How to Go to the Beach in Venice

This year we had a lovely mild winter with enough sunny afternoons for spritzes outside in January and long beach lunches in February and March and then spring arrived like a soggy gray blanket. Here in Rome the sky stayed stubbornly leaden with occasional breaks for a ferocious downpour. I wore out umbrellas, had to throw out shoes that never quite dried, and literally thanked my inanimate tumble-dryer regularly.  It is early June now and as I type every fan in the apartment is on and I don’t dare turn off the pinguino in the bedroom for fear it will never be able lower the temperature below 23 degrees with its small laboring compressor again. 

Italians know what to do when the weather heats up. They do not suffer in un-airconditioned apartments or wait in long lines with no shade to see historic sights. They go to the beach. Or maybe the pool. 

The last time we were in Venice we woke up to a perfect early spring day that promised plenty of sunshine and no wind so we decided to hop across the canal to Lido. Three vaporetto stops from San Marco-San Zaccaria station (it’s the one around the corner from Piazza San Marco just past the Bridge of Sighs) and you are transported from the crush and the crowds that is sadly what Venice is becoming most famous for to another world. On Lido there are cars, make sure to look both ways if you have been in Venice for a few days, Liberty-style villas, and kilometers and kilometers of beach. You can rent a bike, take a walk, lounge by the sea, have a spritz, have lunch, and be back in Venice for dinner. 

Morning Passeggiata 

We got off at the Lido stop and walked down the wide boulevard Grandeviale Santa Maria Elisabetta which is lined with trees and sidewalk cafes towards the sea. 

Stop for Spritz

Our first stop was at a cafe with tables in the sand. We turned our chairs towards the sun and ordered spritzes and potato chips. The late breakfast of Venetian champions. 

Blue Moon 
Lungomare Guglielmo Marconi 1-17

Take a long pre-lunch walk

Lido is flat. It is an 11-kilometer-long and narrow sandbar. There are no bridges to cross, no tour groups to dodge. If you like to cycle rent a bike. We like long walks so we strolled a few kilometers peering into closed beach clubs and shuttered hotels imagining the buzz of summer and the glitz of the film festival along the way. In the summer months, these clubs and hotels will be open and a kilometers-long walk is probably not so appealing. You can pay to rent a chair and umbrella for the afternoon or find a spot on a free beach.

Lunch in the Sunshine

We found a restaurant with a few picnic tables in the sun. There is an enormous dining room with views of the sea that I am sure is cool and comfortable on a hot summer afternoon. 

We ordered broiled scallops and plates of excellent spaghetti alle vongole and chatted with the friendly staff about local lagoon seafood and wines from the Veneto region. After our meal, the sun had moved so we perched on the sea wall to have our post-prandial coffee and grappa. 

Ristorante Ai Murazzi

Via dei Kirchmayer, 16

After lunch, we found a bus stop and rode back to the vaporetto stop. There was still a little bit of light left so we meandered a little while along the canal and in the Malamocco neighborhood, which was the first settlement on the Lido before we sailed back to Venice just in time for another spritz and the sunset. 

In the summer there is a lot more activity and many more things open than on a Sunday afternoon in early March. Bookmark this wonderful guide for where to eat and drink on the Venice Lido.