11 unforgettable days through Venice, Bologna, Verona, and Lake Como
History, food, wine, art, culture, beauty…we could go on forever listing what makes Italy such an extraordinary destination. Our friends at IC Bellagio are experts at putting together extraordinary itineraries which not only maximize your time in multiple destinations, but also immerse travelers into the lifestyles of the locals. Whether you are learning to make pizza from scratch from the best pizzaiolo in Lake Como, touring private palaces in Venice, or tasting the regional wines of Verona with a local - one thing is for sure, you will come home with a lifetime of memories.
We also love IC Bellagio’s give-back vision of improving 30,000 lives per year through travel, hospitality, employment, opportunity and education. They have also committed to donating 2 Euros for each one of their travelers to the ‘Guide Dogs for the Blind’ Association (Servizio Cani Guida dei Lions), a non-profit organization based in Limbiate which trains and provides Guide Dogs enabling 50 blind or partially sighted people, per year, to maintain their independence and live their life to the fullest.
Take a look at this dreamy VIP tour through some of Italy’s best, and get in touch with your Cadence travel advisor to book!
DAY 1
Arrival into Venice Airport
Transfer from Venice Airport to Venice Hotel by private water taxi
Check into the Hotel Palazzo Sant’ Angelo
Dinner reservation at Osteria Oliva Nera
Day 2
Breakfast at the hotel
2 hour walking tour with English speaking guide to discover the zone between the St. Mark’s Square and Rialto Bridge including the market area, surrounding bridges, beautiful palazzo, bridges, the quaint alleyways, canals and churches
Lunch at leisure at a locally recommended restaurant
2.5 hour walking tour with a local expert guide to discover the real Venice. Witness the way of life in this magical city as you observe the residential areas, parks, schools, silent squares, forgotten churches, and some of the city’s most beautiful artwork.
Dinner at leisure at a locally recommended restaurant
Day 3
Breakfast at the hotel
2 hour of some of the most beautiful backstreets of Venice including a special visit to the Guggenheim Museum
Lunch at leisure at a locally recommended restaurant
Afternoon at leisure to relax and enjoy Venice on your own
Optional 2 hour tour to visit Piano Nobile, a private Venetian palace, and enjoy a tasting of regional wine and incredible appetizers
Dinner at leisure at a locally recommended restaurant
Day 4
Breakfast at the hotel
Check out of the hotel
Meet your English speaking assistant and enjoy your private water taxi transfer to the Venice train station
Enjoy a first class train ride from Venice to Bologna
Enjoy a brief local taxi transfer to your hotel in the heart of town
Check into the Hotel Corona d’Oro for 2 nights
Enjoy your great dinner Reservation at Caminetto D’Oro
Day 5
Breakfast at hotel
Optional 3.5 hour tour: Enjoy a cooking lesson with a real Italian Mamma in an authentic family home. And of course at the end, you will enjoy the fruits of your labor by eating the meal surrounding by family and friends
2.5 hour tour of the Palazzo Poggi, visiting 2 homes located in the city center as we learn the many secrets of the Noble Families of Bologna.
