To visit Venice and its lagoon in one day, we decided to start from Chioggia, a small town near the lagoon city that absolutely deserves a visit.
Chioggia
Chioggia, the little Venice, with its calli and its famous fish market and the nearby Sottomarina are the ideal starting point to visit the most loved and known city in the world, Venice. This small fishing village closely resembles the lagoon city: houses, calli and fondamenta make it similar to the famous city but Chioggia has its own intimate charm. From here, once you arrive at Piazzetta Vigo by vaporetto, you reach Pellestrina. The Raffaello motorboat service runs special trips at certain times of the year, such as Easter. The motonave Raffaello service is active in the warmer months, starting from April, departing from Sottomarina Ponte dell’Unione to Venice at 9 a.m. and returning from San Marco to Sottomarina at 5 p.m. For those wishing to visit the islands, once in Venice it is possible to use the ACTV public transport vaporetti.
Pellestrina
Stretching 13 kilometers long and 210 meters wide, Pellestrina is a small fishing island where life still flows as it used to, with slow rhythms and traditions. At the southernmost tip are the 18th-century Murazzi, which separate the sea from the lagoon and protect the island. A visit is worthwhile to the Ca’ Roman Nature Oasis, which extends over about forty hectares of wild beach, dunes, and scrub. Here you can spot kingfishers, cuckoos, and royal seagulls, and during nesting periods, plovers and pratincoles, two rare species that have chosen this quiet, deserted area, where tourists rarely arrive, as an ideal breeding place. After crossing the whole island, you take the ferry to the Lido di Venezia.
Venice
The flight of the seagulls accompanies the journey through the Venetian lagoon until the symbol of Venice begins to appear: the bell tower of San Marco. The excursion continues on foot among the calli, fondamenta and campielli of this incredible city suspended on water, encountering splendid churches and famous palaces from St. Mark’s Square with the Basilica, Doge’s Palace, a masterpiece of Gothic art housing works by Titian, Tintoretto and Tiepolo, the church of Santa Maria della Salute, the Rialto Bridge, the Fondaco dei Tedeschi. Every corner reveals a monument worth seeing and visiting.
Island of Mazzorbo
The lagoon surrounding magical Venice hides small realities all to be discovered. From Venice you can reach by ferry the island of Mazzorbo, populated with simple colorful houses alternating with vegetable gardens and vineyards. Hidden from mass tourism, the 14th-century conventual church of Santa Caterina is flanked by a beautiful domed bell tower, which houses the oldest bell in the lagoon.
Burano
The walk continues crossing the wooden bridge connecting Mazzorbo with Burano, an island famous for its lace. The moored boats remind you it’s a fishing island but what surprises most is the vivid colors of the houses and the slow pace, which seems to have taken hold of this small island, still untouched by the hectic activity felt in Venice. Walking along the calli you notice clotheslines stretched between houses and elderly ladies sitting in front of their doorstep working on lace.
Island of Torcello
Taking the boat again, not far away you encounter the Island of Torcello, once the beating heart of the northern lagoon. Stepping off the boat you encounter the Devil’s Bridge, which according to legend, appears at the center of this bridge in the form of a black cat every Christmas Eve night. Close by is the Basilica of Santa Maria Assunta, the oldest in the lagoon, flanked by its baptistery, the martyrium of Santa Fosca, the bell tower and the Little Palaces of the Council and Archive. In the center of the square is an ancient marble seat, used by the Tribunes to administer justice, but according to popular legend, it was the throne of Attila, the King of the Huns, who passed by to sow destruction and desolation. Climbing the bell tower you can admire the entire and intricate Venetian lagoon landscape. Don’t miss the Provincial Museum of Torcello.
On the way back, on the boat returning to Venice, you pass two seemingly deserted islets, Madonna del Monte and San Giacomo in Paludo, where a thousand years ago a convent with a guesthouse sheltered sailors and which today hosts an environmental research center.
Borgo of Malamocco
A village from another era, Malamocco. The only one on the whole island, full of light and character, where, in the profile of a little Venice. A village from another era, Malamocco. The only one on the island, full of light and character, where, in its profile as a little Venice (streets, small squares, canals, bridges, and colored houses leaning against each other) you can relive echoes of far-off glories, when from 742 to 811 it became the capital of the Dogado. A place loved by many, locals and non-locals alike, such as Mario Soldati or Hugo Pratt, the undisputed master of modern comics, whose house remains here. It is delightful to get lost among the alleys almost without shops, savor the magical calm of the church square, with 15th-century buildings like the Church of Santa Maria Assunta with its milky walls, and emerge into the characteristic calle del Paradiso and piazza delle Erbe.
Lido di Venezia
You venture into the heart of the Lido, taking the Marconi waterfront to find yourself in the “Garden City”, built at the beginning of the 20th century, in full Liberty and Art Deco style.
Besides private homes, you can glimpse the grand early-century hotels, frequented by Hollywood stars, queens, and great writers: the Des Bains and a little further on the Excelsior, with its showy Neo-Moorish architecture, built in 1907, which with their elegant bathing establishments have transformed the Lido into one of the most chic tourist destinations in the world since the early 1900s. Between the two are the Casino, opened in the 1930s with Fascist architecture, and the Palace of Cinema, home of the famous International Film Art Exhibition.
