 |
| Mobile Index | Hotel Guide |
Barge Cruises
on the Venetian Lagoon and Po River
ABOVE: La Bella Vita in Venice, Italy. INSET BELOW: Dinner on deck, and a junior suite.
Hotel
barges are a popular way for upscale travelers to explore France, the
Netherlands, and other parts of Europe that have extensive canal networks.
Thanks to
European Waterways Ltd., it's now
possible to explore the Venetian Lagoon and the Po River Valley by luxury hotel
barge.
European Waterways used to market Venice cruises on a six-passenger barge called La Dolce Vita, but in 2010, the company introduced a new and larger vessel: La Bella Vita ("The Beautiful Life"), which carries up to 20 passengers in eight staterooms and two junior suites.
Six-night
cruises aboard
La Bella Vita start in Venice, continue to port towns such as
Pellestrina and Chioggia on the
Venetian Lagoon, and then head up the Po River toward Ferrara. The cruise ends
in Mantua, with return transportation to Venice by bus. (Every other week, the
cruise runs in the opposite direction.)
For more information, see the La Bella Vita pages at www.gobarging.com, the Web site for European Waterways.
Also see:
Venice River Cruises
Three companies--CroisiEurope, Nicko Tours, and Uniworld--now offer river
cruising in the Venetian Lagoon and the Po River Valley, with roundtrip
itineraries from Venice that range from four to seven nights.
|
|
| Mobile Index | Hotel Guide |
Photos © European Waterways Ltd.
