Venice

Day 1 | Wednesday 10 March
Arrive Venice
Venice is a city best approached from the water, and our first journey provides an immediate introduction to its distinctive geography. Arriving at Marco Polo Airport mid-afternoon, we transfer by private launch across the lagoon to our hotel, watching the mainland give way to islands, canals and campanili. After time to settle in, we take a relaxed orientation walk through the surrounding streets and campi, followed by an early, light welcome dinner at a nearby restaurant. Overnight Venice (D)

Day 2 | Thursday 11 March
The Lagoon
Before Venice rose to dominate the Adriatic, the lagoon was already home to communities whose settlements, churches and livelihoods shaped the city’s earliest development. This morning we travel by private boat through the northern lagoon to Torcello, once an important religious and commercial centre. On arrival we visit the Basilica of Santa Maria Assunta and its museum, where the monumental 12th-century Last Judgement forms part of one of the lagoon’s most remarkable medieval mosaic cycles. We then enjoy a relaxed lunch at Venissa, a Michelin-starred restaurant set within a vineyard on the nearby island of Mazzorbo. Afterwards, we continue by boat to Burano, where there is time to explore its canals, brightly painted houses and streets shaped by the island’s longstanding fishing and lacemaking traditions. Returning to Venice in the late afternoon, there is time to rest before an evening talk on Ravenna and the foundations of Venice provides context for our upcoming excursion. Overnight Venice (B, L)

Friday 12 March
The People of Venice
Venice was never an isolated republic. Its power grew from a network of communities extending across the Adriatic and eastern Mediterranean, many of whom settled in the city and contributed to its religious, artistic and intellectual life. We begin today with a private visit to the Biblioteca Marciana, whose collections of Greek, Latin and Venetian manuscripts reflect Venice’s role as a centre of scholarship, translation and cultural exchange. Housed in Jacopo Sansovino’s great Renaissance library, the collection provides a fitting introduction to the communities and connections explored throughout the day. We then continue to San Zaccaria to examine Giovanni Bellini’s luminous Sacra Conversazione, before visiting San Giorgio dei Greci, founded for Venice’s Greek Orthodox community. Nearby, the Scuola Dalmata di San Giorgio degli Schiavoni preserves Carpaccio’s celebrated narrative cycle in the setting commissioned by the city’s Dalmatian confraternity. After pausing outside San Giovanni in Bragora, we conclude at the Museo della Pietà, closely associated with Vivaldi and the musical traditions of the Ospedale della Pietà. The remainder of the afternoon is free to continue exploring Castello at your own pace. Overnight Venice (B)

Day 4 | Saturday 13 March
Ravenna’s Byzantine Legacy
To understand the visual language that would later define Venice, we look beyond the lagoon to Ravenna, the late antique city that served first as the capital of the Western Roman Empire and later as the principal Byzantine stronghold in Italy. Its churches and baptisteries preserve some of the finest mosaic programmes of the 5th and 6th centuries. Departing early, we travel by vaporetto and coach to Sant’Apollinare in Classe, where the vast apse mosaic introduces the symbolic language of early Byzantine art. After lunch nearby, we continue into Ravenna to meet our local guide. At Sant’Apollinare Nuovo, long processions of martyrs and virgins line the nave, alongside mosaics connected with the court of the Ostrogothic king Theodoric. We then visit the Neonian Baptistery, where the domed mosaic centres on the baptism of Christ, encircled by the twelve apostles. At San Vitale, the celebrated panels of Emperor Justinian and Empress Theodora present the political and religious authority of the Byzantine court, while the nearby Mausoleum of Galla Placidia is distinguished by its deep-blue vault scattered with golden stars. Following our visits, we return to Venice in the early evening and gather for a light dinner. Overnight Venice (B, L, D)

Day 5 | Sunday 14 March
The Image of the Republic
Venice’s rulers understood that power had to be seen as well as exercised. Through the architecture and decoration of its palaces, churches and public spaces, the republic fashioned an image of stability, piety and civic order that endured for centuries. We begin our morning with an exclusive out-of-hours visit to the Doge’s Palace, entering before the public to examine the chambers where the Great Council, Senate and magistracies governed the republic. Monumental works by Tintoretto, Veronese and their contemporaries transformed these rooms into a carefully constructed image of Venetian stability, power and divine favour. We then walk through Campo Santa Maria Formosa to Santi Giovanni e Paolo, the great Dominican church and burial place of many doges, where elaborate funerary monuments trace changing ideas of authority and commemoration. Outside, Verrocchio’s equestrian monument to Bartolomeo Colleoni dominates the campo. The afternoon is then free for individual exploration, with the option to visit the Museo Correr, whose collections trace the city’s political, artistic and social history. This evening, we return to St Mark’s for a private after-hours visit of Saint Mark’s Basilica, when the basilica’s gold-ground mosaics are illuminated exclusively for our group. Overnight Venice (B)

