Some cities are best explored on foot. Venice was made to be seen from the water.
In October 2026, this special relationship between Venice and the sea takes centre stage with the arrival of one of Italy’s most famous ships: Amerigo Vespucci, the historic training ship of the Italian Navy.
The ship will be in the Venetian Lagoon from 2 to 7 October 2026, during the Trans-Regional Seapower Symposium, offering visitors another reason to rediscover Venice’s extraordinary maritime identity.
But the arrival of Amerigo Vespucci can also inspire a different way to experience the city.
After admiring one of Italy’s great symbols of seafaring tradition, why not step aboard yourself?
A Venice boat tour through the lagoon allows you to experience the city from its most authentic perspective: the water. It is a journey that connects Venice’s maritime past with the pleasure of navigating its lagoon today, passing historic landmarks before continuing towards islands such as Murano, Burano and Torcello.
Because in Venice, the boat is not simply a way to get from one place to another.
It is part of the story.
Amerigo Vespucci in Venice in October 2026
With its unmistakable profile, tall masts and elegant lines, Amerigo Vespucci is one of the most recognisable ships of the Italian Navy.
Its presence in Venice from 2 to 7 October 2026 creates a particularly evocative encounter between two great maritime stories.
The ship is expected in the area of Riva di San Biagio, close to the Naval Historical Museum and the Venice Arsenale – places that are themselves deeply connected with the city’s naval history.
Its visit takes place in connection with the Trans-Regional Seapower Symposium, an international event focused on maritime dialogue and cooperation.
For visitors to Venice during these days, the occasion offers more than the opportunity to see an extraordinary vessel.
It is also an invitation to look at Venice differently.
Turn towards the basin, watch the boats moving across the water and consider how profoundly navigation has shaped this city.
Venice: a city built around water
It is almost impossible to separate the history of Venice from the history of navigation.
For centuries, the lagoon was not an obstacle separating communities. It was their connection.
Boats carried people, goods, materials and ideas. Maritime routes linked Venice to ports across the Mediterranean and beyond, while the city’s shipyards, sailors and craftspeople helped create one of Europe’s great maritime centres.
Even today, water continues to define daily life.
There are no cars moving through the historic centre. Instead, there are vaporetti, water taxis, gondolas, working boats and vessels travelling between Venice and the islands.
This is why seeing Venice from a boat feels so different from looking at it from a bridge.
From the water, you are no longer simply observing the city.
You are experiencing it from the perspective around which it was built.
From Amerigo Vespucci to a Venice boat tour
The arrival of Amerigo Vespucci provides the perfect occasion to rediscover the pleasure and fascination of travelling by water.
Of course, the experience of a historic naval training ship and that of a lagoon excursion are very different.
But they share something fundamental: the ability of a vessel to change our relationship with a place.
From the deck of a boat, Venice reveals itself gradually.
Palaces and churches appear along the waterfront. Bell towers rise above the rooftops. The dense urban landscape begins to open as you leave the historic centre and enter the wider lagoon.
A Venice lagoon boat tour makes the journey itself part of the destination.
And this way of showing visitors Venice has been at the heart of Serenissima Tour for more than a century.
Exploring the Venetian Lagoon since 1924
Serenissima Tour is a brand of Serenissima Motoscafi, a historic Venetian company that began organising excursions to the islands in 1924.
For more than 100 years, its boats have connected visitors with another side of Venice: the lagoon and its islands.
That long history is especially meaningful in a city where boats have always played such an important role.
Generations of travellers have stepped aboard to leave the busy historic centre behind and discover Murano, Burano, Torcello and the landscapes of the lagoon.
Today, Serenissima Tour continues that tradition with excursions designed for international visitors, accompanied by onboard staff who welcome passengers, provide information and assist them during the journey.
It is a century-old way of discovering Venice that remains just as relevant today.
Marinella: the charm of a classic Venetian boat
The maritime heritage of Serenissima Motoscafi can also be seen in one of the most distinctive vessels in its fleet: Marinella.
With its classic character and warm wooden interiors, Marinella evokes an elegant approach to navigation that feels particularly at home in Venice.
The connection with Amerigo Vespucci is not about comparing two very different vessels.
Instead, it is about appreciating something that both can inspire: a fascination with boats that have character, history and a strong connection with the world of navigation.
Wooden details, carefully designed interiors and the experience of travelling on the water create an atmosphere that is very different from simply moving between two points on a map.
In Venice, this matters.
The journey itself can become one of the memories you take home.
Leave Venice behind and enter the lagoon
Once you move away from the historic centre, another Venice begins to appear.
The horizon becomes wider. The rhythm changes. Small islands emerge from the water, each with its own identity and traditions.
This is where a Venice boat tour becomes more than a panoramic experience.
It becomes a way of understanding the geography of the city.
Venice is the heart of a much larger lagoon environment, and islands such as Murano, Burano and Torcello each tell a different part of its story.
Murano is internationally known for its centuries-old glassmaking tradition.
Burano welcomes visitors with brightly coloured houses, picturesque canals and a long tradition of lacemaking.
Torcello offers a completely different atmosphere: quiet, green and deeply connected with the earliest history of settlement in the lagoon.
Travelling between them by boat makes their relationship with Venice much easier to understand.
Murano, Burano and Torcello: Venice beyond St Mark’s Square
For travellers who want to combine navigation with discovering the islands, Serenissima Tour offers different itineraries across the lagoon.
A visit to Murano and Burano combines two of its most famous destinations. In Murano, visitors can attend a live glassblowing demonstration inside a traditional glass factory before continuing to colourful Burano.
Those who want a more complete lagoon experience can choose a full-day excursion to Murano, Burano and Torcello, discovering three very different islands in a single journey.
And throughout the excursion, the changing views from the boat remain an essential part of the experience.
This is one of the reasons a lagoon tour complements a stay in Venice so well.
Walking through Venice lets you enter its streets and squares.
Travelling by boat lets you understand the world around them.
Visiting Venice in October 2026? Rediscover its maritime soul
Seeing Amerigo Vespucci in the Venetian Lagoon is a special opportunity to celebrate Italy’s seafaring heritage.
But it can also become the starting point for your own experience on the water.
After admiring the ship and exploring Venice’s maritime history, step aboard and discover what the city looks like from the lagoon.
Watch its skyline change as you leave the historic centre. Feel the space of the lagoon open around you. Continue towards Murano, Burano and Torcello and discover communities whose history has always depended on their relationship with the water.
Venice has been looking towards the sea for centuries.
Perhaps the best way to understand it is to do the same.
Experience Venice from the water with Serenissima Tour
For more than 100 years, Serenissima Motoscafi has been taking visitors across the Venetian Lagoon.
Today, Serenissima Tour continues this tradition with boat excursions connecting Venice with Murano, Burano and Torcello.
If the arrival of Amerigo Vespucci has inspired you to discover Venice’s maritime side, make the water part of your own journey.
Choose your Venice boat tour with Serenissima Tour and discover the lagoon, its islands and a different perspective on one of the world’s most extraordinary cities.
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