This tour went ahead 22 July - 1 August 2008. Please see our Greek Wine & Archaeology cruise details for 2009 and for 2010 on Le Ponant, Venice - Malta.
A&C have chartered the fabulous super-yacht ‘Ponant’ for a magnificent eleven day voyage from Nice to Venice. We sail right round Italy, calling in on Corsica, Sicily, the Croatian islands and Istria too. In the tradition of our Italian, Sicilian and Greek wine cruises, this will be a wonderful voyage of discovery taking in dramatic sites out of the way places and great food and wine. We’ll discover the best of the local wines. From the famous wines of Tuscany, the rising stars of Sicily and Puglia, to the relatively unknown wines of Croatia.
Le Ponant is a 260 feet luxury, 3 masted sailing-cruiser with just 32 good sized outside cabins (from 116 – 150 sq ft) with marble shower-rooms. Our maximum party size will be just over 50 to a crew of 30. Being French, there is a French chef and a pastry chef preparing gourmet menus.
Tour Itinerary:
Day 1, 22 July: Flight with British Airways Heathrow-Nice. Transfer to the ship in Nice harbour and depart early evening for Genoa.
Day 2, 23 July: We arrive in Genoa. You will have plenty of time to explore. We will taste wines from the Cinque Terre today.
Day 3, 24 July: We arrive in Corsica, to Bastia and have time to explore this fascinating town and its castle. We taste the wines from Corsica and there is an optional drive up the spectacular coast to Macinaggio to taste the luscious Muscats of Cap Corse.
Day 4, 25 July: Today we drop anchor off the coast of southern Lazio and offer visits to the lovely town of Gaeta on a headland dominated by its magnificent Aragonese castle. Whilst here we will taste the wines of Falerno, ancient Rome’s ‘Grand Cru’.
Day 5, 26 July: Arrive Agropoli. Close to the ruins of the Ancient Greek city of Paestum with its famous temples, and the lovely town of S. Maria di Castelbate, this region is also home to Mozzarella cheese and wines from the Cilento DOC.
Day 6, 27 July: We sail past Stromboli at night. Arrive Taormina, Sicily. We will have a round up tasting of Sicilian wines here.
Day 7, 28 July: Arrive Gallipoli, Puglia. This is of course the less well known, Italian Gallipoli. (The name is a corruption of the Greek ‘Kali Polis’, meaning beautiful city.)
Day 8, 29 July: Arrive Trani on the Puglian east coast. This is a pretty small ports close to the vineyards of Puglia.
Day 9, 30 July: Today we arrive into Croatian waters and visit the island of Korcula.
Day 10, 31 July: Our destination today is Porec, on the Istrian coast. We will taste the wines from the region which are made from Refesco and Malvasia. We depart from here in time to arrive in Venice for the evening and after dinner stroll along the canal, or catch a river taxi to St Mark’s.
Day 11, 1 August: Depart after breakfast for a lunchtime return flight.
Extend: Stay on for two nights in Venice.
Note: This tour is not suitable for children.
Notes:
Airfare is included in the tour price.
Prices:
- £4899 per person in upper deck cabin
- £4199 per person in lower deck cabin
- The included flight is London - Nice / Venice London. If this is not taken the cost £150 (approx $300) can be subtracted from the tour cost.
Price Includes:
- Flight & taxes as above
- Breakfast, lunch with wines, tea, Gourmet dinner with wines selected by the wine guide
- Additional on board wine tastings
- Crew tips
- 2-3 members of the A&C team accompany the cruise.
Also see tour packages in:
Europe
France
Italy
Croatia
Local Culture
Food & Wine
Boating and Sailing
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