Itinerary

1. Venice Tour

   • Hop on a boat with your Italian tour guide and visit the most famous islands of the Northern Lagoon: Murano and Burano.

   • Head over to Torcello or a small “hidden gem”: the island of San Francesco del Deserto. 

   • Go to Murano, a city built on tiny islands connected by a network of bridges and canals. 

   • Stroll along Fondamenta dei Vetrai (home to the oldest furnaces of the island), avoiding the more commercial ones to cross the gates of a kiln usually closed to the public. Moving carefully so as not to interfere with its artisans’ work, see little masterpieces take shape in front of our eyes, shining with bright colours whose formulas have often been kept secret for generations!

   • Continue our visit to the old Murano city center (Campo San Stefano) with its characteristic clock tower and the Renaissance church of San Pietro Martire, a treasure chest of paintings by Veronese and Bellini. 

   • Cross the bridge over Murano’s Grand Canal, reach another jewel of the island: the Basilica of Santa Maria and Donato, famous for its splendid 11th-century floor mosaics.

   • Venture along Burano’s tranquil streets and squares, surrounded by the colours of the fishermen’s houses (whose meaning we will discover little by little) with your Italian tour guide. 

   • Enjoy a delicious lunch in one of the many local restaurants, possibly treating ourselves with off-the-menu delicacies fished that very morning. Alternatively, let us relax with a lovely coffee break accompanied by delicious ice cream or (even better!) the typical biscuits of the island, the “bussolà” and the “esse”. 

   • Walk through the quiet streets of Torcello, still paved in bricks or gravel, and discover the reasons why the island was gradually abandoned in favour of Venice or the fate of its many churches, convents or buildings now replaced by the wilderness. Meet the mysterious “Devil’s Bridge” and walk through the ruins of the city center, irresistibly attracted by the Basilica of Santa Maria Assunta, the oldest church in the Lagoon.

   • Admire the splendid shapes of the nearby Santa Fosca church, Palazzo del Podestà and Palazzo dell’Archivio, perhaps also sitting on the famous “Attila’s throne”.  Discover why this small strip of land became the favourite refuge of the famous writer Ernest Hemingway. 

   • Reach the island of San Francesco del Deserto.

   • Having walked the long tree-lined avenue leading to the Convent entrance, be welcomed by one of the friars who live on the island to be guided through San Francesco’s church, bell tower, fascinating cloisters and more. Discover a truly enchanting place, subsequently returning to Venice filled with that same sense of peace breathed on this little-known but fascinating island.