Why is Lido important? and other Lido, Italy Things to Do Tips

Lido is a slender 12km land which helps to block the strong waves of the Adriatic Sea from reaching the important islands within the Venetian lagoon such as Venice, Murano and Burano. Therefore without Lido, all these famous places will not have existed. However to allow for the flow of the water from the lagoon to the sea, there are a few openings (these also allows for boats and even cruise ships to enter the lagoon).

Lido offers a good getaway from Venice as the atmosphere is very different. Lido is famous for its long stretch of beach, as well as for activities such as cycling. In fact, there are roads, cars, buses etc on Lido. Some tourists actually stay at Lido as the accomodations here are apparently cheaper than Venice, these tourists then travel to Venice for the visit via the frequent vaporetto (water buses).

Lastly, Lido is at its most popular during the first week of September when it hosts the famous Venetian film festival. During this time the whole island is besieged by Hollywood and film-makes and press from around the globe. Amongst the famous movie stars that make their annual homage to Venice for the film festival are Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, George Clooney, Johnny Depp, and a host of other stars who make Venice their home during the week.

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This is the main street and most famous in Lido. It starts from the vaporetto (water bus) station at Lido (inside the Venetian lagoon) and goes all the way to the public beach (on the other side of Lido, facing the Adriatic Sea). The best way is to take a walk along this street, as there are lots of shops, restaurants, bicycle rental shops and entertainment outlets such as pubs here. There is a Billa supermarket here which you can buy lots of stuff, including food. If you have the time, you can wonder off to some of the side streets and have a look at the houses around this area.

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Many people visiting Venice may not know about the long stretch of beach at Lido, or simply do not have enough time to visit. If you have the time, you can come down to the beach (see my transportation tips on how to get to Lido). Once you arrive by the vaporetto (water bus), simply follow the crowd and walk along Gran Viale Santa Maria Elisabella, the main street of Lido. After a 15 minute walk, you will reach a traffic round-about and across the road is the entrance to the public beach of Lido (see photo). The entrance area is rather interesting because of the dome structure architecture. Take the stairs down and you will reach the beach, and there is a walkway on the second floor leading to a good viewpoint of the beach and sea. There are also some areas on the second floor next to the many cone structures where you can sit down and enjoy the surroundings. Please see part 2 of this tip.

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There will be lots of people at the public beach during the hot summer season, so be prepared for the crowds. Besides sun-tanning and swimming, there are beach sports such as beach volleyball, beach soccer, leg paddling boats etc here. Personally, I think that the sand on this beach is not so good because it is rather rough with lots of shells. Also, the water at this part of Italy is not so clean and clean. Overall, I think the beach on the southern parts of Italy or other Mediterrean locations would be better. Please see part 3 of this tip and more photos of the beach are at the travelogue section of this VT page.

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There is a elevated walkway connected to the entrance to the public beach at Lido, and this will lead all the way to the sea area. The views of the beach, sea and surrounding areas from this walkway are very good, and it can be very windy here.

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There are lots of sea shells on the public beach at Lido, and you can actually take a few beautiful ones home as sourvenirs. However, do be carefully of walking barefoot on the beach because of these shells :)

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