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Le Bougainville, 8 Night A Celebration of Art Featuring the 61st Venice Biennale ex Valletta, Malta to Venice, Italy
Cruise Le Bougainville, 8 Night A Celebration of Art Featuring the 61st Venice Biennale ex Valletta, Malta to Venice, Italy
Cruise Line Ponant
Ship Le Bougainville
Destination EU Mediterranean
Brief Description 8 Night Cruise sailing from Valletta, Malta onboard Le Bougainville
Type of Cruise Luxury
Departure Date 01 Jul 2026
Cruise Description This cruise is part of a collection of PONANT themed voyages that are specially-tailored for English-speaking travelers who want to engage with the world. In addition to the usual elements of the PONANT experience, the listed price for these voyages includes transfers to and from the ship, talks and discussions aboard ship by world class experts, and a shore excursion or activity in each port of call that encourages guests to embrace the sights, sounds, tastes, and smells of the local environment and culture.

This carefully curated voyage from Valletta to Venice revels in the rich diversity of art and architecture found in Sicily and in the cities along Italy's Adriatic coast—the Greek and Roman ruins at Syracuse; the proudly Baroque architecture of Lecce; the Renaissance treasures of Urbino; and the Byzantine mosaics in Ravenna. But the true highlight of the journey is at its end in the glorious city of Venice, where our ship remains docked for two full days as we join in the world's premier celebration of contemporary art—the 61st Venice Biennale—with exclusive visits to the Pinault Collection.

Our first port of call is the Sicilian city of Syracuse, which long rivaled Athens as one of the most powerful cities of the ancient world. You may choose to explore the extensive archaeological park, including the Roman Amphitheater of Augustus and a 15,000 seat Greek Theater. Or you may prefer to tour Ortygia, Syracuse's old town, home to many ancient monuments, including the city's Cathedral and the Palazzo Bellomo Museum.

During an afternoon in Otranto, visit the recently renovated Castello Aragonese, an art museum with marvelous views over the sea, and spend time exploring the Cathedral, known for its magnificent mosaics. Alternatively, you may travel to the hilltop town of Lecce, famous for its unique architectural style—Barocco Leccese—an exuberant blending of Baroque and Rococo. A walking tour of this remarkable city includes the Piazza del Duomo and Cathedral and the Basilica of Santa Croce.

From the port city of Bari, drive through olive groves and wheat fields to reach Alberobello, a UNESCO World Heritage Site that features over 1,500 trulli houses. These remarkable, white-washed structures with conical, domed roofs are constructed of local corbelled limestone without mortar, using a prehistoric building technique that has survived to this day.

Ancona offers the opportunity to travel to the town of Jesi, where the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II was born, to tour its well-preserved center of Renaissance and Baroque palaces and churches. Or you may choose to spend the day exploring nearby Urbino, birthplace of Raphael and home to the Palazzo Ducale, which houses the National Gallery of the Marche, one of the most important collections of Renaissance art in the world.

Ravenna is an ancient city that in the early Middle Ages served as the center of Byzantine power in Italy. The churches built here in the 5th and 6th centuries were collectively designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in large part because of their stunning mosaics. You will visit several of these churches, including the Basilica of San Vitale, the nearby Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, which contains the earliest mosaics in Ravenna, and the Basilica of Sant'Apollinare.

Your voyage comes to an end with two glorious days in Venice celebrating the Biennale with a series of very special events. A tour of the Contemporary Art Biennale, conducted by official Biennale guides, is followed by a private tour of the Punta della Dogana, a former customs house converted to a museum to house part of the extensive Pinault Collection. And your final day of this extraordinary journey ends with an exclusive tour of the Pinault Collection's Palazzo Grassi and a festive dinner in the palace's atrium.
Sailing Dates
01 Jul 2026
Category Single Twin Triple Quad
DEL AU $11,000 AU $11,000 ‐ ‐
PR4 AU $11,550 AU $11,550 ‐ ‐
PR5 AU $12,100 AU $12,100 ‐ ‐
PR6 AU $12,770 AU $12,770 ‐ ‐
DS6 AU $20,410 AU $20,410 AU $10,670 ‐
DS5 AU $20,410 AU $20,410 AU $10,670 ‐
DS3 AU $20,410 AU $20,410 AU $10,670 ‐
DS4 AU $20,410 AU $20,410 AU $10,670 ‐
PS5 AU $22,620 AU $22,620 AU $11,780 ‐
PS6 AU $23,180 AU $23,180 AU $12,060 ‐
PV5 AU $24,270 AU $24,270 AU $12,600 ‐
PV6 AU $24,270 AU $24,270 AU $12,600 ‐
GD6 AU $29,260 AU $29,260 AU $15,100 ‐
Cruise Itinerary
Date Port Arrive Depart
1 Jul 2026 Valletta, Malta 6:00 PM
2 Jul 2026 Syracuse, Sicily. IT 7:00 AM 3:00 PM
3 Jul 2026 Otranto, Italy 12:30 PM 8:00 PM
4 Jul 2026 Bari, Italy 7:00 AM 1:30 PM
5 Jul 2026 Ancona, Italy 9:00 AM 9:00 PM
6 Jul 2026 Ravenna, Italy 7:00 AM 9:00 PM
7 Jul 2026 Venice, Italy 7:00 AM
8 Jul 2026 Venice, Italy
9 Jul 2026 Venice, Italy 8:00 AM
All itineraries and ports of call at the discretion of the cruise line subject to local weather conditions and may change without notice.

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