Venice (Marghera)

In Venice, the streets are known as “calli” and cars are replaced by boats, the most famous of which is the gondola, which you will take on a tour around the canals. The essence of Venice.

• Giudecca Canal and St. Mark's Basin  Sant'Erasmo Canal, St. Mark's Square * Gondola trip

You will reach Cornoldi by boat, near St. Mark's Basin, it's a short walk to the gondola moorings, where your tour of the canals of Venice begins.  If you love numbers then you should know that gondolas are 11 meters long, 1.4 wide and about half a meter high, also they have an asymmetric shape to help the gondolier keep his balance when steering, which he does using a long oar, standing on the left hand side of the stern. The elegance of this boat is also a result of the expertise with which it is built. Did you know that eight different types of wood are used to build one? Oak, fir, cherry, larch, lime, elm, walnut and mahogany are expertly fitted together in this masterpiece of naval engineering.  At the end of the trip, you can carry on wandering around the old town and make your own way back. St. Mark's Square and its covered arcades await you.

• Each gondola can carry up to 4 people. Families cannot be guaranteed to travel on the same gondola.  The excursion ends at the airport for guests who have a flight after 6.30 p.m. We recommend consulting the MyTours Excursions Office on board, communicating the time of any flight, in order to verify the compatibility of the tour with your departure time.  The excursion program does not include any further transfer at the end of the excursion from the Cruise Terminal, neither to the railway station nor to any other destination.  This is one of the most popular excursions so book early.  The cost of the tour includes the entrance fee to Venice for the dates on which it is scheduled.

Immerse yourself in the "dolce vita" atmosphere of Venice. Take a boat like the most famous secret agent of the silver screen, as you make your grand entrance to the lagoon. There'll be no chases though, even if you're wearing dark glasses like in the film shot in Venice! As you pass the narrow streets and Gothic and Baroque palaces in a gondola, you'll ask yourself: is this a film or reality?

• Boat tour of the Venetian Lagoon: Giudecca; San Marco basin; St. Mark's Square; Venice Lido
• Sightseeing gondola tour of the canals of Venice

• You'll take a boat to the San Marco basin, entering the lagoon in true cinematic style: like the famous British secret service agent himself, with the island of San Giorgio Maggiore to your left and the Basilica of Santa Maria della Salute behind you.
• Discover the “city on the water” as you sail towards the Lido, you'll reach the gondola station on foot. Now, as you slip past Gothic and Baroque palaces a doubt may spring to mind: is all this beauty real, or have you stumbled onto a film set?
• The gondolier, standing on the left side of the gondola, looks like something out of a movie. Did you know that it's asymmetrical precisely to ensure good balance?
• Then you'll disembark, but you'll still have time to breathe in the enchantment of Venice, among the narrow streets of the old center. Just like the famous visitor in the Hollywood film "The Tourist" living a new life in Italy, you can decide when to shake yourself out of your dream and head back to the ship.

• Gondolas can accommodate up to 4 people; it may be necessary to share the boat with other passengers or split larger groups and families over several gondolas
• The experience is also available for guests disembarking the ship. If Marghera is your port of disembarkation, remember to inform the MyTours desk of the times your means of transport (flight, train, transfer, coach) for the return home, so that they can check that the tour is compatible with your departure time.
• Additional transfers to the train station, airport or other destination are not included in the price of the experience.
• For guests disembarking in Marghera, a luggage deposit service is available inside the Cruise Terminal: you can collect your bag until 5 p.m.  
• The cost of the tour includes the entrance fee to Venice for the dates on which it is scheduled.

Love stories and horror stories. Sometimes both together. Venice is a city of ghosts and legends and loves to surround things in mystery. Our guide will be waiting for you at Riva degli Schiavoni for a tour of the most mysterious places in the city called "La Serenissima".

• Giudecca Canal, Church of the Pietà and Pio Ospedale della Pietà, Calle della morte, Campo San Giovanni e Paolo, Scuola Grande di San Marco and Calle delle Carrozze.

• The first stop is the Church of the Pietà, where Antonio Vivaldi, known as the “Red Priest”, composed and taught music and singing to foundlings from the nearby orphanage: you'll discover the rest of the story when you're there. *The excursion continues among secret passages and ruins. Even today, entering Calle della Morte , the scene of some perfect crimes, can be disconcerting. *Campo San Giovanni e Paolo* on the other hand is haunted by the beheaded body of Doge Marin Faliero, looking for the head he lost as a punishment for having dared to conspire against the city. Look at that strange inscription on the façade of the Scuola Grande di San Marco*, it represents a man with a turban and a heart in his left hand. There's a story behind it, and it doesn't have a happy ending. In Calle delle Carrozze you may wonder: why is there a "carriage street" in a city with no carriages? Yet more mysteries.

• This is one of the most popular excursions so book early. The excursion is available for both transit and disembarking guests. We recommend consulting the MyTours Excursions Office on board, communicating the time of any flight, train or transfer, in order to verify the compatibility of the tour with your departure time. The excursion program does not include any further transfer at the end of the excursion from the Cruise Terminal, neither to the railway station nor to any other destination. Costa Cruises offers all tour guests a left luggage service inside the Cruise Terminal, where luggage can be delivered and collected until 5.00 p.m. The cost of the tour includes the entrance fee to Venice for the dates on which it is scheduled.

Let's face it: walking around Venice is always an experience but only a gondola can take you to the most remote canals, giving you a more intimate and secret view of the city. Are you ready? Comfortably seated, your gondolier standing at the stern, the silence and stillness of the water to keep you company. Another world.

