Since I have yet to get to the actual trip report I wanted to do a short post about this tour. I had emailed Alessandro, based upon the recommendation of Rick Steves. He responded and when we left the US we were under the impression that we had a tour set up for a Wednesday. I did check emails almost daily and did get a solid confirmation from him, 6pm top of the Rialto on Wednesday (9/20). We were quite excited about this little Bacaro tour by the "suave" Alessandro (as Rick described him). On 9/20 we went to the bridge and did meet up with another couple and a single gal waiting for him. They too felt they had a solid reservation with him. As luck would have it we had our international phone along and I had his number. Since he was 20 minutes past the time he said I gave him a call and low and behold he wasn't coming. He said he didn't have 6 people so it was off. I told him we all had confirmations from him and he seemed confused by that. Needless to say we didn't get our little tour and we were all quite disapointed. He never did appologize via email for not showing up nor had he said it was canceled. I really need to post to Rick Steves, just haven't gotten to it. So if you decide to try the tour with him, remember, he isn't real reliable. Shirley

Wanted to get a more current (and accurate) review out there. My wife and I took this tour about two weeks ago and had a blast. First things first, we were at the Rialto 10 mins early and Alessandro was already there. He does these tours day and day out, so his reliability isn't an issue. Once the tour started, Alessandro led us and five other couples on a fantastic tour of the local bacaro. Each bar was , charming and had great tasting chichetti served with solid local wines. Alessandro was knowledgeable, easy going and entertaining, it was like hanging out with a group of old friends by the end of the evening. Well worth the €30 each we paid, a great tour especially when you get tired of hearing the same old spiels on normal outings. Alessandro was the real deal in a city where it is often hard to find authenticity. It was our fourth trip to Venice and he made it memorable we will definitely see him again on the next one!

Glad to hear you were able to hook up. Unfortunately our experience was not a good one. Clearly your group met what his minimum was. We did not know there was a minimum when we set it up, nor did the others waiting there with us. We felt (feel) that was up to him to let us know, not by not showing up but by at least contacting us via email. We loved Venice though, obviously if this was your 4th trip you have been smitten as well.

I think it's odd that a first-time poster decided to drag up a 6 year old post to give a good review to Alessandro.