Marco Polo Tour Cycle from Venice to Athens

We carefully select the places where we stay based on their personality and the hospitality of our hosts. There is a coastal vibe to the accommodation we use on this tour starting in Venice and meandering our way down the Dalamatian coast to the beguiling city of Dubrovnik.

Overlooking the Grand Canal what a great spot from which to explore the beguiling city of Venice. Our 4* hotel maintains a personalised charm in the heart of the ‘Serenissima’.

A wonderful way to finish stage 1 and start stage 2 at our 5* hotel within walking distance of the old town of Dubrovnik. With an international team of chefs, a luxurious beach area, and a serene Anjana Spa it is great start and end point for our tour.

Owned by the Pascucci coffee family this five star hotel is both kitsch and grandiose at the same time. We love the quality of the service here and the Italian influence plays a role in the food making the restaurant top notch.

Our final hotel in Athens gets the combination of class and hospitality just right. Situated in the heart of the city with majestic views of the Acropolis it is a wonderful place to spend our final night on tour

Our spa hotel in Sibenik is modern and spacious and yet situated within easy walking distance of the old town on Sibenik. Situated on the waterfront this refined hotel has
always been a popular stop on the tour.

We choose our restaurants because they are exceptional and unique. The Balkans are a wonderful melting pot of cultures and history which is reflected in the extraordinary richness to be found in their culinary traditions. There are a myriad of different tasty recipes that cover the many different seafood specialities on the coast and the more meat focused inland areas.

With views across the Kotor marina and towards the Old Town it is hard to find a place with a more striking outlook. This restaurant blends the finest in Montenegrin cuisine with a more modern Mediterranean twist.

We first ate in this restaurant 5 years ago and it became an instant favourite. With panoramic views, an opportunity to reserve the entire rooftop just for our guests, and a cuisine which is among the best in the city, this is a great spot to celebrate the end of the tour.

Run by our friend Ana and her family this restaurant is found in the interior of the island in the village of Pupnat. With a focus on local produce from their farm this meal is a real tour highlight. From the homemade bread and desserts to the choice of peka dishes it never disappoints.

The Slow Food movement embraces so many elements that we hold dear in our own approach to designing tours. We were therefore delighted to come across this agriturismo in the Albanian countryside. With a relaxed approach and a focus on produce from their farm it’s a wonderful local dining experience.

Our restaurant is very much off the beaten track in an abandoned village just outside Hvar. Berti and his family have established an eatery that pays homage to the Dalmatian peak dish and is an undoubted culinary highlight of the tour.

Marco Polo (1254-1324) was a Venetian merchant who journeyed across Asia at the height of the Mongol Empire. He first set out at age 17 with his father and uncle, travelling overland along what later became known as the Silk Road. Upon reaching China, Marco Polo entered the court of powerful Mongol ruler Kublai Khan, who dispatched him on trips to help administer the realm. Marco Polo remained abroad for 24 years.

Beyond the image presented in ‘The Travels of Marco Polo’ (Rustichello da Pisa/Marco Polo) the historical character of Marco Polo fits perfectly into the reality of his time. In the 13th century Venice offered a stable commercial empire, rooted in the Mediterranean but always looking further afield and to the Levant.

The mercantile world was fluid and constantly evolving with a merchant class increasingly central to geopolitical events, gradually freeing itself from the mistrust dictated by medieval legacies. At the same time on the other side of the world there was a renewed interest in the development of trade routes, the most famous of which is undoubtedly the Silk Road.

All this was facilitated by the Pax Mongolica, an era of stabilisation in the Eurasian territories paradoxically achieved through conquest. In this great dynamism that crosses the two continents Marco was a key figure in the integration of two seemingly very distant and irreconcilable cultures.

The legend of Marco Polo provides a wonderful blueprint with which to create this cycling tour with a sense of discovery and adventure sitting at the core. There is much conjecture as to the path of his journey or even for that matter if he ever visited the court in Beijing. Within this conjecture though lie the bones of a journey have inspired us like no other.