Renaissance Gardens of Italy by Canal Boat & Tuscan Landscapes

Guests are met at the pre-tour hotel in Venice and transferred to Mantua to meet your canal boat, La Bella Vita for a prosecco welcome. Mantua enjoys a captivating lakeside setting and was once home to the poet Virgil, as well as the artists Mantegna and Donatello. Mantua also displays extraordinary neo-classical and baroque architecture, as evidenced in the 14th -century Ducal Palace, which houses some 15 gardens and courtyards, a museum, basilica and theatre. As we wander from room to room, we see intricate frescoes, the Gallery of Mirrors, the exquisite Rivers Room and around 12,000 paintings and sculptures. Enjoy a welcome dinner on board this evening.   

Stay: Six Nights, La Bella Vita

• Dinner

This morning we visit the Parco Giardino Sigurta in Valeggio sul Mincio. Wander a beautifully landscaped area over 60 hectares in size. The park boasts vast lawns, a rose garden, a hermitage and a medicinal herb garden among many other features. Enjoy lunch at a local restaurant before cruising through to Vallazza this afternoon.

• Breakfast
• Lunch
• Dinner

This morning cruise along the Bianco Canal to Zelo past villages and farmsteads to our mooring at Bosaro. After lunch, we take an excursion to the Giardino di Valsanzibio with its tree-lined avenues, fishponds, fountains and statues. Built between 1665 and 1696 by one of Venice's most eminent families, the Barbarigo's, the garden was intended as a thank you to God for sparing them from the plague of 1630-31. The garden's design seeks to convey to visitors a positive message: that one should stop and meditate, live life with joy, and that there is always a solution to life's difficulties.

• Breakfast
• Lunch
• Dinner

This morning we join the Bianco Canal, cruising to Adria, an ancient Etruscan town. Here, we visit the National Archaeological Museum. After lunch on board our river ship, we drive to the Bagnoli Estate to tour the Renaissance gardens and wine cellars of the 17th-century Villa Widmann Borletti and enjoy a private tasting of their renowned estate-grown vintages. We take a stroll around its vineyards, orchards and formal gardens with topiary and statues of theatrical characters. Afterwards, we rejoin La Bella Vita enjoying dinner on board.

Stay: Six Nights, La Bella Vita

• Breakfast
• Lunch
• Dinner

This morning cruise to Porto Levante, passing through the Po Delta nature reserve with flamingos and occasional heron, snipe and other wildfowl, before visiting Chioggia and wandering through the colourful fish market. After lunch back on board, we head to the Botanical Gardens of Padua. Founded in 1545, it is the world's oldest academic botanical garden and a Unesco World Heritage site.

• Breakfast
• Lunch
• Dinner

This morning we cruise to Venice, passing several lagoon islands including San Servolo, once a hospital for the Crusaders and San Lazzaro degli Armeni, an early 18th -century Armenian monastery. These islands sport brightly coloured houses, painted fishing boats and tiny churches. We visit the lagoon island of Sant’Erasmo for a walking tour. The island is known as Venice’s countryside. This agricultural zone of the city is full of flower and vegetable fields and was historically the “Doge’s Vegetable Garden”. We have lunch on board and make a stop for a visit to Borges Labyrinth located on the ancient monastery of San Giorgio Maggiore. This evening, enjoy a Farewell Dinner on board.

• Breakfast
• Lunch
• Dinner

After breakfast, we depart our ship and make our way to Bologna. On arrival, enjoy a short tour of the city, which includes Piazza Maggiore; San Petronio; the leaning towers of Bologna; and Orto Botanico, the city’s botanical gardens. During the 16th century, herbs for medicines were grown here. We enjoy lunch in a local restaurant, savouring the regional dish of tortellini, before continuing on to Tuscany and our beautiful villa, located in the serene countryside.

Stay: Three Nights, Tuscany, Villa Olmi or similar

• Breakfast
• Lunch
• Dinner

Today we make our way to Florence to visit three incredible gardens. Villa Gamberaia is a historic villa, built in the early 1600s and known for its magnificent gardens overlooking the Arno valley. Next we visit the romantic, English-style garden of Giardino Torrigiani, the largest privately owned garden situated within city boundaries in Europe. Finally visit Boboli Gardens, originally designed for the Medici, it represents one of the first and most important examples of the Italian garden, which later served as inspiration for many European courts. 

• Breakfast
• Dinner