Day 6 | Monday 15 March
Merchants of Venice
Venice’s prosperity depended not only on overseas trade, but on the markets, neighbourhoods and communities that sustained daily life within the city. Today we begin at the Rialto markets, the commercial heart of Venice for centuries, where produce from the lagoon and mainland continues to shape the rhythms of the morning. From here, we travel by vaporetto to Cannaregio, one of Venice’s largest and most residential districts, extending across the northern edge of the city towards the lagoon and shaped by long canals, parish churches, workshops and quieter streets far removed from the ceremonial centre of San Marco. A guided visit here introduces the Venetian Ghetto, established in 1516, with its unusually tall residential buildings and historic synagogues. We then enjoy lunch together at Osteria dei Mori before visiting the Bottega del Tintoretto, a contemporary printing workshop that reflects Cannaregio’s continuing tradition of small-scale craftsmanship. Our final visit is to the Arzanà squero, offering insight into Venice’s long association with traditional boats and their construction. Later this evening, we gather for a talk on Venetian art, providing context for tomorrow’s exploration. Overnight Venice (B, L)

Day 7 | Tuesday 16 March
Venetian Devotion
Venice’s religious institutions and civic confraternities were major centres of artistic patronage, commissioning works that expressed devotion, civic identity and the ambitions of the republic’s leading families and institutions. The development of this distinctive visual culture can be traced at the Gallerie dell’Accademia, where we begin with masterpieces by Bellini, Giorgione, Titian, Tintoretto, Veronese and Carpaccio. After a break for lunch we then continue to the Frari, the vast Gothic church of the Franciscans, where Titian’s Assumption of the Virgin dominates the high altar and monumental tombs commemorate some of the republic’s most prominent figures. Nearby, the Scuola Grande di San Rocco contains the extraordinary cycle on which Tintoretto worked for more than two decades. Covering its walls and ceilings with scenes from the Old and New Testaments, the paintings form one of the most ambitious and unified decorative schemes of the 16th century. Returning to the hotel, we conclude the day with a talk introducing Padua’s artistic and intellectual traditions ahead of tomorrow’s excursion. Overnight Venice (B)

Day 8 | Wednesday 17 March
Padua
Closely connected to Venice yet shaped by its own traditions, Padua became one of northern Italy’s great centres of learning, pilgrimage and artistic innovation, influencing the culture of the wider Veneto through its university, churches and civic institutions. Travelling by vaporetto and train here this morning, we begin our visit at the Scrovegni Chapel, where Giotto’s frescoes recount the lives of the Virgin and Christ with a new emotional and spatial realism, culminating in the dramatic Last Judgement. We then continue to Piazza delle Erbe and the Palazzo della Ragione, the medieval civic heart of the city, whose vast upper hall is wrapped in an extraordinary astrological fresco cycle. After lunch together in Piazza delle Erbe, we continue to Palazzo Bo, the historic seat of the University of Padua, where our visit includes its celebrated 16th-century anatomical theatre. The afternoon continues at the Baptistery, where Giusto de’ Menabuoi’s 14th-century frescoes culminate in a vast vision of Paradise, before concluding our tour of Padua at the Basilica of Saint Anthony, the resting place of the city’s patron saint. We return to Venice by coach and water taxi, with the evening at leisure on arrival to our hotel. Overnight Venice (B, L)

Day 9 | Thursday 18 March
At leisure in Venice
Today is free to experience Venice at your own pace, allowing time to settle into the rhythms of local life, revisit a favourite place or explore another neighbourhood independently. Your tour leader is available to offer suggestions for museums, churches, walks or other visits. Overnight Venice (B)

Day 10 | Friday 19 March
Palladio and the Terraferma
Venice’s power extended well beyond the lagoon, particularly from the 16th century as patrician families invested in agricultural estates across the terraferma. Their country villas became a defining field for Andrea Palladio, whose measured use of classical proportion, symmetry and temple forms transformed domestic architecture and influenced building design across Europe and North America. Travelling by vaporetto and train to Vicenza this morning, we continue by coach to Villa Rotonda – Palladio’s celebrated villa, designed around a central domed hall with four temple-fronted porticoes opening to the surrounding landscape. After free time for lunch in Vicenza, we then visit the Teatro Olimpico, begun by Palladio and completed by Vincenzo Scamozzi, whose permanent perspective scenery creates the illusion of streets extending far beyond the stage. Our final stop is at Villa Barbaro, where Palladio’s architecture, Veronese’s frescoes and Alessandro Vittoria’s stuccowork form a remarkably unified ensemble. We return to Venice in the early evening. Overnight Venice (B)

