coffee House at the Rialto
MORE ABOUT
THIS TOUR
COFFEE AND CHOCOLATE DELIGHTS
Venice became well known throughout the world for its flourishing trade center which connected the Western world with the East and Northern Africa, where the Mamluks lived.
Since the 9th cent. local merchants had already been trading with them, who started to import a black stimulating drink from Yemen in early 1500s, while the beans were grown in Ethiopia.
From Egypt, coffee drinking spread to the Ottoman Empire, and new “kahve houses” were open in Aleppo, Damascus, Baghdad, and Istanbul in 1554.
Venice could not miss this chance and in the early 17th cent. powerful merchants introduced coffee to the city, charging them heavily for the beverage, which caused some troubles with the Papacy too!
DRESS CODE AND ADVICE
- No dress code required.
COST
- This tour lasts three hours and costs 295 euros up to six people (not per person), only private parties.
- Chocolate and coffee tasting per person: 37 euros