DAY 01 ISTANBUL – VENICE: ENTERING LA SERENISSIMA FROM THE SEA – SAN MARCO – RIALTO
Meeting at Istanbul Airport International Departures Terminal at the time specified by our guide. After baggage drop, passport, and check-in procedures, departure for Venice with Turkish Airlines flight TK1867 at 06:50. Arrival at Venice Marco Polo Airport at local time 08:20. We proceed to Tronchetto by our private bus and from there enter Venice from the sea with our group's private boat, just like Grand Tour travelers did. As we cruise along the Giudecca Canal, the lagoon itself explains why the city did not need city walls for centuries. Following our arrival at St. Mark's Square, we visit St. Mark's Basilica from the inside (entrance ticket included in the package). Built for the relics of Saint Mark brought from Alexandria in 828, this Byzantine-planned structure allows us to read the Republic's faith, diplomacy, and trade network under one roof, with its gold-ground mosaics exceeding 8,000 m² and the story of the bronze horses brought from Constantinople in 1204 (those on the facade are replicas). In front of the Doge's Palace facade and the Bridge of Sighs, we discuss the 19th-century romantic Venice image born from Lord Byron's verses. Following the historical Mercerie axis connecting the political center of San Marco to the commercial heart of Rialto, we reach the stone Rialto Bridge completed in 1591. Around Rialto, understanding Venice sometimes passes through a bacaro counter rather than palaces; while chatting on foot like Venetians, we taste two cicchetti along with an ombra, a Spritz, or another sip for those who prefer non-alcoholic drinks. Since we are here, we make the most of this lovely tradition. After free time for lunch and personal explorations, we meet and transfer to our hotel. Accommodation in the Venice / Mestre / Treviso region.
DAY 02 DOLOMITES: TITIAN'S VALLEY OR THE PEAKS OF TRE CIME
Early in the morning, we depart for the high mountain region of the Dolomites. Via Auronzo di Cadore and Misurina, we reach Rifugio Auronzo at an altitude of 2,320 meters. From here, we take an easy and flat panoramic walk of approximately 45–60 minutes along the southern walls of Tre Cime di Lavaredo. Throughout the walk, we discuss the observations made in 1791 by the French geologist Déodat de Dolomieu, after whom the rock is named; how the strata deposited in the shallow tropical seas of the Triassic period turned into walls approaching 3,000 meters today; Paul Grohmann's first ascent of Cima Grande in 1869; and the Italian-Austro-Hungarian front line passing through these ridges in 1915–1917. Following the walk, we have our included Alpine lunch at Rifugio Auronzo. After a panoramic stop at Lake Misurina, we proceed to Cortina d'Ampezzo; we take a short walk in the center of the Olympic town and enjoy strudel pastry + coffee tasting. Return to our hotel at the end of the tour. Accommodation in the Venice / Mestre / Treviso region.
Tre Cime access is subject to weather, road, parking, and local authority regulations; a safe alternative Dolomites route is implemented when necessary.
DAY 03 FROM GARDA TO VERONA: FROM CATULLUS TO SHAKESPEARE – SIRMIONE – VERONA
After morning breakfast, we depart for Lake Garda, Italy's largest lake. Our first stop is Sirmione, situated on a narrow peninsula extending into the water from the southern shore of the lake. We enter the town via the bridge of Rocca Scaligera, built by the Della Scala (Scaliger) family in the 13th century and considered one of Europe's best-preserved lake castles with its own water harbor. Sirmione, which the Roman poet Catullus addressed as the "jewel of peninsulas and islands," hosts the ruins of Northern Italy's largest Roman villa at the tip of the peninsula. Victorian poet Alfred Tennyson also came here following in Catullus's footsteps in 1880 and dedicated a poem to Sirmione. After our guided walking tour and free time for lunch by the lake, we depart for Verona. Starting our walk at the Arena and Piazza Bra dating from the 1st century AD, we pass through Porta Borsari, one of the gates of the Roman city, and reach Piazza delle Erbe, established on the site of the ancient forum. In Piazza dei Signori, we read the political history of the city extending to its passing under Venetian rule in 1405 by seeing the period of Cangrande della Scala, who hosted Dante in exile, and Arche Scaligere, the Gothic tomb monuments of the Scaliger dynasty. Juliet's House is seen as a brief reference to how fiction turned into a place of memory in this city, which Shakespeare is thought to have never seen; the famous balcony was added in the 20th century. We complete our walk with the aperitivo experience, the afternoon ritual of Veneto, with our guests who wish. Return to our hotel at the end of the tour. Accommodation in the Venice / Mestre / Treviso region.
DAY 04 TREVISO: THE EVERYDAY ELEGANCE OF VENETO – NOVENTA OUTLET – ISTANBUL
After morning breakfast, we complete our check-out procedures from the hotel and depart for Treviso. Woven with the branches and canals of the Sile River, this city represents the restrained, everyday elegance of Veneto in contrast to the splendor of Venice. Annexed to the mainland territories of the Republic of Venice starting in 1339, Treviso also displays the Republic's defense architecture with its walls renewed at the beginning of the 16th century. Starting our walk from Piazza dei Signori, where the medieval municipal building Palazzo dei Trecento rises, we proceed along the Buranelli canal named after merchants from Burano and reach Pescheria, the historical fish market built on an islet in the middle of the Cagnan canal. We discover tiramisu, cited as Treviso's gift to world gastronomy, with our special tasting included in the program in the city where it is accepted to have been born. Then, we depart for Noventa di Piave Designer Outlet and grant approximately 3 hours of free shopping time. Transfer to Venice Marco Polo Airport at the designated time. After baggage and passport procedures, departure for Istanbul with Turkish Airlines flight TK1870 at 20:00. Arrival in Istanbul at local time 23:35 and end of our tour.
