Fun Private Florence Food Tour with a Local Food Expert Martina
Description
Enjoy a private food tour with your fun and knowledgeable host Martina. Your first food stop will an Italian bakery where you will taste savory or sweet baked goods. Next, explore the Sant’Ambrogio market. Here you will not only discover a variety of typical Italian produce but also get an in-depth understanding of the way locals buy, eat and cook food. You will make 5 stops and try 5-6 different types of food. Your food tastings will be accompanied by up to 2 glasses of wine. The food market in Sant’Ambrogio is open everyday from Monday to Saturday from early morning until 2pm. It is closed in the evenings and on Sundays. For travelers that book this food tour in the afternoons or on Sundays, Martina will have you try the same food and drinks but at different locations (not at the market). You might even get to try coccolo, small balls of dough fried in olive oil and stuffed with prosciutto ham and a creamy fresh cheese called stracchino.
Tour Options
Itinerary
This is where you will meet your host Martina at the start of the tour.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Infants are required to sit on an adult’s lap
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- The food market in Sant’Ambrogio is open everyday from Monday to Saturday from early morning until 2pm. It is closed in the evenings and on Sundays.
- For travelers that book this food tour in the afternoons or on Sundays, Martina will have you try the same food and drinks but at different locations (not at the market).
Reviews(9)
Martina is absolutely delightful, extremely knowledgeable, and we had the best time with her. We loved that the tour was in the Marcato Sant’Ambrogio, which was an authentic Florentine experience and less touristy than Marcato Centrale. Martina had great rapport with the market vendors, and the forno and trattoria owners, which made us feel extremely welcomed. Upon my request, we started with a stop at Sergio Pollini Lampredotto stand. While not for everyone, if you’re an adventurous eater, this is a must do! This is true Florence history in a sandwich and super delicious. From there we toured the market, bought some fresh produce, meats, cheeses, wine and figs and we ate at the market while having wonderful conversation with Martina. The next stop was a wonderful little trattoria where we tried two different types of freshly made pasta and tasted some excellent wine. We finished at a tasty gelato shop and then parted ways with a hug and an offer for Martina to call us when she comes to the US and we’ll give her a tour of one of the cities on her list!
We are so happy to hear how much you enjoyed your time with Martina. Her deep knowledge, warm personality, and wonderful connections with the market vendors and local spots always make the experience feel truly authentic. It sounds like your visit to Mercato Sant’Ambrogio, complete with fresh produce, meats, cheeses, wine, pasta, and gelato, gave you such a memorable taste of Florence. We love that you even began the day with a classic lampredotto sandwich, what a perfect way to dive into local tradition. Thank you for sharing your thoughtful feedback and kind words about Martina. She will be delighted to know your time together was such a highlight.
Our tour guide, Martina, was the perfect mix of knowledge and great personality! Also, her selections of the local market and bistros were perfect. We would highly recommend Martina and the tour.
By far the best thing we did in Italy! Learning about history and culture through food with Linda was an incredible experience. She is knowledgeable, fun, generous, and brilliant. Linda took me, my husband and my two adult children through the Florence market. We ate, we learned, we drank, and we laughed. We didn’t want it to end. Will not travel to Italy again without another experience with Linda. Cannot recommend highly enough!
Martina was excellent! All Our food stops and the central market were so good. Her local knowledge made the tour that much better.
This didn’t involve the Duomo or the Baptistry or any other major tourist attractions (obviously if you read the description) BUT this was probably one of our favorite parts of the trip to Florence, and even Italy. We tried small tastes of multiple dishes from different small local restaurants and markets. Every local knew our guide (Martina) and it was amazing to live the real daily Florentine/Italian experience through her. And speaking of Martina, she was amazing! I swear we found a lost member of our family 🙂 Overall an amazing morning-early afternoon and even 3 hours isn’t enough since you won’t want it to end!
Guilia was incredible. She communicated with us before the tour, and the meeting place was very clear. We loved every stop, every moment of the tour. After we were done, Guilia sent us a list of all of the stops, and we went back to the restaurant and the gelato shop the next day! Arrive hungry…it’s a lot of food, but so worth it! And Guilia even helped us with our Italian lessons! Highly recommended.
Guila was fantastic. She has such great knowledge of food, the local area as well as the history and a wonderful sense of humor. She made us feel at ease and although we tried everything she put before us we had our favorite and least favorite foods. Thanks Guila for a wonderful time out.
Martina was a fantastic guide through the market in Florence. We enjoyed her perspective on food and loved eating all of the food she got for us. She made it to easy to navigate the market and restaurants to try all the food and understand how it relates to Florence and it’s culture. Would 100% recommend for any traveler wanting to know more about Florence food and get a local perspective from a great person.
Martina was fabulous! She had a vibrant personality and a real love for the Florentine culture. She was extremely knowledgeable and kept the tour light and fun while treating us to her favorite spots in Florence. 10/10 would recommend taking a tour with Martina!
