Rome and Venice Workation Package

Rome is an exciting and large city where the layers of history add to the personalities of each neighborhood. Your Workation representative will meet you at the airport when you arrive and drive you to your accommodations in the heart of the historic center. Known as the “Eternal City,” you can easily see remnants of Roman buildings emerging next door to medieval apartments, bakeries filled with delicious pastries, and locals sitting for a cup of espresso at an outdoor table. 

Enjoy your new accommodation, where Workation has pre-checked the amenities you need to get your work done while in Rome. You can quickly settle in before taking a walk around your new neighborhood. If you are in the Trastevere district, you can visit the Basilica of Our Lady in Trastevere to see the Romanesque bell tower and mosaics.

Focus:
Explore your new neighborhood. What do you hear, see, and smell? What makes you feel comfortable? 

Suggestion:
Enjoy a typical dessert to get acquainted with the city. Try a gelato or enjoy a typical tiramisu. 

You can visit the museums, art, and religious ambiance of the Vatican before the normal opening hours or after hours for a less-crowded experience. Vatican City is the world’s smallest country but holds an incredible number of artistic treasures inside the museums and St. Peter’s Basilica. The sacred space of the basilica is its own wonder, crowned with a nearly 450-foot tall dome designed by Michelangelo. You can find the renowned artist’s Pieta inside the church, which depicts an unaged Mary holding the body of Jesus. 

The Vatican Museum is where you can find the likes of Rafael’s School of Athens and Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel. The latter is at the end of the museum. As you stand beneath the painted ceiling and frescoed wall, you can see the remarkable detail in the colors the artist chose, as well as the depiction of each individual figure’s humanistic characteristics. 

Focus:
Find the Apollo del Belvedere. Notice the detail carved into the marble. What can you see? What stands out to you? Does it change when you learn the statue was considered one of the greatest ancient sculptures ever made? 

Suggestion:
If you can, climb to the top of St. Peter’s dome for one of the best views in Rome.

With a full day in Rome, you can visit the most iconic monuments and sites of the city. Explore with a guide for a more focused experience that can reveal secrets you may overlook on your own. You can start with a tour of the ancient ruins around the Colosseum, Roman Forum, and Circus Maximus. The Colosseum is an impressive feat of engineering with exterior walls standing nearly 160 feet tall. Inside, you may catch the smell of ancient dust as you peer down into the Hypogeum, the labyrinth beneath the central stage where gladiators and wild animals waited their turn.

Continue with a guide through the Renaissance and Baroque corners of Rome, from the Trevi Fountain to the Pantheon, the Spanish Steps to Piazza Navona. In Piazza Navona, artists often sit and paint the surroundings. You can watch the water trickle out of the Fountain of the Four Rivers, which uses allegorical figures to depict the four major rivers known to Europe during its construction by Bernini. 

Focus:
Visit the Tomb of King Vittorio Emanuele II, the king who united Italy. What do you notice about his tomb? What does it look like compared to the other tombs? 

Suggestion:
Visit the historic Sant’Eustachio Cafe for one of the best-known coffees in Rome.

Start your work ritual in the morning to get comfortable working in a new environment. For one of the best ways to toast to your successful first day of work in a new city, you can enjoy a gelato tour of the city. Meet with a local guide who specializes in the best gelato and gelaterie in Rome. 

You will tour the different neighborhoods learning more about gelato’s genesis, when it became popular, and why the gelaterie you are visiting represents some of the best gelato in Rome. Enjoy the airy weight, creamy texture, and variety of flavors. Taste the actual strawberries, the rich dark chocolate, or the crunch of the hazelnuts as you try new flavors in each space. 

Focus:
What is the texture of the gelato you prefer? How does the flavor come through? Does it taste real or artificial? 

Suggestion:
You get to choose how many flavors depending on the size you purchase. Make sure you try more than one.

Practice your ritual for getting into the right work headspace once more. Your Workation representative will meet you at your accommodation and drive you to the train station to catch your ride to Venice. The fast train takes approximately three hours and with wifi access, you can work and enjoy the views of the countryside as you pass the rolling hills of Tuscany, the plains of Emilia Romagna, and the edge of the Lombardy mountains before reaching Venice.

You can have a private vaporetto to your neighborhood with a Workation representative helping guide you to your new accommodation that has been pre-screened for your necessary amenities. Take the afternoon to explore your new neighborhood. If in the San Polo neighborhood, you can enjoy the views of the Grand Canal down to the Rialto Bridge. 

