Venice is one of the most beautiful Italian cities and it takes at least 4 or 5 days to visit it leisurely. If you are travelling with children, after few hours of enthusiastic surprise about this strange “on-the-water” city, they could get tired of walking and it may happen you will find yourself desperately looking for a place to make them play.
The simplest solution is to go to Giardini della Biennale, a public park in Castello’s Sestiere with a nice playground area.

The other chance is to take the waterbus and reach the island of Lido, where you can spend half-a-day of relax on its long-extended sandy beach. During summer you can also swim in the eastern part of the island, the one straightly facing the Adriatic Sea, not the lagoon. In the other months, the best alternative is to rent a bike and ride along its coasts, as we did some weeks ago.

Biking with children in Venice Lido

The island of Lido is famous all over the world for the Venice Film Festival and the movie stars that meet here at the beginning of September, every year. The long and narrow island separates the Adriatic Sea from the lagoon and is one of the few Venetian isles where cars are allowed.

lido-di-venezia

It’s considered the Venice’s beach by locals, since it’s only 15 minutes sailing from Saint Mark Square. We took the waterbus at San Zaccaria, near Saint Mark Square, and get off at Santa Maria Elisabetta, the only waterbus stop in the island, few steps away from the touristic and commercial area. There are some bike rentals in Lido’s downtown and we chose the first we met.

Unfortunately, the island doesn’t have a cycle track yet, so we decided to ride along the Murazzi, the 5 km stone breakwater built by the Venice Republic in the XVIII century. Here there is a narrow paved path which run along the shore and connect the city with Alberoni Beach: the perfect place for biking or walking with kids, without any risk.

To reach the white and wild dunes of Alberoni, the WWF oasis in the southern part of the island, you have to bike for around 11 km.
If you are short of time, and prefer an easy ride, you can take the small track on the right, when you start to see the bell-tower by the lagoon side of the island. In few minutes of cycling you will be in Malamocco, a small Venetian fisherman-village.

lido-di-venezia-murazzi

Ride along its lanes, stop in the empty little squares and then take some good pictures. The atmosphere is so typically Venetian that, when you’ll be back home, you can tell your friends you managed to go cycling even in Venice. They will believe you!

malamocco

Good to know

  • how to get there: take line 1 from San Zaccaria (near Saint Mark Square) and get off in Santa Maria Elisabetta; the waterbus ticket costs € 7, both for adults and children
  • bike rental: at Venice Bike Rental you can rent bicycles, tandems and surrey
  • bike rental’s costs: Bikes: € 3 for 1 hour; € 5 for 2 hours; € 7 for full day; Tandems can be rent only for the full day and cost € 20

Information and booking

Venice Bike Rental
Gran Viale S. M. Elisabetta 79A – 30126 – Lido di Venezia – Veneto
tel. 041 5261 490
e-mail: contact@venicebikerental.com
sito web: www.venicebikerental.com