Daytime flight from London and regional airports to Venice. Transfer by coach to Piazzale Roma, and then on by boat to our accommodation in Venice, the Casa Cardinale Piazza, situated in the historical centre of Venice. Check in for a four-night stay. This afternoon we walk the short distance to St Mark’s Square. We visit the great basilica, which was built in the 11th century to house the body of Venice’s Patron Saint, St Mark the Evangelist. The rest of the day will be at leisure, and dinner will be in the guesthouse tonight.

After breakfast, we walk through a maze of streets to one of the gems of Venice – Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, the second-largest church in Venice, founded by the Franciscan order in 1250. Amongst the famous buried here is the composer, Monteverdi. The Frari church contains some of the greatest examples of religious art in Venice, including Titian’s Assumption of the Virgin, Donatello’s St John the Baptist and Bellini’s Madonna and Child with Saints. We will spend some time here in order to enjoy what could be argued to be the Jewel in Venice’s crown. Our third organised visit will be to the baroque church of Santa Maria della Salute, towering over the entrance to the Grand Canal, built in thanksgiving after the Plague of 1630 had ended. The rest of the day will be at leisure to walk through the Labyrinth of streets, bridges and canals or take a boat to the Island of Murano with its glass showrooms, as well as the churches of San Pietro Maria and Ss Maria e Donato.

This morning we travel out by boat into the lagoon to visit two of the inhabited Northern

Islands. The first cathedral of Venice was built on the island of Torcello in the 7th century and although there are few inhabitants today, in the 14th century there were nearly 20,000 people living here! Today, Torcello is quiet but its beautiful cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption is definitely worth the visit. Burano in contrast to Torcello is still very much a working island, where many of the men still depend on fishing and some of the women still practise lace making and the brightly coloured houses lend it its own particular character. There will be time to have lunch (at our choice) in Burano, before returning to Venice in the early afternoon, with the rest of the day at leisure.

For those who wish, there will be an optional excursion by train to the town of Padua (£19 per person), associated with the Franciscan Saint Anthony who lived and died here in the 13th century. We visit the great Basilica and the Saint’s shrine. Padua is a beautiful medieval town in its own right with lovely squares and an ancient university but seems unspoilt by tourism. A guided tour will include the celebrated Capella degli Scrovegni, decorated with what are thought to be some of Giotto’s finest frescoes. Return to Venice in the late afternoon.

During the morning, transfer by coach to Venice Marco Polo Airport for our return flight to London or to other regional airports.