Bucket-List Cruise Adventure

14-Night Venice to Istanbul Cruise Adventure

Viking Ocean · Viking Vesta · from Venice

$8,698 per person · next sails Mar 11, 2027 Book this cruise@ Cruisebound · same fare
Get there

Fly into Venice (VCE)

Your gateway to the voyage. Arrive a day or two early — the best of the trip starts before you board.

Open-jaw · fly into VCE, home from IST · $3,144 for two est.
Before you sail

Bucket-list days near Venice

Fly in at least a day early — every seasoned cruiser does, so a delay never costs you the ship. Here’s what’s worth that day, within reach of your port — not just the city you fly into.

0 mi from Venice

St. Mark's Basilica

126 mi from Venice

Villa d'Este - Tivoli Fountains & Mannerist Gardens (Day Trip)

Cardinal d'Este's 16th-century villa features hundreds of architectural fountains ingeniously engineered to celebrate water as art, cascading through…

Your voyage · 14 nights, day by day

Day by day — the unforgettable thing at every port

Your whole sailing in order: the day you board, every port it calls — each with the single bucket-list experience there and the operator who runs it — any days at sea, and the day you step off.

Days 1–2
Fusina (Venice) Embark
Board in the afternoon — fly in at least a day early (your day ashore here is just above).
Day 3
Diocletian's Palace · $76 for two with Split Walking Tours (official)how to make it yours → ·
Day 4
Walk Dubrovnik's Ancient City Walls · $76 for two with Walls of Dubrovnik (official ticket office)how to make it yours → ·
Day 5
Climb the City Walls to San Giovanni Fortress · $18 for two with Kotor City Walls / San Giovanni Fortress (official municipal ticket booths in the Old Town)how to make it yours → ·
Day 6
★ Paleokastritsa Blue Caves & coves by speedboat — how to make it yours →
Day 7
Katakolon (Olympia)port guide →
Museum of Ancient Greek Technology · $22 for two with Museum of Ancient Greek Technology (Kostas Kotsanas Museum)how to make it yours → ·
Days 8–9
Piraeus (Athens)port guide →
★ The Acropolis & Parthenon, Guided Skip-the-Line — how to make it yours →
Day 10
Balos Lagoon & Gramvousa · $389 for two with Withlocals Heraklion Private Sailing (local expert fleet)how to make it yours → ·
Day 11
Private Full-Day Rhodes Island Highlights & Lindos · $784 for two with Rhodes Islander (Licensed Private Guides)how to make it yours → ·
Day 12
Kusadasi (Ephesus)port guide →
The Ephesus Experience Museum · $86 for two with Ephesus Archaeological Site (official, Ministry of Culture and Tourism)how to make it yours → ·
Day 13
Private Gallipoli Battlefields · $340 for two with Fez Travel – Private Shore Excursionhow to make it yours → ·
Days 14–15
Istanbul Disembark
Disembark in the morning — or stay on for the days just below.
After you disembark

Bucket-list days near Istanbul

You end in a different port — stay on, and add what’s within reach before you fly home.

2 mi from Istanbul

Topkapi Palace Secret Rooms + Palace Historian Guide

Private or small-group tour accessing restricted palace rooms and harem quarters with a specialist guide who reveals the political intrigue, architect…

6 mi from Istanbul

Sumahan on the Water - Architectural Residency & Dinner

Ottoman-era indigo factory converted into a luxury hotel on the Asian side of the Bosphorus; the restaurant serves chef-designed multi-course dinners…

Before you sail

Make it longer — by land from Venice

The ship is the spine, not the whole trip. These are full land adventures within reach of your port.

5 mi from Venice · fly VCE

Palazzo Doors, Lagoon Vineyards: Venice Beyond the Crowd Line

Private Venice, Lagoon Slow

See the whole plan →
125 mi from Venice · fly FLR

Florence to Val d'Orcia: Wine, Frescoes & Thermal Springs

Tuscan Wine & Culture Road Trip

See the whole plan →
166 mi from Venice · fly SZG

Salt, Stone and Grüner Veltliner: Salzburg Beyond Mozart

Alpine Baroque Road Trip

See the whole plan →
After you disembark

Make it longer — by land from Istanbul

The ship is the spine, not the whole trip. These are full land adventures within reach of your port.

21 mi from Istanbul · fly IST

Bosphorus Currents: Fortresses, Kebab Masters and Island Ferries

Bosphorus Culture Escape

See the whole plan →
Home

Fly home from Istanbul (IST)

What this adventure runs estimated · for two
Your hotel
Flights open-jaw · fly into VCE, home from IST · 2 travelers $3,144 est.
Hotel before you sail1 night · Venice · Luxury~$1,100
Cruise fare14 nights · Viking Ocean · 2 guests$17,396
Shore excursions8 bucket-list things, booked direct · for 2 · swap any at its port above ↑~$1,791
Transfersairport ↔ ship, private car~$180
Trip total$23,611
Flights are estimated from our best gateways (refine from your own airport above) — an open-jaw trip: out to the embark port, home from where you disembark; the cruise fare is this sailing’s lead-in price for two; the hotel scales with the style you pick above; shore excursions are real book-direct operator prices, added as each port is curated; transfers are an estimate. We always build in at least one night ashore before you sail.
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