You will first visit St. Mark’s Cathedral, a wonderful blend of Eastern and Western architectural styles, one of the world’s most incredibly beautiful buildings. The decorative exterior with its domes, pinnacles and the famous bronze horses, looted in the Middle Ages from Constantinople, will attract your attention and the interior is equally as stunning with its shimmering gold mosaics, elaborate carvings and graceful statuary.

Next to the cathedral is the Doges’ Palace, the former official residence of the Rulers of Venice (Dogi), one of the finest examples of Gothic architecture, well known for its ornate façade and multi-arcaded loggia. Here, you will climb the famous Golden Staircase, admire the paintings from Tintoretto and Veronese and wander through the echoing Great Council Chamber and many other historical rooms.
You will also cross the Bridge of Sighs, a covered stone bridge linking the Doges’ Palace with the ancient prison dungeons, so named originally due to the fate of the prisoners, although today it has attained a more romantic connotation.

NOTE: The order of sights may be reversed. This excursion involves extensive walking. We therefore suggest you wear flat, comfortable shoes. A considerable amount of stair climbing is required during the visit to the Doges’ Palace. Due to certain restrictions inside St. Mark’s Cathedral, your guide will provide detailed narration before you enter. Proper attire, covering legs and shoulders, is required for entering the Basilica.

Duration: approximately 2 hours

Tour 2.21 - A ROMANTIC GONDOLA SERENADE
To be operated on Sep. 21st morning
Departure at 11:30am from the Danieli Hotel, Sala Maschere

Ever since Venice’s history began, there have always been gondoliers. By the 11th century most were in private service with patrician families. There were about 10,000 gondoliers in Venice in the 16th century, and today there are fewer than 400. 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” (owner), before getting his own licence. 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… The world famous “Singing Gondolier” has more legendary connotations, and serenades on board gondolas are therefore performed by teams of professional musicians.

Join us for a romantic tour through the canals of Venice. Riding on your gondola, you will become part of the romantic scenery along with the soft lights and balconied waterfront homes, and be serenaded as you glide along.

Duration: approximately 45 minutes

Tour 3.21 - SILENT VENICE
To be operated on Sep. 21st afternoon
Departure at 3:00pm from the Danieli Hotel, Sala Maschere

Leaving St.Mark’s Square and passing beneath the Sotoportego della Stua and along the Fondamenta del Rimedio - two very typical features of Venetian town planning - you will emerge in the spacious Campo Santa Maria Formosa, which is dominated by a fine baroque campanile. If you turn off into the medieval Calle del Paradiso and then go down the ancient Salizzada San Lio, you will reach the Fontego dei Tedeschi. Formerly a German warehouse, the building was once filled with goods and works of art, but now serves a more modest purpose as Venice’s main post office.
Silence reigns as you leave the busier thoroughfares and cross the Corte del Milion, where Marco Polo’s family lived. After admiring the church of Santa Maria dei Miracoli, an exquisite example of Venetian Renaissance architecture, you will soon be in Campo Santi Giovanni e Paolo, a square containing some of city’s most important monuments - an impressive Dominican church and the equestrian statue of Bartolomeo Colleoni. A winding route of streets, courtyards and squares leads you through the old Greek orthodox district to the last stop on the itinerary, Campo San Zaccaria.

Note: Going beyond the palaces means scratching below the surface. The above itinerary has been devised to stray off the beaten tourist track and discover what lies behind Venice’s glittering facade. As it is completely on foot, it should be selected by those guests who don’t mind walking.

Duration: approximately 2 hours

Tour 2.22 - THE JEWISH GHETTO
To be operated on Sep. 22nd morning
Departure at 10:00am from the Danieli Hotel, Sala Maschere

Departing by motorboat, you will be transferred in the vicinities of the medieval Jewish Ghetto, Europe’s first. The idea of locking a Jewish community into a ghetto is of Venetian origin, as is the word “ghetto” itself. All aliens under the strict and suspicious rule of the Venetian Republic were segregated and subject to curfew. Jews represented the largest, most successful and most problematic of many foreign mercantile communities. The size of Jewish population, approx. 5,000 in the 17th century, testifies how Venice was regarded as a refuge, as well as a city where Jewish commercial and professional talents could be employed profitably.
During your walk through the quarter with the Jewish Community’s guides, you’ll visit some of its fine synagogues remaining from that period. The Schola Grande Tedesca, Schola Canton and Schola Levantini, each represents different Jewish nationalities.
Before reboarding your motorboat, you will also visit the Jewish Museum.

