Day 1: Venice (embark)
Arrive at Venice Marco Polo Airport where you will be transferred to the ship. (D)
Day 2: Venice
Featured Excursions: Walking tour of historic Venice and Grand Canal cruise
Venice, founded in the sixth century, rose up on 118 islands in a lagoon of the Adriatic Sea. It became a great political power that controlled all European trade with the East throughout the Middle Ages, and its citizens lavished their wealth on their home town. You’ll stand in Piazza San Marco, perhaps the most famous plaza in Italy, where every view has been re-created by painters through the ages, and be awed by 11th-century San Mark’s Basilica, adorned inside and out with treasures Venetian traders brought back from their voyages. The Palazzo Ducale, the Doge’s Palace, reflects the wealth and the security of Venice’s rulers—it contained both the doge’s private quarters and the council chambers where the elite 1,000 met to make major political decisions. It is full of artistic treasures, including Tintoretto’s wall-sized Paradise. The exquisite Bridge of Sighs connects the palace with the prisons—which may be how it got its name. See the city as voyagers have always seen it, from the water, as you cruise along the Grand Canal, lined with palaces that reflect the history of the city—Byzantine, Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque—and spanned by famous bridges. Conclude your first day in Venice with a feast for the senses at the Captain’s Welcome Gala. (B, L, Captain’s Welcome Gala)
Day 3: Venice (Padova)
Featured Excursions: Guided tour of historic center, Scrovegni Chapel, and open market
You’ll board your motor coach for Padova, home to Italy’s second oldest university. The 13th and 14th centuries were glory days for Padova. It became a great center of learning when its university was founded in 1222 (Galileo taught there at one time, and Dante and Petrarch were students there), but perhaps it is even better known for the artists who flourished there. At the Scrovegni Chapel, you’ll see the astonishing, lively and moving frescoes painted by Giotto around 1300, but Giotto was not the only artist to shine; Mantegna and Donatello also gave Padova glorious artistic treasures. Your walking tour will take you from the Basilica del Santo, dedicated to St. Anthony, to Caffe Pedrocchi, which writers, poets and artists, including Stendahl (he called it “the best of Italy”), have frequented. You’ll also have plenty of free time to explore the world-famous Botanical Gardens on your own and the open market. (B, D)
Day 4: Serravalle (Ravenna)
Featured Excursions: Walking tour of Ravenna’s historic 6th century mosaics San Apollinare and Galla Placidia, visit to Medieval Brisighella and Pomposa Abbey, and Olive Mill tasting with lunch
Ravenna was the last capital of the Western Roman Empire, so it is full of ancient mosaics in the Byzantine style. Celebrated both for the fifth- and sixth-century mosaics that adorn its churches and for its ongoing role as a producer of mosaics, Ravenna has eight UNESCO World Heritage sites. You will see the amazing Basilica Sant’ Appollinare and the mausoleum of Galla Placidia, matriarch of Roman emperors, who had her tomb sheathed in spectacular mosaics that are among the most ancient in the city. You’ll also see how modern-day mosaic artists work. On the way back to the ship, we’ll stop in the Medieval village of Brisighella, where an unusual 12th-century covered passageway designed to shelter donkeys carrying chalk from the mines tells you how important that business was to the town. You’ll also visit one of the most significant Benedictine abbeys still standing in Italy, Pomposa Abbey, built before 1000. Enjoy lunch at an idyllic olive mill, where you’ll taste the olive oil made there. Late that afternoon, relax onboard with a delightful aperitivo party featuring the tastes of Italy. (B, L, D)
Day 5: Polesella (Bologna)
Featured Excursions: Walking tour of the culinary capital of Northern Italy and pasta workshop
Spend the whole day in Bologna, called la grassa, meaning bountiful. Does it have the best food in Northern Italy? You be the judge. There’s more to the city than Bolognese sauce, that’s for sure—there’s Parma ham and Parmeggiano (parmesan) and perhaps the best tortellini in the world, all on lavish display at Bologna’s amazing food markets. Join in a pasta workshop and discover how to make your own fabulous pasta and then eat the fruits of your labor. (B, D)
Day 6: Polesella (Verona), Chioggia
Featured Excursions: Walking tour of Verona’s historic center including Romeo & Juliet balcony, Arena de Verona, Piazza d’ Erbe
Shakespeare gave Verona fame through the ages when he wrote of two star-crossed lovers, Romeo and Juliet. See the balcony where Romeo professed his love to Juliet—or at least that’s the story—and where couples from all over the world chose to get married. It’s not the only marvel to behold, of course. You’ll also see an ancient Roman amphitheater still in use, these days for world-famous stagings of operas, and the Piazza d’Erbe, centered with a 14th-century fountain, which lies at the heart of the city and maintains its historic role as a marketplace. (B, L, D)
Day 7: Venice
Today is yours to enjoy Venice at leisure. Take a vaporetto to Murano to the world-renowned glass studios, such as Barovier, Venini and Seguso. Of course, you must take a gondola ride. Go to the Gallerie dell’ Accademia for the greatest collection of Italian masters in one place—you’ll find Titian, Tintorello, Tiepolo, Veronese, Canaletto, and Guardi , to name only a few. Lounge beside the Grand Canal with an aperitivo, or stroll across the Rialto Bridge with a gelato.
