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23512
Italy

Odyssey at Sea: The Coasts of Italy

Aboard our first-ever floating campus, learn about both hidden and celebrated gems along the coasts of one of Europe’s most romantic and culture-filled countries.
Program No. 23512RJ
Length
12 days
Starts at
4,499
Special Offer
Click on Dates & Prices below to see special offer details.
Flights start at
FREE
Italy

Odyssey at Sea: The Coasts of Italy

Aboard our first-ever floating campus, learn about both hidden and celebrated gems along the coasts of one of Europe’s most romantic and culture-filled countries.
Length
12 days
Starts at
4,499
Special Offer
Click on Dates & Prices below to see special offer details.
Flights start at
FREE
Program No. 23512 RJ

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To make your experience as safe as possible, we require all participants to be fully vaccinated. See our Safety Roadmap

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itinerary
Please Note:
The itinerary for this program is different on certain dates.
Select your type of room
Price will update based on selection
Prices displayed below are based on per person,doubleoccupancy.

DATES & PRICES

Ship Inside Ship Outside Ship Balcony
A representative picture of a cabin in this category.
Accommodation Details

A cabin with no window, porthole or balcony.

A representative picture of a cabin in this category.
Accommodation Details

A cabin with a window or porthole to view the outside.

A representative picture of a cabin in this category.
Accommodation Details

A cabin featuring a verandah, or balcony, that allows you to step outside without going to a public deck.

Jun 3 - Jun 14, 2022
Ship Inside 4,499
Ship Outside 5,099
Ship Balcony 6,999
Special Offer

OFFER EXTENDED: Enroll by March 31, 2022 for free air from many cities! Airfare availability may vary by date. Ask about low-cost air from other cities.

Sep 9 - Sep 20, 2022
Ship Inside 4,599
Ship Outside 5,199
Ship Balcony 7,099
Special Offer

OFFER EXTENDED: Enroll by March 31, 2022 for free air from many cities! Airfare availability may vary by date. Ask about low-cost air from other cities.

Itinerary Note

This departure begins in Genoa and ends in Venice. Please see itinerary for details.

DATES & PRICES

Ship Inside Ship Outside Ship Balcony
A representative picture of a cabin in this category.
Accommodation Details

A cabin with no window, porthole or balcony.

A representative picture of a cabin in this category.
Accommodation Details

A cabin with a window or porthole to view the outside.

A representative picture of a cabin in this category.
Accommodation Details

A cabin featuring a verandah, or balcony, that allows you to step outside without going to a public deck.

Jun 3 - Jun 14, 2022
Ship Inside 5,499
Ship Outside 6,099
Ship Balcony 8,499
Special Offer

OFFER EXTENDED: Enroll by March 31, 2022 for free air from many cities! Airfare availability may vary by date. Ask about low-cost air from other cities.

Sep 9 - Sep 20, 2022
Ship Inside 5,599
Ship Outside 6,199
Ship Balcony 8,599
Special Offer

OFFER EXTENDED: Enroll by March 31, 2022 for free air from many cities! Airfare availability may vary by date. Ask about low-cost air from other cities.

Itinerary Note

This departure begins in Genoa and ends in Venice. Please see itinerary for details.

At a Glance

Buon giorno (good morning)! Whether uncovering ancient towns preserved under volcanic ash or discovering the heart of the Renaissance, it’s going to be another spectacular day in Italy on board the Aegean Odyssey. Cast off on Road Scholar’s first-ever floating campus as you sail from the canals of Venice to the architecture of Naples to the art of Florence alongside our experts. Unlike most cruise ships that are briefly in port, you’ll have overnight stays in many locations, giving you plenty of opportunity for deeper exploration. Indulge in a little vita all’italiana (life, Italian style) on our favorite ship as you fall in love with one of Europe’s most romantic and culture-filled countries.
Activity Level
Choose Your Pace
This program offers two activity levels to choose from on every departure date: one that has less walking and fewer stairs and another at a more active pace.

Best of all, you’ll…

  • Enjoy an expert-led exploration of St. Mark’s Square while in Venice.
  • Explore the doomed ancient town Herculaneum, preserved under the flow of a Mount Vesuvius eruption in A.D. 79.
  • Discover the heart of the Renaissance in Florence, including visits to the Accademia, home to the famous David, and the Duomo.
  • Sail exclusively with ship mates who are all Road Scholar participants, as dedicated to learning as you are.

General Notes

We’ll have up to 350 Road Scholar participants on the ship, divided into groups of 35 for shore excursions.
Featured Expert
All Experts
Profile Image
Stella Grace Lyons
Stella Grace Lyons is an art history lecturer, speaker, and writer accredited with The Arts Society. She gained her degrees from the University of Bristol and University of Warwick. She studied Renaissance art in Italy at the British Institute of Florence and Venetian art in Venice. Her particular interests include 19th-century British art, the Renaissance, 20th century American figurative artists, and representations of the nude in art. Stella conducts art history lectures in-person and online. She enjoys traveling, theatre, classical music and discovering Scottish whiskeys.

Please note: This expert may not be available for every date of this program.

