North End Market Tour

I would not classify this as a traditional tour, but rather, Michelle Topor's passionate and insightful views on the North End. Michelle makes you feel like a neighbor who just moved into the neighborhood. She is like the neighborhood expert who is willing to share with you the hidden gems in the North End. That's a good thing because she happens to be a good cook who knows what she is talking about. As a added bonus, she gives you culinary tips as well the history of the neighborhood during the tour. I highly recommend this tour to anyone who enjoys "tasting" the local culture.

The tour was so wonderful that my friend told Michelle the tour was like a good book - you don't want it to end. The history of the North End was fascinating and the shops we visited with her critique was a real learing experience.We highly recommend it to everyone. We fixed an authentic Italian five course meal two days after This is the second time I took the tour and learned new things this time around.

Michele's enthusiasm and knowledge of the North End made the tour a great experience for my husband, our friends and myself. We are all still talking about how much we enjoyed Michele's style and how much we learned. Lucky for our friends that they live in Boston and can visit all Michele's favorite places at will. Living in Oregon, we will settle for mail order and savoring the memory of the tour, tastes, and people.

I expected a fun time, but Michele is so informative about the Italian history in Boston and in Italy that it was an absolute fantastic time. I learned much about shopping for authentic ingredients and fabulous restaurants to try. Can't wait to go back on vacation and spend more time in Boston's North End. Trying to get a group together to go on one of Michele's Italy tours now!

I can say this was the best tour I have taken. Michele is a wealth of knowledge and very organized. Everything she says flows from one topic to the next. I lived in Italy 7 years so I can attest that everything she says is very true, with no exaggeration or twists. Her Italian pronunciation is perfect and her enthusiasm for Italian food and culture is contagious!

The tour was packed with tons of information about Italy, Italian food and cooking, and the North End of Boston. We came away with our heads brimming and our feet tired, but both of us agreed that it was one of the most enjoyable afternoons we have had (even despite the rain). We are already planning our next trip back in order to further explore and enjoy all that the North End has to offer.

Michele Topor is fun, engaging, and knows not only about all Italian cuisine, but also commands an historical perspective of the North End. The toured shops are wonderful and the delicious morsels along the way are abundant. Fun, jam packed with helpful shopping tips. I will be going again!

Our guide was a perfect match to the tour- a fun atmosphere and lots of bits of info about the neighborhood and a good rapport with the shopkeepers had us going back on our own to further explore that unique area. Thanks for the positvely great tour. Mind you even though it was raining it was still a ball.

Great time. We love Italy and this tour was a wonderful review of everything Italian in the food category. We learned a lot about regional variations that we were not aware of even after several trips to Italy. I am not sure that we have a source in the Washington, DC area where we can get all those special things that they showed us but we are sure going to look. Hand-outs were provided to help you keep it all straight. I recommed it highly.

The tour guide was extremely knowledgeable and I learned a lot of Italian food and eating in general. I was disappointed in how few samples we received and the tiny size of them when we received them. On the Greenwich Village tour we did in New York, the price was less, we learned a lot of history and... the food samples were plentiful., ie... a rice ball for each person., multiple samplings of different breads and cheeses, olives etc... Pieces of candy, a piece of pizza, each of us got our own cannolli freshly filled., and a falafal sandwich. On this tour Michelle took 5 cookies for 13 people and cut them up in little pieces. At many of the stops there was no sample at all. This was a food and walking tour, but it was very slim on the food.