Smaller cruise ships will still be able to sail close to Venice’s main sights It has been common knowledge for many years that the Venetian authorities were considering banning giant cruise ships from the Giudecca Canal as they sail close to the heart of the city on their way to and from the international...
Read more →Are there any better cities than these three to introduce you to the exquisite country that is Italy. Experience all three in one week with Cities Direct and a tailored itinerary. Day 1 – Fly to Venice Spend your first day getting acquainted with the narrow passageways and getting lost among the bridges and...
Read more →Venice’s new flood barrier should be completed between 2018 and 2020. The challenge of protecting the city of Venice from the sea has been a long saga. Venice is generally threatened several times a year by the “acqua alta”, when the high tide in the Adriatic climbs by about a metre, leading to flooding...
Read more →Start 2016 with a spring in your step and a place in one of Europe’s city marathons. If your festive indulgences have left you approaching 2016 full of well-intentioned resolutions to get in shape, then it’s more than likely that you’re not alone! No matter how dedicated you start the New Year, it’s often...
Read more →Venice, Amsterdam, Bruges, Stockholm & St Petersburg. When talking about European cities, much is often made of the principal rivers that flow through them – the Seine in Paris, the Danube in Budapest, the Arno in Florence – or the seas on which they sit – the Adriatic, the Baltic, the Mediterranean. Yet for...
Read more →Whether it’s Renaissance architecture or futuristic design, Europe boasts many of the world’s most recognisable river crossings. As a 180-metre-high, glass-bottomed suspension bridge opens to the public in China’s Shiniuzhai National Geological Park, I take a look at some of Europe’s perhaps lesser-known, but no less recognisable river crossings… Bridge of Sighs, Venice It...
Read more →From film festivals and car shows to centuries-old cultural events, here’s a snapshot of what’s on in September across Europe. As we prepare to say goodbye to summer (‘what summer?’ I hear you cry!) and autumn fast approaches, there’s still plenty of events and offerings taking place across Europe, perfect for combining with a...
Read more →Tourism has become a serious threat to the city of Venice The telling fact is that day trippers now outnumber both overnight visitors and people who call Venice home. The rise in cruise ship tourism over the last 15 years has meant that of the 20 million people who visit Venice each year, only...
Read more →The Crème de la Crème of International Contemporary Art Descend of Venice for Biennale. As Milan’s tenure as host city for Expo 2015 gets underway, so too Venice prepares itself for the grand unveiling of its prestigious Biennale di Venezia, an internationally-renowned modern art exhibition described by some as the ‘Olympics of Contemporary Art’....
Read more →A 365-day homage to the Pollock Brothers at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection. If you were to mention the name ‘Pollock’, it’s probably a fair assumption that most people would associate it with the famous American artist, Jackson Pollock, renowned for his work in the genre of Abstract Expressionism. And yet few are aware that...
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