You will then be transferred back by private motorboat.

NOTE: The order of sights may be reversed.

Duration: approximately 2,5 hours

Tour 3.22 - VISIT TO THE GALLERIE DELL’ACCADEMIA
To be operated on Sep. 22nd afternoon
Departure at 3:00pm from the Danieli Hotel, Sala Maschere

The greatest existing collection of Venetian art is housed in the three buildings of the Gallerie dell’Accademia and features five centuries of masterpieces. Founded by Giambattista Piazzetta in the 18th century, the collection was greatly enlarged by Napoleon, who transferred there a large number of works from the convents and churches he himself had suppressed.

Among the numberless works of art, you should not miss the Legend of St.Ursula, by Vittore Carpaccio, a cycle of eight magnificent paintings dating from the late 16th c., the Coronation of the Virgin, a bright polyptych painted in 1325 by Paolo Veneziano, considered the very founder of the Venetian school, and the enigmatic Tempest by Giorgione, a painting in which the innovative use of the landscape influenced all the art of the following centuries.
Many other paintings are worth a stop: you will view works by the three Bellinis (Jacopo, Gentile and Giovanni), Andrea Mantegna, Lorenzo Lotto, Paolo Veronese, Jacopo Tintoretto and Tiepolo.

Duration: approximately 2 hours

Giovanni Bellini, "Virgin with Child between St. Catherine and St. Magdalene"

Tour 2.23 - THE GRAND CANAL MARVELS
To be operated on Sep. 23rd morning
Departure at 11:00am from the Danieli Hotel, Sala Maschere

Meet your guide and immediately board your private motorlaunch for a ride along the Canalazzo, as the Venetians use to name the Grand Canal.

You will proceed through the city’s nerve centre, the 2.3 mile inverted “S” of the Grand Canal. Since its very foundation the Grand Canal has always been the Venice main waterway, and in the past centuries sumptuous palaces and splendid churches embellished its banks.

Police and fire brigades zip by in their motorboats, grey customs boats make their rounds, tradesmen, delivery men, wedding and funeral processions; everything in Venice travels by water.

The Grand Canal is a unique sight, and its banks are still lined with an incredible parade of palaces and churches, such as the Church of Madonna della Salute, Ca’ Rezzonico, now housing the Venetian 18th century Museum, the University of Ca’ Foscari, the Rialto Bridge, the Fondaco dei Tedeschi, the wolrd-known Ca’ d’Oro with its splendid façade, the San Stae’s Church, Ca’ Pesaro, harbouring the Modern Art Museum, the Vendramin Calergi Palace, now the gambling casino, the Fondaco dei Turchi and many others.

On the way back you will cruise along the wide Giudecca Canal, water access to Venice for the large cruise ships. You will admire the Redeemer’s Church, the Stucky former mill, and the Gesuati’s Church.

Private motorlaunches (max. 10-12 guests each).One guide per boat. The itinerary might be inverted for operational purpose.

Duration: one hour and 45’

Tour 3.23 - MURANO AND BURANO
To be operated on Sep. 23rd afternoon
Departure at 2:30pm from the Danieli Hotel, Sala Maschere

The Venetian lagoon, created by the estuaries of three rivers and separated from the Adriatic by a row of sand bars, is approximately 32 miles long. Venice lies in the centre and there are some forty other islands in the lagoon. Nearly half of them are deserted, some house market gardens and sanatoriums. The three predominant islands are Murano, Burano and Torcello, and your excursion via motorlaunch to these islands affords unique sightseeing.

The 16th century was known as the “great age” of Murano glass, when the island supported some 37 glass factories and a population of 30,000. Glassware was one of the few Venetian exports and as such, the secret of this skillful craft was tightly guarded. You will visit a major glass factory and see the master of this delicate craft at work.

Burano will next be visited. Brightly painted houses beautifully decorate this small and cheerful fishing village. Burano is well known for its lace making; in the 16th century the industry was at its height and Burano was cited through Europe for having produced the finest lace.

Duration: approximately 3,5 hours