In the inaugural It’s About Travelling Bucket List Battle, we’ve chosen eight world class travel destinations that nearly always find their way onto most people’s lifetime to-do lists. The destinations will go head to head and will eventually dwindle down to one top dog. For the purposes of this article, money and time are not an object.
In the opening round, we’ve got two that should make for a tough decision. On one side, we’ve got two weeks in Venice (the old city), Italy with unlimited access to a vehicle for day trips. On the North American side, we’ve got an 18 night luxury Panama Canal cruise aboard the Seabourn Sojourn.
Venice, Italy
Often a day trip for tours and cruises, Venice, Italy can only be truly appreciated by spending some time on the islands. Once the throngs run to get back on their buses and boats, Venice becomes magical.
Yes, you’ve got your must-see’s like the Piazza San Marco, Doge’s Palace, the Grand Canal, the Rialto, the canals, the bridges and the gondolas. However, the most powerful experience you can take away from Venice is realizing just how ancient the city is while you get lost in the labrynthe of back alleys.
Venice is made up of 118 small islands in the northern part of the Adriatic Sea. Venice is the centre of the Veneto Region of Italy. The city has a population of 270,000 with just 60,000 living in the historic part of the city. To stay at a hotel right in the historic part of Venice in the off season will cost between $100 and $300 per night, and higher. Moving into spring and summer, those prices increase to a range between $125 and $500, and higher.
Don’t forget, with your two weeks in Venice, you also get unlimited access to a car for day trips. Afterall, we’ve matching up with an 18 night cruise, here. Just a few examples of where you might go, besides the Italian countryside and the Adriatic coast:
- It’s around a three hour drive to Bled, Croatia.
- In about two and a half hours, you can be in Milan. A little longer if you stop in Verona along the way.
- Innsbruck, Austria is around three and a half hours away, but wouldn’t that be one amazingly scenic drive?
Panama Canal
18 nights on the Seabourn Sojourn from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida to Los Angeles, California via the Panama Canal. This ain’t no inside cabin on a ship holding 4,000 souls. Seabourn is one of the top luxury cruise lines this world has to offer.
The Sojourn next makes this particular trek starting Tuesday, December 17, 2013. The ship is nearly sold out but there are still some $7,999 per person suites still available. She’ll transit the Panama Canal on Monday, December 23. Along the way, the ship will also make these port calls:
- Cartegena, Colombia
- San Blas Islands, Panama
- Puntarenas, Costa Rica
- Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala
- Puerto Chiapas, Mexico
- Huatulco, Mexico
- Cabo San Lucas, Mexico – New Year’s Day
The Seabourn Sojourn embarked on its maiden voyage in June of 2010. She’s 650 feet long and has eight decks accessible to passengers. The Sojourn has a capacity for 450 passengers and it takes 330 crew members to run the show.
The Panama Canal is a 77 kilometre long system of locks that connects the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean. Work began on the canal as far back as 1881. It was originally completed in 1914. Gatun Lake is a man made body of water at the highest point along the canal, 85 feet above sea level. On either side of Gatun Lake there are three locks. Projected for completion in 2015 is a new, wider lane that will open the canal up to much larger cruise and cargo ships.