• Riva degli Schiavoni Doge's Palace (external visit) and Piazzetta San Marco Gondola trip * St. Mark's Square

• Travel to Riva degli Schiavoni by private boat. From here start your walk with a local to escort you. You'll pass by the Doge's Palace and Piazzetta San Marco, with its granite columns, known to Venetians as the “Todaro Columns” after St. Theodore. But you need to experience Venice in the most Venetian way possible: by gondola. So hop on to discover some of the most significant, hidden and intriguing canals of the historic lagoon city. Have you ever wondered how a gondola manages to go in a straight line despite being rowed from one side? An excellent question to ask your gondolier. Here's a hint: its shape is asymmetric. You'll discover what a Venetian greeting is: it's exchanged by gondoliers, strictly in local dialect, whenever they pass each other on the canals, joking and making fun of one another. * At the end, there is still time for a quick walk around St. Mark's Square, around the Basilica which houses the body of the Evangelist, the majestic arcades of the Old and New Procuracies and the Correr Museum, the Clock Tower, with the two Moors striking the hours, and the Florian Café.

• Each gondola can carry up to 4 people. Families cannot be guaranteed to travel on the same gondola. The excursion is available for both transit and disembarking guests. We recommend consulting the MyTours Excursions Office on board, communicating the time of any flight, train or transfer, in order to verify the compatibility of the tour with your departure time. The excursion program does not include any further transfer at the end of the excursion, neither from the Cruise Terminal to the railway station nor to any other destination. Costa Cruises offers all tour guests a left luggage service inside the Cruise Terminal, where luggage can be delivered and collected until 5.00 p.m. This is one of the most popular excursions so book early. * The cost of the tour includes the entrance fee to Venice for the dates on which it is scheduled.

Venice was designed to be seen from the water. To be a jaw-dropping sight for visiting ambassadors, merchants and adventurers even before they could set foot on dry land. On this boat trip you'll also see the palaces, bridges, squares, churches and smaller islands of the city, known as "La Serenissima", like a VIP of yesteryear.

• Scenic boat trip:
• Giudecca Canal, Islands of San Giorgio, San Clemente, San Servolo and San Lazzaro, Lido Island, Sant'Andrea Fortress, Islands of Le Vignole and Sant’Erasmo.
• Island of Murano, Marani Canal and Arsenal, Basilica of San Pietro di Castello, St. Mark's Square.

• The boat will leave the Giudecca Canal for the Lido. You'll pass the Island of San Clemente and the Island of San Giorgio, on which the distinctive Renaissance basilica built by Palladio stands out.
• Did you know that San Servolo was for many centuries the island where psychiatric patients were confined? Today it is the site of the Museo del Manicomio (mental hospital museum).
• San Lazzaro degli Armeni, on the other hand, is the site of a monastery still occupied by the Armenian Mekhitarist Fathers, who were persecuted by the Turks and left their homeland in the 18th century.
• The Lido separates the lagoon from the open sea: Venetians come to this island when they want some beach time. This is also one of the most dangerous access points from the sea, in the event of attack by an enemy fleet: it was for this very reason that the Sant'Andrea Fortress was built in the 16th century.
• You will travel past Le Vignole and Sant'Erasmo, Venice's two kitchen garden islands and head towards the Arsenal.
• After skirting the island of Murano, famous for its glass blowing artistry, the tour will end in the port, after sailing past St. Mark's Square.

• During the tour, a local guide will provide you with assistance and information.
• On the return journey the boat will stop at St. Mark's Square for those who wish to remain on their own and make their way back to the ship later.
• The excursion is available for both transit and disembarking guests. We recommend consulting the MyTours Excursions Office, communicating the time of any flight, train or transfer, in order to verify the compatibility of the tour with your departure time.
• The excursion program does not include any further transfer at the end of the excursion, neither from the Cruise Terminal to the railway station nor to any other destination.
• Costa Cruises offers all tour guests a left luggage service inside the Cruise Terminal, where luggage can be delivered and collected until 5.00 p.m.

In the Venetian Lagoon, every little corner exudes art and tradition. You will first experience this on Murano island, watching a local master glass maker at work in a typical glass workshop, and then on the centuries-old St. Mark's Square, with its palaces and monuments created by generations of artists. Keep your camera handy and get inspired, too!

• Panoramic boat cruise to Murano island Murano: Glass-making demonstration in a typical glass workshop St. Mark's Square * Free time

• You'll reach the Venetian Lagoon's most famous island by boat: Murano, renowned for its ancient glass-making tradition. In fact, you'll enjoy a demonstration in a typical glass workshop, and witness with your own eyes the artisanal expertise of a “master glass maker” in action: The “master” coordinates the work of the other artisans. Do you know what they're called? Here are a few names: the “servente”, the “garzone” and the “forcellante”. After so much tradition, the boat will head Cornoldi just few minutes away from St. Mark's Square, the only square in Venice – for real. Did you know that Napoleon Bonaparte was spellbound by it, too, and called it the “most beautiful drawing room in Europe”? You'll fully understand when you see the iconic, and still intact, buildings of the ancient ‘La Serenissima’: St. Mark's Basilica, the Doge's Palace, the Campanile, the Museo Correr and the Clock Tower. It's worth capturing them on camera from all angles, so you can take home the best mementos of the city.

• The excursion is available for both transit and disembarking guests. We recommend consulting the MyTours Excursions Office, communicating the time of any flight, train or transfer, in order to verify the compatibility of the tour with your departure time. The excursion program does not include any further transfer at the end of the excursion from the Cruise Terminal, neither to the railway station nor to any other destination. Costa Cruises offers all tour guests a left luggage service inside the Cruise Terminal, where luggage can be delivered and collected until 5 p.m. The experience in St. Mark's Square is not guided. The cost of the tour includes the entrance fee to Venice for the dates on which it is scheduled.