Day 8: Venice (disembark), transfer to Florence
Featured Excursion: Panoramic city tour
Choice Is Yours | Featured Excursion: Tour of the Uffizi Palace -or- tour of the Accademia Florence
Florence, the birthplace of Italy’s national poet, Dante Alighieri, and of the Renaissance, offers innumerable treasures of art and architecture. The city rose to international prominence under the rule of the Medici family, beginning in the 14th century and continuing for the next 300 years. Besides being masterful politicians (when Machiavelli wrote The Prince, he was describing the Medici prince for whom he worked), the Medici were the greatest patrons of art in Europe, employing Michelangelo, Brunelleschi, Titian, Fra Angelico, Giotto, to name only a few. Your panoramic tour will show you some of the city’s most glorious monuments, among them the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore and the Florence Baptistry; the Pitti Palace, home of the Medici; the Piazza della Repubblica, the center of the city since Roman times; and the Ponte Vecchio. In the afternoon, you may choose to visit either the Uffizi Palace, which houses Botticelli’s Birth of Venus, or the Accademia, where Michelangelo’s David is sheltered. (B, L)
Day 9: Florence
Featured Excursions: Florence walking tour including a visit to Accademia Botticelli
Description coming soon. (B, D)
Day 10: Florence, transfer to Rome
Featured Excursion: Wine tasting with lunch in Tuscany
Travel via motor coach through the storied Tuscan countryside, known the world over for its red wines, south to Rome. We will stop en route for lunch and a wine tasting at one of the great Tuscan wineries. Once you arrive in Rome, you will check into your hotel and then have leisure time to begin your exploration of the ancient and modern capital of Italy. Your local host will be happy to recommend a delightful nearby restaurant or the most irresistible sights in the neighborhood. (B, L)
Day 11: Rome
Featured Excursion: Panoramic city tour
Choice Is Yours | Featured Excursion: Visit to the Coliseum -or- visit to the Forum Romanum
It is impossible to overestimate the significance of Rome in European history. The Eternal City was founded 2,700 years ago and at one time controlled territory from northern Africa all the way to the Scottish border, building roads and aqueducts that still carry traffic and water, and giving rise to the French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and Romanian languages. Contemporary Rome, however, owes much of its beauty to its Renaissance buildings, many of which were built with stone plundered from ancient Roman structures. A panoramic tour of the city built on seven hills will give you a taste of its highlights, which are perhaps too numerous to even list; among them are the Trevi Fountain, St. Peter’s Basilica, the Pantheon, the Arch of Titus, the Spanish Steps, Villa Borghese—every vista offers legend, history, beauty and mystique. You will visit one of two monuments to the might of ancient Rome, the Coliseum or the Forum. The immense Coliseum, where gladiators fought and slaves were slaughtered, demonstrates the astonishing engineering prowess of the ancient Romans. The Forum was the seat of Roman government, where the Senate met, and where Julius Caesar was assassinated, where political prisoners were paraded. The remains include temples, triumphal arches, and columns that reveal the thousand-year history of ancient Rome, from the fifth century BC to the fifth century AD. (B, L)
Day 12: Rome
Featured Excursion: Vatican and Sistine Chapel
Today, we go from the glories of ancient Rome to the glories of Renaissance Rome with a visit to the Vatican, home to numerous museums that display such treasures of ancient sculpture as the Apollo Belvedere and the Laocoön and many paintings by Renaissance masters, such as Caravaggio and Raphael. The tour will end at the Sistine Chapel, with its spectacular ceiling frescoes by Michelangelo. Spend the afternoon discovering more of the city on your own, and then join us for a special dinner as you bid farewell to your Italian adventure. (B, D)
Day 13: Rome, transfer to the airport
Today, you'll check out of the hotel and be transferred to the airport. (CB/BB)
See one of the world’s most entrancing cities, Venice, the “Queen of the Adriatic,” in all its water-bound splendor. Cruise the storied Grand Canal, pause at the Bridge of Sighs, and follow the footsteps of the doges through their historic palace. Discover the glorious, surprisingly modern, frescoes of Giotto in 13th-century Padua. Uncover ancient mosaics in Ravenna, the last capital of Byzantine Empire in Italy. Savor Bologna, home of the first university in Europe and the culinary capital of northern Italy. Find romance in Verona, the city of Romeo and Juliet, and be introduced to Italy’s distinctive culinary delights by learning some of the tricks of the trade during a pasta-making workshop in Bologna.
After you disembark from the luxurious River Countess, your journey will take you to another of Italy’s Italian jewels, Florence, the birthplace of Italy’s national poet, Dante Alighieri and of the Renaissance, and home to Michelangelo’s David. You’ll spend two glorious nights here before journeying to the Eternal City, Rome. For three nights, you’ll take in all the glories of this mesmerizing city, including the grand Coliseum, the Sistine Chapel, St. Peter’s Basilica, and so much more.
Come discover the many splendors of Italy and the La Dolce Vita with Uniworld on their inaugural season in Italy.
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7-night cruise in a riverview stateroom on the newly remodeled, striking River Countess
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2 nights in Florence at a deluxe hotel with breakfast
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3 nights in Rome at a deluxe hotel with breakfast
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All meals onboard, prepared using the finest and freshest ingredients
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Captain’s Welcome Gala and Farewell Dinners
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Complimentary fine wines, choice of beer and soft drinks during lunch and dinner onboard; replenished bottled water in your stateroom; and 24-hour specialty coffee and tea bar
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An experienced Cruise Manager and attentive, all English-speaking staff
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State-of-the-art Quietvox portable audio headset system on all shore excursions during your cruise
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Use of bicycles and Nordic walking sticks throughout your cruise • Captivating onboard local entertainment
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Signature Lecture
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All transfers on arrival and departure days
