It’s widely known that the Italian city of Venice is beautiful, but it’s expensive. It’s unique in that’s it’s a city that functions entirely on water. It’s well worth a visit but hotel rooms are very expensive, it can be difficult to move around due to the sheer volume of tourists. You don’t need to stay overnight or arrive on a cruise ship. There’s a much cheaper way and that takes in another part of Italy so you get more of an authentic experience
We were on a trip to Austria and came to Italy from the north and drove straight to Lido de Jesolo, which is on the coast south of Venice
It’s a popular beach resort where the Italians go
It’s on a 15km long peninsula with the city of jesolo in the centre
Jesolo is not huge, but it has some good shops full of typical Italian style but not at Milan prices, and a huge choice of pizza and pasta restaurants. It’s clean and safe. Has a bus and train station in the centre and you are just a very short walk to the lovely clean beaches of soft sand (beware-not all are free)
But if you travel to the extreme west, past the farms and campsites to Punta Sabbionni, you can get a ferry to Venice- for only 12 Euros for the day! The crossing only takes around 40 minutes and you see Venice from the water which is a fabulous way to arrive. The famous st.marks square is only a 15 min walk from the drop off pier but don’t go direct- walk two or three streets back from the quayside and the walk through the backstreets, where the locals live. The atmosphere is great and the prices are cheaper than the awful tourist rip offs on the key side.
You can stroll across hundreds of tiny bridges, trodden through the centuries, steeped in history. Take a ride on the “vaperetto” (water taxi- all day ticket is 20e) to quickly reach the other areas along the famous Grande canal, dodging the gondolas (which now cost 100euros for a trip!)
Stop for a Panini and a cappuccino or a spritz, and when you have finished, return on the ferry to Jesolo, and enjoy the rest of your stay there, or move on from Venice. Happy exploring!
