I cruised Venice inside-out on a long weekend & avoided the masses – here’s how

Words by Nick Dalton

Venice is buzzing. It’s always buzzing. This is a Monday in late September and the crowds still glide in a slowly-moving mass around St Mark’s Square. And that’s without the visitors from the giant cruise ships that have now been banished from the city.

Still, it’s a beautiful place even if one does yearn for a little peace and quiet – and that’s just what we have, the best of both worlds with our CroisiEurope cruise around Venice, Italy.

Venetian Treasures is a river cruise, of sorts, but with the feel of open water. Our ship, MS Michelangelo [below, right], is docked in the heart of the city on the Seven Martyrs waterfront. This waterfront promenade runs from St Mark’s yet, less than 10 minutes delightful walk away, and the crowds are already thinning by the time we’re walking up the gangplank as the sun dips at the end of a wonderful day.

There are only 154 guests and we sit on deck gazing over the mass of polished-wood speedboats, like something from a 1960s spy movie, darting across the entrance to the Grand Canal. By now I’m sipping a G&T – included, like all but the poshest drinks, in the cruise price – and the sun is a fiery red ball slipping behind the church domes and reflected in the languid waters.

The four-night Venice cruise is part city break, part long weekend and part cruising, opening up Venice in a way you’d never manage from a hotel stay and exploring the vast lagoon it sits on. The ship is smartly modern with a large bar/lounge, one restaurant, and a sizeable sun deck with plenty of sun loungers, tables and chairs under an awning.

– READ MORE: 12 must-see sights on your first cruise to Italy –

We arrive from Venice airport in the afternoon to find MS Michelangelo on the grand waterway in the San Basilio area, near the now-deserted Venice cruise terminal. It’s not long before we’re off for a short sunset cruise through the city to our berth on the other side of excursion boats and small ferries, just before Giardini della Biennale, a lush green space where Biennale Art 2024 is underway in historic pavilions. There’s a glass of welcome fizz then a four-course dinner, with wine, as the lights glitter along the quayside.

– READ MORE: Best cruise excursions in Northern Italy –

Breakfast onboard in brilliant sunshine, a wealth of croissants, crusty bread, creamy cheeses and strong coffee. At 8.30 we’re off on a walking tour of lesser-known spots, along narrow backstreets, across tiny bridges spanning canals barely big enough for a lone gondolier to twirl his pole and on to the merry frenzy of the Grand Canal, crossing the Rialto Bridge, sipping an espresso in a café [above, right] as high tide laps close to our feet and then visiting the Rialto market where seagulls wait patiently by the fish stalls piled high with an extraordinary array of fish and seafood.

Back to the ship and passing up the chance of the three-course lunch (one is served daily rather than a buffet) I sit on deck with French bread and cheese from breakfast as we head across the lagoon for the little island of Mazzorbo.

It’s connected by a wooden footbridge to the livelier isle of Burano [below left], all pastel-coloured houses and a bustling main street of shops and cafes. After exploring, our tour boards a pleasure boat to sail back across the lagoon – just in time for thunder to roll, lightning to flash across the black clouds in every direction, and rain to pound the water. Some folks feel we’re hard done by but it’s a magnificent show of nature.

The display continues until just before we land on the island of Murano, famed for its glasswork. Here we have a glass-blowing demonstration, an ageing artisan creating an ornate jug and an avant-garde horse in only a few minutes. It’s reassuringly warm by the furnace but we’re led to the gift shop where even the simplest wine glass seems to hit €50. Not many carrier bags are troubled and there’s time for a canal stroll in the clear, cool air back to the boat and back to Venice where we meet MS Michelangelo in the stirring, puddled sunset.

A relaxed morning onboard our Venice cruise ship, enjoying the sunshine and the ever-changing panorama of boats and ferries. Taking a relaxed stroll up to St Mark’s, we walk past and find ourselves at the discreet waterfront watering hole, Harry’s Bar. It would be a shame not to so we enter the gentlemen’s club atmosphere and each order the famed bellini – peach juice and prosecco – created almost a century ago by the bar’s founder, Giuseppe Cipriani. Sipping slowly we agree the theatre-like experience is worth €22 a glass, and our elegantly-dressed waiter did bring a small bowl of massive olives…

From here we walk in the sunshine around corners and through expansive squares, along the water’s edge and back to St Mark’s [above, right] for our tour of the Doge’s Palace, the ornate, sprawling heart of the Venetian Empire.

Enormous rooms full of rich paintings and tapestries, the Bridge of Sighs, the dark walkway across a narrow canal to the even darker prison cells: it’s an attraction that’s easy to forego but not easy to forget.

Our ship’s 7 Martyrs Pier mooring has another advantage – it’s at the start of Via Giuseppe Garibaldi, a cheerily bustling pedestrianised street awash with bars, ice-cream shops, restaurants… and a Coop with a display of Cipriani products. I load up with a signature pale blue champagne-style bottle of bellini (well, two actually) and several packets of equally swish pasta.

Back onboard, we sail into the sun for San Basilio, to make things easier for tomorrow’s outing. It’s gala evening, champagne cocktails all round and a dinner that features a neat Mediterranean vegetable-laced guinea fowl dish – and the less-Med cruise staple of baked Alaska, arriving in a sparkler-rich staff procession.

Those who are up early see the sun rise as our ship heads south across the lagoon to the town of Chioggia, a pretty, canal-filled spot that likes to think of itself as Venice without the bustle. Half an hour’s walk from the port, it’s blessed with a long expanse of beach on a narrow barrier island.

We don’t get the chance to explore, instead wending inland by coach (an hour’s ride) to the university city of Padua. Here the 13th-century Basilica of St Anthony [above, right] is a monumental spot, a mighty mix of Romanesque, Gothic and Byzantine, resting place of St Anthony in a tomb, while parts of him – jaw, tongue, vocal chords – are displayed with true pomp.

A flit through the indoor market then back to Chioggia. Our return sailing to Venice is mesmerising, hugging the long, narrow coastal isles for almost two hours, first Pellestrina then Lido, a Floridian feel to the waterfront road lined with trees, churches, bars, pink-painted mansions and private docks with beaches, dunes and promenades tantalisingly on the far side.

That done we cut across the lagoon, an inland sea, and sail along the Venetian waterfront in the late afternoon sun. Our 7 Martyrs berth has, apparently, been commandeered by a military vessel so we cruise all the way through the city to San Basilio for our final evening.

Dinner is another Italian menu – burrata cheese with ripe, rich soft tomatoes in olive oil, followed by spaghetti with tomatoes and schnitzel-like pork, a mix of cheeses and finally tiramisu. The evening ends with a glass of grappa and a stroll on deck in the balmy late summer air…

Verdict

This cruise to Venice is seeing the Italian city from the inside out. MS Michelangelo has a long sundeck with loungers, a large glass-walled indoor lounge with a free bar (including all-day coffee) and an outdoor seating area at the front of the ship. Rooms are cosy (no balconies) but you don’t spend too much time in there when you’re awake.

– READ MORE: Sailawaze’s fave destinations for food around the world –