Dinner at leisure at a locally recommended restaurant
Day 6
Breakfast at the Hotel
Check out of the hotel
Enjoy your brief local taxi transfer from Bologna hotel to the train station
Enjoy a first class train ride from Bologna to Verona
Enjoy a brief local taxi transfer to your hotel in the heart of town
Check into the Palazzo Victoria
Afternoon at leisure in Verona
Dinner at leisure at a locally recommended restaurant
Day 7
Breakfast at the hotel
2.5 hour tour to follow in the footsteps of some of Shakespeare’s most famous characters through some of the most fascinating areas of Verona
Lunch at leisure at a locally recommended restaurant
Afternoon at leisure to relax and enjoy shopping in the wonderful local boutiques
2.5 hour tour enjoying a stroll around the streets of Verona with visits to up to 5 antique Osteria’s to enjoy some local wines and speciality regional nibbles with a full explanation of the history not just of the various Hosteria’s, their founders and families but also of the important wines of the Veneto Region
Dinner at leisure at a locally recommended restaurant
Day 8
Breakfast at the hotel
Check out of the hotel
Meet your English speaking driver and enjoy your private Sedan transfer to Lake Como
Stop en-route in the charming Bergamo for a 2 hour visit to explore and have lunch at your leisure. Bergamo is a delightful hill town that owes much of its artistic inspiration and architectural splendour to the influence of Venice, which ruled it from the 15th to the late 18th century. The town is divided into two distinct parts: Bergamo Alta crowing the hill, with its cluster of attractive medieval and Renaissance buildings; and the more modern and airy Bergamo Bassa laying below. The jewel of the upper town is Piazza Vecchia containing one of the most appealing architectural ensembles in the region. Spend time at the botanic Garden in Bergamo near to Colle Aperto, in the upper city. It is a wonderful garden where more over 1200 exotic and local plants live in a magic atmosphere. In the afternoon, visit the in Città Alta where you will find the very mystic church of San Michele al Pozzo Bianco Church. Its superb paintings, some of them by Lorenzo Lotto, will delight you and you will love its quiet crypt. You may also wish to enjoy a nice picnic together in the gardens of the Venetian Walls of the city
Check in to Hotel Palazzo del Vice Re in Lezzeno
Time at leisure to enjoy the property
Dinner at leisure at a locally recommended restaurant
Day 9:
Breakfast at the Hotel
The best way to experience the Central Lake Area is from the water – take in its colorful lakeside villages, its elegant villas and its Alpine views from the comfort of your own private boat, stopping off to visit Villa Balbianello on this amazing 5.5 hour tour. On the return cruise, you will stop at the lake’s only island, Isola Comacina, for lunch at Benvenuto Puricelli’s traditional restaurant Locanda dell’Isola. The 7-course menu, that hasn’t changed since 1947, features true Italian comfort food and ends with Benvenuto’s flaming brandied coffee ceremony believed to break the island’s legendary curse. Buon appetito!
Enjoy the rest of the afternoon at your leisure at the hotel
Dinner at leisure at a locally recommended restaurant
Day 10:
Breakfast at the hotel
Nothing says Italy like piping-hot pizza straight from the wood-burning oven! Join the best pizzaiolo from the Pertusini family to learn how to prepare the perfect pizza and join the family for a meal in their idyllic garden
Day 11:
Breakfast at the Hotel
Check out of the hotel
Enjoy your private Sedan departure transfer from your Hotel in Lezzeno to Milan Airport for Departure flight – Pick up from the hotel will be 3 hours prior to flight departure time….have a safe flight back home!
Buon Viaggio!!!!!
Featured properties:
Palazzo Sant’ Angelo: Housed in a charming patrician palace, the hotel has its main entrance on a pedestrian walkway right on the Grand Canal – a rarity in Venice – as well as its own private landing stage. The rich history of Venice is palpable from the moment you enter the elegant lobby, with its original Palladian marble floor, grand stone fireplace and stunning Grand Canal views through lead-paned windows. The location is ideal: both Piazza San Marco and the beloved Rialto Bridge are less than 10 minutes away on foot, with a convenient vaporetto stop about 50 yards from the entrance. This four-star deluxe boutique hotel has 26 rooms and suites, all outfitted in opulent, Doges-red décor with spacious Carrara marble bathrooms, satellite TV and free Wi-Fi
Hotel Corona d’Oro: This elegant boutique hotel has a wonderful location in the heart of the historical centre, literally a stone’s throw away from the main shopping street, Via Indipendenza, Piazza Maggiore and the famous Two Towers of Bologna. The medieval building itself dates back to the 13th century while the beautiful ceilings were painting with biblical scenes back in the 14th century. The Hall is in Liberty style and dated back to the beginning of this century. This is the most elegant of the Bologna Art Hotels and has the most elegant finishing touches such as the luxury furnishings, the personal attention given to the art objects which decorate the property, the recent internal restoration work, the frescoes and much more. All of the 40 rooms have been fully renovated in 2004. Like all Bologna Art hotels the Corona D’Oro offers a wonderful full fresh buffet breakfast and the rooms are all well equipped with ensuite luminous spacious bathrooms not to mention mini-bar, satellite television, safety deposit boxes, fast line Internet connection and air conditioning
