Northern Italy River Cruise & Venice Simplon-Orient-Express

Start your holiday in style as you enjoy included UK airport chauffeur transfer and airport lounge access before your flight to Venice. On arrival, a private transfer will see you to your ship – the S.S. La Venezia. Fully refurbished, and with decks named after the islands of the Venetian Lagoon, it’s an opulent home to three restaurants, a spa, a lounge and bar – the perfect home-from-home for your cruise through northern Italy.

Stay: S.S. La Venezia

Before departing Venice, you’ll have a day to explore the myriad wonders of Italy’s floating city, as an expert guide helps you to untangle the secrets and myths of its iconic waterways. There’s also time for a scenic cruise around the Venetian Lagoon and a very special after-hours private tour of St Mark’s Basilica. End the day in style with a Captain’s Welcome Reception and delicious celebratory dinner.

Stay: S.S. La Venezia

Located at the far-southern end of the Venetian Lagoon, Chioggia is often referred to as ‘Little Venice’. Having cruised passed the colourful fishermen’s houses of Pellestrina, you’ll be met by a local guide to uncover the unique charms of this traditional port community. Alternatively, take the chance to spend more time on the water with a boat tour to harvest mussels in the lagoon and then enjoy them as part of a delicious lunch. Whichever you choose, you’ll meet your fellow guests back on board for sundowners on the upper deck – sheer perfection.

Stay: S.S. La Venezia

Today you’ll have a choice of tours. Perhaps take in the culinary joys of Bologna, where you’ll learn how to make pasta before having it cooked and served as part of a traditional lunch, or head to World Heritage-listed Ferrara. Explore its medieval city walls and its impressive Gothic cathedral before retuning to the ship where the bar or onboard spa provide the ideal spots for a relaxing wind-down.

Stay: S.S. La Venezia

Return to Chioggia today for a new perspective, taking the chance to explore one of Europe’s largest wholesale fish market and enjoying an expert-led tour of Corso del Popolo, where traders meet to sell everything from textiles to trinkets. Pick up some souvenirs, then sail on to Burano for a guided evening stroll among its colourful buildings and pretty canals.

Stay: S.S. La Venezia

Today offers a chance to explore three of Venice’s islands, places which tend to escape the attention of many visitors to the city. Setting out in the morning, you’ll begin with Torcello, a once-bustling city now home to a handful of locals and home to an 11th-century mosaic of the Last Judgement, for which you’ll be treated to early access without the crowds. It’s then on Mazzorbo, where you’ll have the chance to tour an estate to learn about the island’s wine-making heritage, before returning to Burano where you’ll visit a lace-making atelier to see this well-practised tradition in action, and perhaps pick up a souvenir.

Stay: S.S. La Venezia

Cruise back to Venice for a choice of superb excursions – the first a ‘do as the locals do’ appreciation of the city’s markets and culinary hotspots in the company of a guide, often the ship’s head chef. You’ll even have the chance to add on a gondola ride before re-joining your guide at a local bacaro wine bar for the Venetian version of happy hour. Alternatively, take a walking tour to Rialto Bridge and visit the sites made famous by renowned intellectual and part-time playboy – Casanova. In the evening, a Captain’s farewell reception and dinner will see you end your cruise in style.

Stay: S.S. La Venezia

After a delicious breakfast on board, you'll disembark for a private transfer to Verona and your five-star hotel. Take the time to relax and freshen up as you prepare for two full days exploring the delights of ‘Shakespeare’s city’. Indeed, be sure to take in the likes of Juliet’s balcony before enjoying skip-the-line access and a private tour of one of Italy’s most prestigious music venues – the Arena di Verona. 

Stay: NH Collection Palazzo Verona

Spend a final relaxing morning in Verona before taking your private transfer to the station where the blue-and-gold carriages of the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express will be waiting to welcome you. Settle into your wood-panelled cabin as you race across rural northern Italy, enjoying a delicious three-course lunch set against a backdrop of the Dolomites' granite spires. Then, following a relaxing afternoon, dress for dinner, mingle in the Bar car and order a signature cocktail while you listen to period pieces performed on the baby grand piano. Finally, settle down to a four-course, wine-paired feast, dining on dishes inspired by the train's route as you head across alpine Switzerland.

Wake to a Continental breakfast served in your cabin as you sweep across northern France towards the Channel. In Calais, you'll say goodbye to the fineries of your Art Deco accommodation for a transfer to Lille and a Eurostar hop across the Channel to London St Pancras. On arrival, you'll be met by one of our chauffeurs for a private transfer home.