Tours Programme

14.30-17.00
price per person: € 39,00

This tour is an introduction to Venice, and includes a visit of St. Mark's Square and the Doge's Palace (external visit only). Seat of Venice's political and legal institutions, this square has been the heart of Venetian life since the foundation of the Republic. Napoleon defined it as ‘the most elegant drawing room in Europe' and it is the only one to be known as ‘piazza'.

Relive Venice's tumultuous early period when doges were blinded or overthrown in an attempt to gain control of a commercially rich Byzantine province and witness the full flowering of the mercantile aristocracy that once ruled the world's wealthiest trading nation and mightiest sea power.

The golden St. Mark's Cathedral will be visited where you can admire some of its most precious treasures. Thereafter you will experience an unforgettable ride through the Grand Canal of Venice, which is flanked by the most sumptuous residences of this unique city. The play of light on the water surface will add an incomparable charm to the last part of the tour.

08.30-17.00
included in the partner's fee

Sailing on the northern part of the Lagoon of Venice, you will visit three of the most charming and romantic islands around Venice.

Murano, with the chance to visit a glass blowing factory where you can admire a glass master's demonstration.

Burano, which is probably the most unique of the three, with its multicoloured houses. It is famous for its lace school, where the art of making lace is still tought by the last artisans.

Torcello: the wild and green island which used to be the most ancient village of Venice. You will visit the magnificent Byzantine Cathedral with its beautiful mosaics, built in 639.

Lunch included.

09.00-11.30
optional tour
price per person: € 33,00

The Galleria dell'Accademia is one of the world's great museums and absolutely a must during your visit of Venice. It is situated in three former religious buildings, the ancient site of the Scuola of Charity in the Dorsoduro district. The basis of the collection was the Accademia di Belle Arti, founded in 1750 by the painter Giovanni Battista Piazzetta. In 1807 Napoleon moved the academy to the present premises.

The museum houses the largest collection of Venetian art in existence and includes work by Giorgione, Bellini, Carpaccio, Titan, Tintoretto, Veronese, Tiepolo and many other artists. Spanning five centuries, the collection provides a complete spectrum of the Venetian school, from the medieval Byzantine period through the Renaissance to the Baroque and Rococo.

09.00-11.30
optional tour
price per person: € 33,00

The huge, plain Gothic church - Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari - is located in district San Polo. The first church was built by Franciscan friars in 1250-1338, but was replaced by a larger building which was completed by the mid 15^th century. The interior is striking for its size and the quality of its works of art. These include masterpieces by Titian and Giovanni Bellini, a statue by Donatello and a number of imposing monuments to famous Venetians.

After having visited the Frari Church, the tour continues to the San Rocco campo, just around the corner, where the much celebrated Scuola Grande di San Rocco is located. Founded in honour of St. Roch (San Rocco), the Scuola was set up as a charitable institution for the sick. Construction began in 1515 and was completed in 1549, financed largely by donations from Venetians who believed that San Rocco - patron saint of contagious diseases - would save them from the plague. In 1564 Tintoretti was commissioned to decorate the walls and the ceilings of the Scuola.

10.00-12.30
optional tour
price per person: € 33,00

In 1516 it was decreed that all Jews in Venice be confined to an islet of Cannaregio. The quarter was cut off by wide canals and the watergates guarded by Christians. The area was named ‘Ghetto' (geto in Venetian) after a foundry that formerly occupied the site. The Venetian Republic segregated its Jews to placate the Roman Catholic Church which had already forced the expulsion of Jews from much of Western Europe. By day, Jews were allowed to leave the Ghetto but they had to wear identifying badges. Gates were locked at nightfall.

The Ghetto was a crowded place that grew as Jews and ‘conversos' (Jews who nominally had converted to Catholicism) came to Venice from other European countries. The only trades they could pursue were in textiles, money-lending and medicine. By the mid 1600's the Jews controlled much of Venice's foreign trade and they played important roles in the daily business.

The increasing number of Jews forced the Ghetto to expand. Buildings rose vertically (some as high as 6 stores, an unprecedented height for Venice) and spread into the Ghetto Vecchio (1541) and the neighbouring Ghetto Novissimo (1633). By the mid 17^th century over 5000 Jews lived in Venice. Of the 500 Jews residing in Venice today, only about 30 still live in the Ghetto. The quarter has, however, not lost its ethnic character: there are several Jewish shops, a Jewish bakery, a Jewish library and two synagogues (Scuola Grande Spagnola and Scuola Levantina) were religious ceremonies are being held.

09.00-11.30
optional tour
price per person: € 30,00

The first site to visit is the naval museum: in the ancient granaries of the Republic of Venice you can admire the original models of the ships that were used in the lagoon and on sea by Venetian merchants and military fleets. You will also be able to see several signs of the once powerful Arsenal, the former naval shipyard of Venice, at its height in the 16^th century the greatest in the world, and you will learn about the naval battles in which the Venetian forces were involved.

The tour proceeds along the fondamenta of the Arsenal to the church and school of San Martino and it will end with a visit to the Scuola of San Giorgio degli Schiavoni, a historical and artistic sign of the presence of the important Dalmatian community in Venice. From the earliest days of the Republic, Venice forged trade links with the coastal region of Schiavonia (Dalmatia) and many of the Schiavoni came to live in Venice. Within this surprisingly simple Scuola, established in 1451, are some of the finest paintings by Vittore Carpaccio, including St. George's slaying of the Dragon.

09.00-11.30
optional tour
price per person: € 30,00

Once upon a time Ca'd'Oro (or House of Gold) was considered one of the most sumptuous buildings of Venice because of its beautifully coloured façade, the finest example of Venetian Gothic architecture. This once gloriously embellished palazzo, the building of which was commissioned in 1420, suffered many changes of fortune and there is now little inside to remind you that this was once a 15^th century palace. After several restorations by a succession of owners, the building was rescued by Baron Franchetti, a patron of arts, who restored it to its former glory and bequeathed it to the state in 1915. A further restoration programme was put into action and completed in the 1970's. Since 1984 the Ca'd'Oro houses the Giorgio Franchetti Collection which includes masterpieces by Mantegna, Diana and Carpaccio, and many paintings of the Flemish school. The courtyard contains the well by Bartolomeo Da Bon, a masterpiece of 1427, made with red marble from Verona.