Gillian Knows Best guide to beaches on Lido di Venezia
Sun+sea+spaghetti alle vongole only 3 vaporetto stops from Piazza San Marco
Last summer was our first ever summer in Venice. Because everything with the house was happening so slowly we decided to take on a different project. Finding a new stabilimento in our new home. We knew that it would be impossible to replace or beloved Paradise Beach, the place near Rome that we have been going to since Noah was in elementary school, but we needed somewhere to escape the July heat and crowds and have spaghetti alle vongole for lunch. It was a fun and we learned a lot and now I can share my discoveries with you with a brief introductory guide to the beaches on Lido.
I didn’t really understand quite how close a real beach with long stretches of sand and quite nice water for swimming was to Venice. Of course it is obvious once you really think about it (or if you have flown into Venice) but like me, most people do not think about it. I will be honest. I still don’t love the Adriatic. I have been spoiled by my years of living so close to the Tyrennian sea. I am the first person to admit that Maccarese (and Ostia and Fregene) are not the most beautiful beaches in Italy. But you don’t have to go far from Rome for spectacular beaches. Anzio is only an hour on the train and the water is crystal clear. The sea in Ponza is hypnotic with its infinite greens and blues. But on a sweltering summer day, a beach is a beach!
History of Lido di Venezia
The Lido di Venezia (also just called Lido) is an island that sits in-between the Adriatic Sea and the Venetian lagoon. Its narrow 11 kilometers protect Venice from storms that blow in from the Adriatic side. The original settlement on the southern end in Malamocco was Roman and served as the port for nearby Padua. At the northern end is a Church, San Nicolò al Lido, whose origins are from the 11th century. What you see now was rebuilt in 1626. The nearby monastery was founded in 1043 and is now the headquarters for the Global Campus of Human Rights. There is a Jewish cemetery established in 1386 that is still in use today. Guided tours are available by reservation.
The transformation of a rural island to the place now famous for summer beach clubs, Liberty style villas and the Venice Film Festival began in the late 1800s when the first beach club and roads and vaporetto connections to the train station were established. Lido is also home to Italy’s first commercial airport.1
How to get to Lido
You have to remember to look both ways when you get off the vaporetto on Lido. There are cars and buses and bikes and scooters.
There are 7 vaporetto lines that go to Lido. You will probably take the 1 (that’s the route that goes up and down the Grand Canal) or the 5.1 from San Marco-San Zaccaria. The 14 goes directly every 30 minutes. If you need to go to Canareggio, the 5.2 is your boat. The 8 is a summer only route. There are 6 bus routes on Lido. They either go in a big circle or up and down the two main roads. The number 11 goes all the way to Pellestrina. If you want to go to Alberoni or the Murrazzi or Malamocco look for direction Pellestrina. For San Nicolò look for direction Ferry Boat.
I love to walk the length of the Grandeviale from the vaporetto stop to Blue Moon. It is a nice walk in the morning before it gets too hot and after the sun goes down the the cicadas still sing in the trees that line the wide boulevard. There are plenty of bars for a morning cappuccino or an evening cold beer or spritz.
What to do on Lido
Rent bikes
People say it’s great to bike to the dunes in Alberoni or San Nicolò. There are a few places to rent bikes. I don’t know anything about any of them because bikes are my least favorite thing.
Play golf
There is an 18 hole par 72 golf course at the Alberoni end of the island.
Go to the beach
Obviously this is what I think Lido is best for, lounging and swimming. You have kilometers of choices ranging from very fancy with private capannas2 with full service to very wild where it is just you and your towel and the sea.
The easiest beaches to visit are managed by Venezia Spiaggia. There are three; Spiaggia Blue Moon, Lungomare and San Nicolò. I like them all. Blue Moon is the closest and has a pool option. Lungomare has a little more space and a good bar with delicious salads and San Nicolò is the furthest away, has lots of space and is very chill. You can reserve your spot online, something I strongly suggest you do on busy summer weekends. You can rent towels and there are bathrooms and showers and accessible spots for wheelchair users and those with limited mobility.
