Venice has been known as the "Queen of the Adriatic", "City of Masks", "The Floating City", and "City of Canals". Luigi Barzini, writing in The New York Times, described it as "undoubtedly the most beautiful city built by man". Venice has also been described by the Times Online as being one of Europe's most romantic cities. Founded in the 5th century, the city stretches across 118 small islands in the marshy Venetian Lagoon along the Adriatic. In 1987 Venice and its Lagoon was inscribed as an UNESCO Heritage site. Settle in to your cabin and attend a welcome dinner as the ship sets sail.
Optional Activities:
Venice – Romantic Gondola Evening Serenade: Since Venice began there have always been gondoliers. Great skill is required to steer a boat through the narrow canals of Venice. Each gondola is 36 feet long, 4 feet wide, and weighs 1,100 pounds. A gondolier serves a 10-year apprenticeship under a padrone before getting his own permit. A licensee must be native-born, and, since new licenses are not issued, must wait until a colleague gives up a license before getting his own. Their union offers free courses in foreign languages, art history, and the history of Venice, but the gondoliers are not given singing lessons - every Italian seems to have a natural talent for song. Join this romantic tour through the canals of Venice. Riding four per gondola, traverse the smaller, less trafficked canals, enjoying the soft lights and balconied waterfront homes, and be serenaded as you glide along.
Duration: 2.5 hours
Venice – The Grand Canal & Guggenheim Museum: Travel by small motor launch from your yacht past Tronchetto Island before entering the renowned Grand Canal at Piazzale Roma. Discover that there is nowhere on earth like Venice. An English-speaking guide provides enriching insight into the great history and beauty of the city's main water thoroughfare as you slowly cruise along the many historical buildings. The list of fascinating palaces, bridges, and churches along this fabled route is lengthy. Among them is Palazzo Venier dei Leoni, now the Peggy Guggenheim Museum. Here stop for an approximate 1.5-hour guided walk of the museum's priceless collection of modern art, noted as the finest of its kind in Italy. After this visit, continue your sightseeing by private motor launch and return to the pier via Canale della Giudecca.
Duration: 3 hours
Venice – Venetian Palaces: Grand structures emerge from busy canals - imposing, eccentric, and mysterious - the palaces of Venice! The history of great and powerful families and the opulence that characterized their lifestyles remain alive within their walls. Take this opportunity to visit two of the finest palaces in Venice and admire their peculiar architecture and lavish interiors. Traversing the canals by private motor launch, head first to Piazzo Pisani Moretta, one of the finest examples of late Gothic architecture. Venice's major artists, including Piazzetta and Tiepolo, decorated the interior. It was here in the great reception hall celebrated for its Murano mirrors and chandeliers that Paolo Veronese did his "Family of Darius". Palazzo Querini-Stampalia is of Renaissance construction. The residence of the Querini family, it was home to the Patriarch of Venice. Today it houses an outstanding library and museum. More than 400 paintings and works of art attest to the artistic passion of the Venetians. Various rooms still have original 18th-century furnishings. At the end of your visit, return to the yacht via small motor launch.
Duration: 3.5 hours