Included tours in Venice

[kcpvwill]

We are doing MEDITERRANEAN & ITALIAN SOJOURN this October (our 19th Viking cruise) and in Venice we have two possible included tours.  We have been to Venice before with Viking and have seen many of the sites, but have not been to Ravenna.  CC members, any thoughts?  
 

 

They are :

Ravenna: City of Mosaics or 

Venice On Your Own

 

[dd57]

Ravenna became the capital of the Christian Roman empire in 400 something, and paid a huge roll in the political and religious developments.  The mosaics of Justinian mosaics in the basilica of San Vitale show his claims as emperor over both military, politics, and religion and was  the first church mosaics to portray such a message.  As an art history major, it was the first place I wanted to see in Europe in my 20s.  So I might be biased.  Justinian built Hagia Sophia.  If you are interested in medieval history, going to Ravenna would be time well spent.

[CannotSwim]

We had a pre in Venice, and then a cruise from Venice to Athens. The Venice port of the ship was Chioggia and we returned to Venice on an excursion once the cruise started. I wouldn't do that again -- after the transport there wasn't much time in Venice.  In the same situation I would explore Chioggia. (I hope to return to Venice on a to-be-planned Italian land trip.)

Venice is a great city, and unusual, but I'd want more time in it than a day trip.

 

Ravenna I would consider as it is somewhere I would like to see, but probably don't want to spend much time in.

[lackcreativity]

We ended up in Ravenna by accident on a recent Viking cruise. When booked, we thought we were ending in Venice. Then Venice put the end to that ( I know, I do understand), so we were planning on ending in Fusina. While on the cruise, perhaps two days from the end, Viking announced that they had received notice that Fusina was closing the port for an environmental impact study and we would dock in Ravenna!

 

To their credit, Viking did a remarkable job in arranging last minute tours that included Ravenna as an option. Having been to Venice several times before, we were thrilled with the visit to Ravenna, even in the pouring down rain. The mosaics were spectacular (sadly the photo doesn't really do them justice), and the town was very enjoyable.