Day 11 | Saturday 20 March
Venice in the Baroque Period | Performance
During the final century of the republic, Venice’s artistic and social life flourished within private gathering places, theatres and richly decorated palaces. We begin at Casino Venier, an intimate 18th-century ridotto where members of the patriciate met for conversation, gaming and entertainment away from public view. Its concealed entrance, ornate interiors and carefully arranged rooms offer insight into the rituals and pleasures of Venetian high society. We then continue by vaporetto to Ca’ Rezzonico, a grand palazzo on the Grand Canal dedicated to 18th-century Venice. Its furnished rooms, frescoed ceilings and works by Tiepolo, Longhi and Guardi evoke the domestic life, public display and theatrical spirit of the Baroque city. After time for an afternoon break, we reconvene for Janáček’s Jenůfa at the historic La Fenice Opera House. Dinner follows at Vino Vino – an historic osteria and wine bar beside the theatre. Overnight Venice (B, D)

Day 12 | Sunday 21 March
Modern Art in Venice
Venice’s role as an international centre for modern art grew from the founding of the Biennale in 1895, when contemporary works began to enter the city’s historic palaces, churches and waterfront spaces. That dialogue between old and new is especially visible at Santa Maria della Salute and Punta della Dogana, where a major Baroque church and a former customs house, now used for contemporary exhibitions, stand side by side at the entrance to the Grand Canal. Following our visit here this morning, we continue to the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in the Palazzo Venier dei Leoni, which became the American collector’s home after she presented her collection at the 1948 Venice Biennale. Set directly on the Grand Canal between the Accademia and Santa Maria della Salute, the palazzo’s low, unfinished facade opens onto a broad waterfront terrace with sweeping views across the canal, while its galleries bring together major works by Picasso, Kandinsky, Magritte and Pollock. From here, we continue to Ca’ Pesaro, a grand Baroque palazzo overlooking the Grand Canal in the Santa Croce district. Now Venice’s principal gallery of modern art, its collection was shaped by early Biennale acquisitions and includes works by Klimt, Chagall, Modigliani and the Italian Futurists. To conclude our day, we are welcomed into a private Venetian home for an informal introduction to local cuisine, followed by dinner. Overnight Venice (B, D)

Day 13 | Monday 22 March
Living Crafts of Venice
Venice’s artistic identity has long depended on the specialist workshops that produced prints, glass and other decorative arts for local patrons and international markets. Today we explore this living tradition through two very different forms of Venetian craftsmanship. We begin in Castello at the lithography studio of Alessandra D’Agnolo, where we learn about the tools and processes of traditional printmaking and how they continue within contemporary practice. From here, we travel by vaporetto to Murano, the centre of Venetian glassmaking since the 13th century. At Fornace Guarnieri, we visit a working furnace and gain insight into the skilled techniques involved in shaping molten glass. A break for lunch follows, with the remainder of the afternoon free to explore Murano and visit the Glass Museum. On our return to the hotel, we gather for a final talk on the city’s people, traditions and neighbourhood life. Overnight Venice (B)

Day 14 | Tuesday 23 March
San Lazzaro degli Armeni
Set just west of the Lido, San Lazzaro degli Armeni is a compact island with an almost geometric outline, its present form created as the Mekhitarist monks enlarged the original site fourfold. First occupied by Benedictine monks and later used as a leper colony, it was granted to Mekhitar of Sebaste and his Armenian community in 1717. They restored the church, established a monastery and transformed the island into a major centre of Armenian scholarship and publishing. Reaching San Lazzaro by vaporetto this morning, we explore its church, cloister, library, rare manuscripts and wide-ranging collections, while also considering Lord Byron’s period of Armenian study here in 1816. We then return to central Venice around midday, with the remainder of the afternoon free for lunch and individual exploration. This evening, we gather for our farewell dinner in a private room at Bistrot de Venise, featuring a historic degustation menu with matching wines. Overnight Venice (B, D)

Day 15 | Wednesday 24 March
Depart Venice
After a relaxed morning, we depart Venice today. A group transfer by private launch to Venice’s Marco Polo airport is available for those taking mid-afternoon flights home. (B)