The most luxurious stabilimento is Des Bains 1900. It is enormous with two entrances and five different sections. There are two restaurants and a bar/cafe. You have your choice of a lounge chair on lush green grass or a private thatched roof Tucul that has a shaded wooden deck and comes with a table and chairs, beach chairs and sun beds. I have spent a day on the far left hand side (ombrelloni spiagge) and the chairs and umbrellas are luxurious (the umbrellas are electric!) but it was a little far from the sea and a breeze, the bathroom and the bar.
The beach that we go to the most is Pachuka Beach. Take the A bus from in front of Cooofe 9 to the last stop. There is a restaurant that has a good plate of vongole and grilled fish. Get cold bottle of Ribolla Giallo too. They also have a bar with a tavola calda if you just want a sandwich or a salad. They have section for dogs at this beach which is very entertaining and not at all annoying. I have never been disturbed by barking or unwanted visits from a pup not on a leash.
One of my pal Courtney’s favorite restaurants closed in Venice and they moved to the beach. Aquarius beach in Alberoni takes about an hour to get to from Venice, but the dunes and friendly service and elevated food is worth it.
If we don’t want to spend the entire day at the beach or we want to go a little later in the afternoon and stay until sunset we will go to the Murazzi. The word Murazzi is used to describe two things. The kilometers long defensive walls made from impermeable white Istrian stone that protect Venice and the barrier islands from the sea and a section of beach on Lido. This part of the beach is free and has no services. You will see ramshackle capannas made from driftwood on the rocks. These belong to the people that constructed them. The free beach starts about where the Lungomare Guglielmo Marconi ends and runs past Malamocco to Alberoni. The further down you go the quieter it gets. We often get off at the Malamocco Occhi or Malamocco Alvisopoli bus stop and walk through to the beach from there. Find an empty spot and put down your towel and enjoy the peace and quiet and waves and breeze knowing that on the other side of the lagoon there are crowds of miserably hot people trying to find their way with a phone almost out of battery and capricious Google maps.
Have a cocktail
Stay for dinner
When we go over for a quick swim along the Murazzi late in the afternoon sometimes we stay for an early-ish dinner on Lido before we head home.
Chiosco Chiringuito is a casual outside spot and it is always busy. They make quick food like hamburgers and club sandwiches and wraps. We alway get draft beers and hamburgers. You can make reservations for dinner and I suggest you do that.
Mezcal cocktails, chips and guacamole and tacos! In the summer Cantinita Beach has an outside space . They also have a year round location nearby, La Cantinita. Both of these places are about a 10 min walk from Blue Moon
Looking for a quick lunch? I like to stop for a club sandwich at Bar Maleti on the Granviale. They also have a terrific tavola calda with vegetables and pasta selections.
In Piazzale Rava’ there are 3 Chiosco’s. We usually get a draft beer and a piadina at Chiosco Bar Pedrocchi. The Chiosco da Gianni e Marco has good tramazzini and the grill at Chiosco Rosso smells amazing.
On my Lido to-do list
Macondo Alberoni is a casual place in Alberoni that turns into a dancing/DJ/aperitivo spot as the day goes on.
Hike along the Diga Faro Alberoni and the Diga Faro di San Nicolò.
The Alberoni dunes are a World Wildlife Fund protected site. They often have guided walks and children’s activities.
Have lunch and explore the tiny borgo in Malamocco. Maybe the museum in the Palazzo Pretorio will be open.
The airport was the site of this historic first meeting
It blows my mind that Venice is Venice AND it has beaches.
I was just talking to some friends who say they always stay on the Lido when they're visiting Venice. And I, I'm embarrassed to say, never went there even though I've been to Venice countless times. And even though I'm a fan of Death in Venice. Why I can't really explain. When we were in Rome, I was on Team Sabaudia, a bit further than the others you mention but still reachable for a day trip. And so beautiful.