Palazzo Victoria: You would think it would be a tall order to bring a city as rich in history as Verona into the 21st century. Not for Verona native and famed hotelier Marcello Pigozzo, who dreamed of owning his own hotel ever since he started out as a night porter over 40 years ago. Pigozzo likens Palazzo Victoria, which is actually a collection of 14th century buildings surrounding a swank courtyard, to a museum, but one whose doors are always open. The striking décor effortlessly combines Roman ruins and Renaissance-era frescoes with contemporary design accents like video installations, “living walls” and oversized white leather furnishings. No two of the 74 rooms and suites are exactly alike, using the centuries-old bones of the building in surprising ways to create spacious, exceedingly stylish rooms. Some rooms offer ceiling frescoes and intricate parquet floors or wraparound balconies and Jacuzzi tubs; all of them wow with crisp, white bedding, lavish marble baths and high tech amenities galore. The downtown location means you could be belting out an aria at the Arena, browsing the best boutiques west of Milan or slipping a love note between the stones under Juliet’s balcony in literally minutes. And when you return, hit the gym, shoot some pool or indulge in a spa treatment before wining and dining with Verona’s see-and-be-seen set. It seems the swank Victoria Club Bar is THE place for your late afternoon Spritz along with a staggering array of free nibbles, but don’t overindulge. Borsari 36 restaurant beckons: Michelin-starred chef Carmine Calò and his team cook up creative cuisine in his open kitchen, which you are free to devour in the quirky dining room or on the romantic candle-lit terrace
Hotel Palazzo del Vice Re: Spread along the shores of Lake Como far from the hustle and bustle of Milan and Como and just minutes from the charming lakeside town of Bellagio, lies the picturesque fishing village of Lezzeno. And nestled among its colorful buildings, just behind the leafy square by the harbor, sits Il Palazzo del Vice Re, a lovingly restored aristocratic palace that has been transformed into a unique boutique property. When you step through the stone arch onto the courtyard’s well-worn paving stones, you take your place among the colorful cast of characters that make up this typical Italian borgo and start living Lake Como’s special brand of la dolce vita. The Palazzo’s junior suite La Vista offers elegant accommodations on the piano nobile (first floor), with a range of stunning original features from the Palazzo’s first life as an aristocratic palace. This palatial lounge cum bedroom has antique furnishings, heavy drapes in luxury Italian fabric and high ceilings featuring original frescoes that have been lovingly restored by local artists. Thanks to the suite’s many windows, the room has ample natural light as well as enchanting views of the lakes and the snow-capped mountains beyond. Guests will enjoy luxuriating in the Palazzo’s beautiful public spaces: the bar with its 17th century frescoes, the reception room with its period marble fireplace, the breakfast room with its Renaissance-era frescoes and a stunning array of local specialties offered daily, as well as the historic stone courtyard with its antique well and stunning lake views. For a special treat, ask about our special tasting events featuring the best of Lombardy’s artisanal products under the vaulted stone ceilings of La Cantina
*Terms and conditions: Venice Water Taxi holds up to 10 pax with 10 pieces of luggage – any excess luggage, waiting time which exceeds 20 minutes or deviations to transfer as originally booked are to be paid directly to the driver upon arrival at your destination; Hotel Palazzo Sant’ Angelo includes Deluxe Double Room for 3 nights + Breakfast + Service + TAX’s included. Any eventual city TAX to be paid directly to the hotel; When dinner reservations have been made, the price of the dinner will be made directly to the restaurants; Taxi arrangements in Bologna and Verona will need to be arranged by traveler; Hotel Corona d’Oro includes Deluxe Double Room for 2 nights + Breakfast + Service & TAX’s included. Any eventual city TAX to be paid directly to the hotel; Optional tours should be requested in advance; Palazzo Victoria includes Grand Deluxe Double Room for 2 nights + Breakfast + Service & TAX’s included. Any eventual city TAX to be paid directly to the hotel; Hotel Palazzo del Vice Re includes La Vista Junior Suite reserved for 3 nights. Breakfast included. First night on complimentary basis and the other two nights € 475,00 per room per night to be paid at the check-out. City Tax and any other extras to be paid locally; Other terms and conditions may apply, please speak with your travel advisor for details. Please note: this is a sample itinerary and is subject to change.
For details on booking this Italy itinerary or something similar, get in touch with your Cadence travel advisor!