Profile Image of Alan O'Cain
Alan O'Cain View biography
Alan O’Cain studied history at Lancaster University, specializing in the development of Western science, art and philosophy, and received a Master’s in education. He is now a professional artist and poet, delivering public talks and performances. Alan has been involved in creative collaborations with Glyndebourne Opera and the Royal Shakespeare Company and produced art and poetry in-residence in a number of historical and international venues, including the preserved studio of Norwegian artist Edvard Munch and the former prison cell of Austrian artist Egon Schiele.
Profile Image of Stella Grace Lyons
Stella Grace Lyons View biography
Stella Grace Lyons is an art history lecturer, speaker, and writer accredited with The Arts Society. She gained her degrees from the University of Bristol and University of Warwick. She studied Renaissance art in Italy at the British Institute of Florence and Venetian art in Venice. Her particular interests include 19th-century British art, the Renaissance, 20th century American figurative artists, and representations of the nude in art. Stella conducts art history lectures in-person and online. She enjoys traveling, theatre, classical music and discovering Scottish whiskeys.
Profile Image of Catherine Skokan
Catherine Skokan View biography
Dr. Catherine Skokan is a professor emerita at the Colorado School of Mines and the first woman to receive a graduate degree from that institution. Her technical interests include volcanoes, geothermal and energy resources, groundwater resources, and humanitarian engineering. Dr. Skokan has traveled extensively with student and adult groups and has led humanitarian engineering projects, visiting all seven continents and some 100 countries, sharing the beauties of this world with others.
Visit the Road Scholar Bookshop
You can find many of the books we recommend at the Road Scholar store on bookshop.org, a website that supports local bookstores.
A House in Sicily
by Daphne Phelps
Near Mount Etna in Sicily lies Casa Cuseni, a beautiful house built in golden stone - and the home which Daphne Phelps was astonished to find she had inherited in 1947. At the age of 34, war-weary from working as a psychiatric social worker, with barely any Italian and precious little money, she plunged into a fascinating Sicilian world. The many of problems to be overcome included not only financial difficulties but local authorities and a house staff who initially felt no loyalty to the new Signorina, but who gradually accepted her as a respected member of their small community.
Between Salt Water and Holy Water
by Tommaso Astarita
From the Normans and Angevins through Spanish and Bourbon rule to the unification of Italy, historian Tommaso Astarita explores the intellectual, religious, economic and political history of this fascinating region and delivers an accessibly written book that is not just colourful and scholarly but also wholly engrossing.
Anzio: Italy and the Battle for Rome — 1944
by Lloyd Clark
The Allied campaign on the beaches of Western Italy, at Anzio, reigns as the bloodiest battle in the Second World War’s western theater. About six months before D-Day, in January 1944, a united force of 36,000 soldiers launched one of the first attacks on continental Europe at Anzio, a small coastal city thirty miles south of Rome.
The Lady Queen: The Notorious Reign of Joanna I, Queen of Naples, Jerusalem, and Sicily
by Nancy Bazelon Goldstone
On 15 March 1348, Joanna I, Queen of Naples, stood trial for her life before the pope and his court in Avignon. She was 22 years old. Her cousin and husband, Prince Andrew of Hungary, had recently been murdered, and Joanna was the chief suspect. Determined to defend herself, Joanna won her acquittal against enormous odds. Returning to Naples, she ruled over one of Europe's most prestigious and enlightened courts for more than thirty years - until she was herself murdered. As courageous as Eleanor of Aquitaine, as astute and determined as Elizabeth I, Joanna was the only female monarch in her time to rule in her own right.
The Day of Battle: The War in Sicily and Italy, 1943-1944
by Rick Atkinson
Rick Atkinson follows the strengthening armies as they invade Sicily in July 1943 and, mile by bloody mile, fight their way north. The decision to invade Europe's so-called soft underbelly was controversial, but once under way the commitment never wavered. And with the liberation of Rome from the Nazis in June 1944, victory at last began to seem inevitable.
The Leopard
by Guiseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa
The Leopard is a novel that chronicles the changes in Sicilian life and society during the Risorgimento.
The World of Venice
by Jan Morris
Morris displays her talent for research, telling anecdote and well-wrought prose in this spirited portrait of a beloved city, its history and inhabitants. If you are going to read one book on Venice, we recommend this favorite.
La Bella Lingua
by Diane Hales
Inebriated with the sounds of Italian, lovesick for its phrases and enamored of its earthy idioms, Hales, "a sensible woman of sturdy Polish stock," dives into the Italian of the piazza, literature, movies and streets in this charming memoir.
Brunelleschi's Dome: How a Renaissance Genius Reinvented Architecture
by Ross King
The story of the design and construction of the dome in the cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, a tale rife with politics, cut-throat competition and mighty inspiration.
La Dolce Vita University: An Unconventional Guide to Italian Culture from A to Z
by Carla Gambescia
La Dolce Vita University (LDVU) is the perfect sampler for anyone curious about (or already in amore with) Italy and its remarkably rich cultural gifts, both past and present.
Street Fight in Naples: A City's Unseen History
by Peter Robb
Peter Robb's Street Fight in Naples ranges across nearly three thousand years of Neapolitan life and art, from the first Greek landings in Italy to the time of his own less auspicious arrival thirty-something years ago.
Venice: A New History
by Thomas Madden
Using long-buried archival material and a wealth of newly translated documents, Madden weaves a spellbinding story of a place and its people, tracing an arc from the city’s humble origins as a lagoon refuge to its apex as a vast maritime empire and Renaissance epicenter to its rebirth as a modern tourist hub.





Important registration tip:
If you want to attend the live lecture, please do not wait until the last minute to enroll.
If you enroll after a lecture is complete, we’ll send you a recording of the event.