A visit to Venice is incomplete without including an excursion into the Lagoon. It extends for 212 square miles of which only 8% is made of solid land as the city itself and around 45 islands, the most diverse you can imagine from the densely populated ones as Lido with its glamorous beaches or Murano famous for the artistic glass production, to the many small deserted ones with scattered ruins of ancient human settlements emerging from the shallow waters.
There are several options to reach the islands:
1. Public transports or waterbuses (Actv lines). They connect Venice with the major inhabited islands of the Lagoon. The biggest drawback is that moving from the city to the islands and back can be time-consuming and especially during the high season they can be crowded. The single one-way ticket costs €9.50, a daily pass is sold for €25.
2. Water taxi. They can come to pick you up straight at the hotel’s water gate and take you to the destination comfortably seated in a spacious cabin. No doubt they are at the same time the most comfortable and the most expensive solution to reach the islands. The hourly cost varies from 110 up to 150 €.
3. GuideToVenice has selected for you a bunch of small-scale boat companies using traditional wooden boats known as ‘bragozzi’. A full day guided tour on a lagoon bragozzo piloted by an expert local skipper is the best way to discover the lagoon for a made-to-measure experience. These characteristic and colourful boats are shallow draft and can reach almost all the remote corners of the Lagoon slipping unobtrusively amongst islands, salt marshes and reed beds, shoals and channels.
Once on board you 'll indeed know that the journey is worth as much as its single destinations !
All tours I propose are fully custom, tailored upon your interests. Usually Lagoon tours are full-day only. Ask for a quotation for my guiding. Don’t forget that for Lagoon tours there is the extra cost to rent a boat with driver either water taxi or bragozzo.
There are no prearranged weekly scheduled tours to join.
If you travel alone to cut down on costs you can try to put together a small group of people (max 10/12 people).
I am planning new tours within the city of Venice and to the nearby islands using electric boats!
Sustainability on the water with no wake, no pollution and no noise. Ask for pictures and info.
ITINERARIES
THE NORTH LAGOON (CLASSIC TOUR)
This itinerary takes us amongst the most beautiful islands of the North Lagoon: Torcello, Burano and San Francesco del Deserto. Torcello, the birthplace of the Venetian civilization, is considered the pearl of the Lagoon and it’s home of only 10 residents. The island boasts among the most important byzantine mosaics in Italy of which the scenes of the punishments of the seven deadly sins are the best known of the impressive XI century Last Judgement mosaic. Another icon of the island is the world famous Locanda Cipriani frequented by Winston Churchill, Queen Elizabeth II and Ernest Hemingway. After Torcello we move to the colourful Burano recognisable for its leaning belltower and the colourful fishermen’s houses . Last but not least San Francesco del Deserto island has been a Franciscan friary since 1229 and the first place in the world to boast a church dedicated to the saint, who came here for a short period after returning from the Holy Land. The island, truly an oasis of peace and serenity, is open to visitors and to anyone who wishes to join the friars for a retreat. There is a wonderful view of Burano from its garden.
On our return towards the city we sail along the island of Mazzorbo, where we might take a quick look at the enchanting vineyard and lagoon resort Venissa. The only church surviving from the seven once standing is Santa Caterina. Secluded and little visited, it is a gothic structure but on more ancient foundations (VIII cent.). It was recently restored and serves as a precious witness of the medieval lagoon landscape as well as being an authentic oasis of peace.
BEYOND THE CITY: THE LAZZARETTO NUOVO
The welfare of Venice throughout history has extended far beyond the city itself, and this trip begins with a look at the majestic Fortress of Sant'Andrea located by the Lido’s harbour mouth. Masterpiece of 16th century military architecture it was also known as 'The Sea-castle' or the 'New Castle'. It is now uncared for and abandoned (if it’s possible we will go ashore to visit it). It was from here that, on 20 April 1797, Bocchesi and Schiavoni launched an attack on a French ship attempting to enter the lagoon. The consequences were disastrous for the city; Napoleon determined that it would be taken by force, and the subsequent pillage stripped it of much of its treasures. From the height of the fortress there is an excellent view over the harbour mouth.
