Mantua to Venice

‘Benvenuti  Mantova!’
Our comfortable barge will be moored at Porto Catena just a short walk from the city center. Your cabin will be available at 6 p.m. After storing your luggage and meeting your cycling companions, tour leader, captain and crew, you will have a preview of the week’s highlights and cycling itinerary by the tour guide.  After dinner there will be time to wander around in Mantua, a beautiful and historic city surrounded by lakes on three sides. It was once one of the greatest Renaissance Courts in Europe and home to the wealthy Gonzaga family. Today it’s also a UNESCO World Heritage site. The historic center features dozens of fascinating piazzas, churches, monuments, and courtyards, and is one of the loveliest Renaissance towns of Northern Italy – a fitting place to start our wonderful bike-barge vacation. 

Today you’ll spend an entire day discovering this little-visited cultural gem, with three picturesque “lakes” formed by the Mincio and gorgeous surrounding countryside. Mantua was once a City State ruled by the Gonzaga family. In the late afternoon we meet our local guide who will lead us through the most known highlights of the town. Starting from Piazza Sordello with its magnificent cathedral and Palazzo Ducale, we will walk through the city centre up to Piazza delle Erbe. Here we will admire the Clock Tower, the Rotonda di S. Lorenzo (the oldest church in town) and the Cathedral of St. Andrew, a jewel of Renaissance art and architecture. We will learn why Mantua, once a City State ruled by the Gonzaga family, is now considered by many as Italy’s “Sleeping Beauty”. (The program may be subject to changes).

A short cruise along the lush banks of the Mincio will take us to Governolo, where the river flows into the Po and forms the largest inland basin in Italy. At Governolo Lock, once a vital staging post for local navigation, we’ll saddle our bikes and follow the Po through Ostiglia (famed for its medieval fortress and floating mill) and on to the village of Bergantino. Here we’ll visit the charming Carousel and Street Entertainment Museum and have a visit to the local cheese factory, sampling some well seasoned Grana. Finally, we’ll reach Zelo, a sleepy village on the Canal Bianco, the waterway which runs parallel to the Po.

After breakfast we’ll cycle to medieval Ferrara. It’s well-preserved historical center is still surrounded by spectacular old city walls. The town has broad streets and numerous palaces dating from the 14th and 15th century. Because of its beauty and cultural importance Ferrara has been qualified by UNESCO as a World Heritage site. And to this day, Ferrara University ranks among the best, and the town is dubbed the ”Cycling Capital of Italy”.

In the afternoon a private bus and trailer will take us back to Adria, an ancient Roman port famous for trading amber coming from the Baltic. Before the Greeks, in the 6th century B.C. the Etruscans built the port and settlement of Adria which shares its name with the Adriatic Sea.

Today will be an exhilarating day of discovery, alternating sailing and cycling. It will start with a short cruise to our drop-off point at Porto Viro and an exploration of the Po’s delta. This unique wetland park is the prime reserve in Europe for herons and home to several colonies of flamingos. At the mouth of the River Adige, which flows fast and cool from the Dolomites, we’ll then follow the Po-Brondolo waterway and reach the Venetian lagoon. Our overnight stop is on the Island Pellestrina, just in front of the bustling and colorful fishing port of Chioggia, known as “Little Venice.”

A morning visit to the fish market is recommended and, time allowing, you can also climb up Chioggia’s millennial clock tower – the oldest in the world – for some breathtaking views. We’ll then enjoy some island hopping with easy, flat biking over two narrow islands that form the border between the sea and the lagoon. The boat will bring us to the nature reserve “Ca’Roman” at the point of Pellestrina Island, an authentic fishermen island. We’ll bike to the other side and here cross to Lido Island, one of the most impressive resorts for the rich and famous and the home of the Venice Film Festival. We will also visit a historic glass factory on Murano Island, with a glassblowing demonstration by a master artisan. Finally, our floating hotel will take us to our marina in Venice, for the culmination of our bike and boat holiday. Tonight we have dinner on our own. Benvenuti a Venezia!

You’ll rise today to a wonderful view over the scenic Venetian lagoon! It’s impossible to cycle the narrow, crooked streets and innumerable steps to Venice’s romantic bridges so today is a day for you to explore by foot the many wonders of magnificent Venice, the capital of the “Repubblica Serenissima,” the Serene Republic. 

Your tour ends today with departure in the morning after breakfast.