A week on the waterways of Venice
With cruise ships banned from the Venetian lagoons there is now little opportunity to spend a quality amount of time on these wonderful waterways. Uniworld are the only cruise line able to offer this unique itinerary and the chance to immerse oneself in this incredible part of the world. We were invited to join the inaugural Panache Founders cruise on the beautiful SS La Venetia for a week sailing around the Venetian lagoon.
We decided to extend our trip with a pre-cruise extension to Milan, organised by Uniworld, and were joined on this two night extension by 18 other guests for a two night stay at the Rosa Grand hotel, perfect for exploring the Duomo and central Milan literally a few steps away. With one and a half days in Milan we had a mix of free time and planned excursions, including an amazing early morning visit to The Last Supper, a city tour and a wonderful afternoon on Lake Como, largely spent wandering the alleyways of beautiful Bellagio and drinking spritz’s on the waterfront.
After two wonderful days of eating pizza, drinking spritzes and admiring Milanese fashion, it was time to leave this enticing city and make our way to join the SS La Venetia in Venice. Our four hour coach ride was broken up with a visit to Verona with a stop at Juliets balcony, a walking tour of the city, and a stop at the amphitheatre followed by a visit to a local vineyard for lunch and wine, definitely a great way to start our week in northern Italy.
A wine induced afternoon nap later and we arrived in Venice to board the SS La Venetia, located at the San Basilio terminal, a 25 minute walk away from Venice’s landmark sites. As usual with Uniworld ships, we fell in love with La Venetia as soon as we set foot on her, with her delightful and unusual Venetian decor greeting you enter the lobby area and continuing throughout the ship from the delightful lounge to the decadent sun deck and the wonderfully decorated suites. We unpacked and relaxed into the voyage, making the most of the ships sunny top deck and wonderful hospitality.
Not only does Uniworld offer a unique chance to sail on the Venetian waterways they manage to secure some pretty one of a kind events, starting with an early morning entry to Doge’s Palace before the crowds arrived. To make it even easier to visit St. Mark’s Square the Captain had moved the ship early in the morning to the Giardini Biennale dock, a lovely walk along the waterfront to the square. Taking in Doge’s Palace in a small group made for a magical couple of hours leaving us with a couple of hours to wander round this part of Venice before boarding the ship for an afternoon of scenic sailing around the lagoon.
We were getting used to being treated specially and that continued throughout the day, with a private evening tour of St. Mark’s Basilica. Back at the San Basilio terminal, all 100 guests on La Venezia we ferried on a private boat to the San Zaccaria dock, the nearest docking point to St. Mark’s Square. A short walk to the basilica and we were inside this impressive cathedral and were invited to take a seat for a very special light show, gradually illuminating the decadent gold ceilings before a very rare chance to visit St. Mark’s underground crypt, something not offered to many people these days.
With various optional tours available in the morning we decided to opt out of them all to give us the chance to explore Venice independently. We wandered up to the Rialto bridge to window shop in the lovely Italian clothes wear and delicious looking deli’s and food stores along the way, meandering through the narrow alleyways towards St. Mark’s Square. Our afternoon was much more leisurely as we sailed through the lagoon towards Burano where we were docking overnight. Relaxing on the sun deck with a constant supplied of ice cold drinks as we sail passed the islands of Venice, life really doesn’t get much better than this.
Waking up docked on the colourful little island of Burano meant we had the chance to wander round this quirky little town dotted with riverside cafes and lace shops, before any of the day tourists arrived. Being docked at the north end of the separate island Mazzorbo district of the town, connected to the main island of Burano by a little bridge, meant that it was easy to come and go to both the nearby town centre and the lovely walks around the Mazzorbo island.
It would be a crime to leave Burano without taking the short boat ride over to its sister island, Murano, the capital of Murano glass. So after lunch we all boarded a boat for the short hop across to the island for a glass blowing demonstration and a bit of free time to wander around this much larger island. With our time in beautiful Burano coming to an end we set sail for Chioggia at the southern end of the lagoon. We decided to take advantage of an evening sailing with a visit to the rooftop Cielo’s pizzeria for traditional Italian antipasta and wood fired pizzas as we pulled into Chioggia and the sun set in the background.
With a full day in Chioggia we had signed up to go on a bike ride in the morning. With over 20 other guests we set off from the dockyard on our bikes making our way around the island using the fabulous bike lanes, stopping at various points along the way to take in the local sights and sounds. Our destination was the Sottomarina beach, a five kilometre stretch of golden sands beach on the Adriatic sea and a hot spot for tourists and locals alike. We had a quick stop at the beach to walk to the sea and enjoy a gelato before heading back to the town centre where we left our bikes so we could pop to the fish market before taking the short walk back to the ship for lunch.
The afternoon’s excursion was a trip to a local vineyard. With almost an hour on a very comfortable coach to have a little post lunch nap we arrived at the beautiful Dominio di Bagnoli vineyard for a tour around the gardens, vineyards and warehouses before sitting down to enjoy a few wine tastings.
After a fabulous couple of days in Chioggia we sailed back to Venice, enjoying the sea breeze on an extremely hot July day in Venice. With only one day left to enjoy this unique and intriguing city we had signed up for the included morning excursion to the fish market at Rialto bridge which included a fabulous water taxi ride from our dock at San Basilio to the Rialto bridge. Our guide walked us around the bridge pointing out where the locals shop before taking us to join the ship’s chef at the fishmarket where he showed us all what he had bought and how he would be using his wares to make our dinner later that day. With time to wander the Rialto area and grab a coffee by the Grand Canal before the water taxi took us back to the ship we had a relaxing afternoon on board, making the most of our last day on the gorgeous SS La Venetia.
But the fun wasn’t over yet with a Masquerade Captains farewell dinner in the evening followed by socialising on the top deck while we waited for the Redeemer Festival fireworks which happened to be happening on our final evening on board, giving us a magical ending to a perfect and unique way to visit Venice. With all of these included excursions, delicious food and wines, sumptuous suites, unique decor and unrivalled service, we really couldn’t think of a better way to soak in this iconic city and the surrounding areas than on the lovely SS La Venezia.
Thank you to our preferred travel partners Uniworld River cruises who hosted us on this Venetian river cruise on the SS La Venezia and the Milan Pre-extension and Panache Cruises who invited us to join the first Founders cruise and paid for our air fares. Neither Uniworld or Panache had any editorial control over any of our content, either before, during our after our voyage.
If you enjoyed this blog why not take a look at our Uniworld Bordeaux blog or our Uniworld Egypt blog.
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