The highlight of the tour is the visit to the Lazzaretto Nuovo, the ancient quarantine island created by the Serenissima Republic in 1468. It was here where crews and ships entering the Lagoon were held and checked for contagious diseases. It became a quarantine station and hospital during the Great Plague, and some 10,000 people were confined there. The 101m long (!) XVI century shed houses a very interesting Museum of the history of black plague to understand how Venice led the way in the fight against the scaring disease. Around the island there is one of the most beautiful paths of the Lagoon from which a variety of waders and diving birds can be easily observed over the 'barene' (saltmarshes). Time permitting after the Lazzaretto we will get off in the nearby island of Sant' Erasmo by the Torre Massimiliana, an Austrian fortification, that it has been restored and can now be visited. The island is also known as 'the market garden of Venice' known locally for its purple artichokes, a real delicacy of the Lagoon.
THE NORTH LAGOON (ARCHAEOLOGICAL)
Leaving Burano we pass into the Canale della Dolce towards the forgotten archipelago of the islands of Costanziaca, Ammiana and San Felice, sailing between velme (mudflats) and saltmarshes, haunt of heron, little egret, grebe, curlew and bittern. By the end of the Middle Ages these islands had been partly swallowed up by the Lagoon, their inhabitants taking to more secure homes. Their names have changed over time, and now they are known as La Cura, San'Ariano (where the bones of the dead, moved from the cemetery island of San Michele, found their last resting place from 1565 to 1958), Santa Cristina (no landing) and the one-time salt pans of San Felice or, more simply 'La Salina', the last solid earth to be found in the North Lagoon (privately owned, and accessible to clients of GuideToVenice). La Salina has been lovingly tended for 40 years by a caretaker. It is approached through a tortuous channel between sea lavender flowers, saltwort and tamarisks. When we land we are free to wander through the extensive gardens of artichokes, in a quiet broken only by the cry of peacocks hidden amongst the tamarisks.
ORIGINS: FROM HISTORY TO MYTH
GuideToVenice can, exclusively, offer an exceptional guided tour of outstanding historical interest. Associated with a visit to the museum at Torcello and a survey of its archaeology, we take a leap back in time (by boat) to the remains of the Roman city of Altino. Through the canals of Silone, Siloncello and Santa Maria, we sail through a wonderfully atmospheric world of shallow mudbanks and 2-metre-tall reeds, rich with bird-life throughout the year.
We land at Il Cormorano and walk around half a mile to the excavations of the 1st-century-BC Roman city of Altino. The Museo Nazionale di Altino, not much visited but presenting an astonishing record of the excavations, displays amongst other things the most delicate glass funerary caskets, bronzes and funerary busts dating from the 1st century BC to the 4th AD. The open-air mosaics, the gateway and the Roman road probably the last stretch of 'Via Annia' make a memorable visit. Full day only.
THE SOUTH LAGOON
Our main destination will be the island of Pellestrina, 11 km long and just few dozen of metres wide, home of around 4000 inhabitants. Pellestrina is an authentic fishermen island away from the major tourist routes. We will visit the interesting museum of fishery and local history with precious filming documents about the terrible 1966 flood. Apart its renowned sea-food restaurants Pellestrina shelters a wild and lonely beach besides the historical sea wall called "Murazzi" built in Istrian stone, the last great public work by the Republic Serenissima built in the XVIII century. As a further protection the new beach was created entirely by the hand of man in the early 1990s to preserve the shoreline from the winter storms. For those interested in the beauties of nature and wildlife it is possible to organize an excursion to the remote south Lagoon 'Casoni' islands used by fishermen and wildfowlers as shelters and workplaces, such as Cason Zappa, Cason Figheri and the totally renewed Cason Millecampi where a young family of four lives all year round. Full-day excursion.