Focus:
Enjoy the train ride to Venice. Set an alarm to look out the window every 20 minutes. Pay attention to the countryside, to the stations, to the other people on the train. 

Suggestion:
If you have time, visit the Capitoline Museums before taking the train to Venice.

Venice is still Italy but feels completely different than Rome. The water, canal-side cafes, and food create a unique atmosphere that you can enjoy with an early espresso and pastry before starting work. In the afternoon, you can explore the iconic monuments of the city. A guide can help showcase the best of the city both in and out of legendary St. Mark’s Square. 

Inside the piazza, visit St. Marck’s Basilica where you can find over 45,600 square feet of gold mosaics dating back between the 12th and 13th centuries. The expansive artwork is awe-inspiring matched by the Renaissance works of artists like Titian and Tintoretto that covered older, sections of the church. 

Focus:
Inside the Doge’s Palace, travel into the hidden room for the Council of Ten. What do the images of the painting picturing the Vices say to you? 

Suggestion:
If you want to visit a number of museums, don’t miss the Dorsoduro neighborhood, which houses the Guggenheim collection and Punta della Dogana. 

After work, you can spend time on the island of Murano to explore the famous glass blowing shops and view a demonstration. The island can feel like a miniature version of Venice circling the Basilica dei Santi Maria e San Donato. The church was built in the 10th century and has details that speak directly to its history, including the colonnade and adorning lion of St. Mark.

Inside a glassblowing studio, you can enjoy a demo of an artform that helped make the Venetian Republic incredibly wealthy as it covered and protected the secrets of glassblowing for centuries. The heat inside the studio can feel oppressive at times while glassblowers angle, dangle, and spin glass in various directions to create the shapes they want and need. It’s an incredible lesson in tenacity, purposeful movement, and rewarding outcomes. 

Focus:
Find a piece of blown glass that speaks to you. How does the light hit the artwork? 

Suggestion:
Take part in a glass-blowing demonstration if you have the time. It can open your eyes to the challenges and focus needed for the art.

Spain is known for its tapas and Venice is known for its cicchetti. The combination of small plates paired with wine is a traditional Italian happy hour but the types of dishes are specific to Venice and the surrounding lagoon. There are few better ways to distinguish the week from the weekend than with a glass of wine at a local bar. 

Follow a guide to learn the best cicchetti places in Venice and find dishes like risotto cooked with cuttlefish ink or small crostini topped with gorgonzola and anchovies. The flavors pair incredibly well with a local wine as Venetians savor the dishes, drinks, and time winding down from the week.  

Focus:
Listen to the conversations around you as you drink the wine, eat the food, and enjoy the culture of a Cicchetti bar. How do you think those around you spent their week? 

Suggestion:
Try the potato croquettes for a great, small bite. 

With a full day to explore, you can relax and walk the neighborhoods of Venice or visit fascinating nearby cities for a broader view of the Veneto region. Take the train to visit the remarkable city of Padua, where narrow streets weave between grand Renaissance buildings. Byzantine domes add personality to the skyline and statues line the Prato della Valle banks. The Capell degli Scrovegni has a 14th-century chapel decorated by the famous artist Giotto. When looking at the frescoes, it’s easy to see the beginnings of the Renaissance in scenes depicting the life of Jesus and the Virgin. 

Continue to Verona to visit the charming city halfway between Milan and Venice famous as the home of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. A Roman amphitheater built in the 1st century BCE marks the edge of the historic center along the River Adige. You can visit the house of Juliet and walk throug a tunnel practically paved with letters addressed to the romantic heroine.

Focus:
Notice the letters in the House of Juliet. What do you think they are saying? 

Suggestion:
Visit the house of Juliet and touch the statue for good luck.

On your last morning in Venice, you may have time to walk through the Rialto Market and or visit a new neighborhood where you can sit and enjoy an espresso. The churches may crowd with locals for mass and the streets may feel much quieter, especially the farther away from Saint Mark’s Square you walk. When you are ready, your Workation representative will meet you and help you transfer to the airport. You can travel home or you can continue your Workation package to a new city of your choice. 

Focus:
Walk across the famous Rialto Bridge in the morning and listen to quiet Sunday morning. What do you hear?

Suggestion:
The airport is not on the island of Venice. You have to first cross the water, so give yourself enough time to travel to the mainland and then to reach the airport.