Venice is full of summer time activities: beaches and bicycles, guided tours and museums, the Biennale of Art, and traditional annual city festivals. Don’t miss July’s Festa del Redentore fireworks!
All seasons are perfect for a vacation in Venice, but summertime is surely the most fun: days are longer and there are many outdoor activities you can do.
The beaches of Venice
Did you know that you can go to the beach in Venice during the summer? The island of the Lido di Venezia is right on the Adriatic Sea and can be easily reached by many vaporetto/waterbus lines. It is a 12-kilometer-long coastline with shallow waters and clean beaches, equipped for all kinds of users.
Once you reach the Lido with the waterbus, a short walk down Corso Maria Elisabetta will bring you to the sea. If you want to be comfortable, we recommend renting a beach umbrella and deckchairs from one of the many rental spots along Via del Lungomare.
If you prefer exploring nature more freely, we recommend you take a bus for the Alberoni, the most southern part of the Lido island. Here you will find a free wide stretch of beach, tucked between the water and a WWF nature reserve. You will also find the colorful ‘Macondo’ kiosk, ready to welcome you with delicious slushies and fresh dishes for a perfect light summer lunch. The kiosk also offers beach towels and umbrella rental service.
If instead you prefer an elegant and collected setting to enjoy the atmosphere of the early 1900s, we recommend the beach of the legendary Hotel Excelsior. The elegant hotel beach cabins are the perfect place to relax and let yourself be spoiled by the hotel staff.
It is here that each year the Venice Film Festival takes place, coming to host many actors, directors, and curious photographers. Beach cabins can be booked from 1 June to half of September.
Explore the lagoon by bike
If you like sports and find lying on the beach a bit boring, rent a bike and ride down the long bike path that connects the island of the Lido to Pellestrina and Chioggia. You will be able to enjoy the beautiful lagoon landscapes from the shore on your way there, alternating bike and waterbus connections.
Renting a bike is also the best way to visit the island of Sant’Erasmo. The island can be reached by waterbus (line 13) from Fondamenta Nuove. Once you reach the ‘Capannone’ waterbus stop on Sant’Erasmo, you make your way toward ‘Lato Azzurro’, where you can rent a bike for a modest amount.
Sant’Erasmo in characterized by the presence of many vegetable gardens, where most of the products that are found at the Rialto market come from. Here is where the famous Sant’Erasmo artichokes are grown: springtime brings their first flowers and ‘castraure’, a delicacy that many restaurants in Venice fight for. Look for the farming company that produces the ‘miele Dei Dogi’ (the Doge’s honey), fully organic and from non-stressed bees. The island is full of surprises!
Exhibits and outdoor tours
If the sun is too hot, you can always decide to visit one of the city’s great museums, exhibitions, palazzi, or Biennale of Art events.
Visit the Musei Civici di Venezia website to plan your visit on website www.visitmuve.it: there are many guided tours and a selection of activities for children and families.
Take part in a night tour of the city and discover the Secrets of Venice: a local guide will accompany you in discovering the most mysterious places and stories of the city.
Discover all activities on the official website: www.visitmuve.it/en
The fireworks of the Festa del Redentore
The traditional Festa del Redentore city festival returns on Saturday 20 July with its fireworks display on the San Marco basin. For the past 400 years, on the third Saturday of the month of July, the city celebrates the end of the 1576 plague. The celebration is very heartfelt by Venetians, who attend it by pulling their boats up in front of San Marco, between Punta della Dogana and the island of Giudecca, dining aboard and enjoying the fireworks.
One of the most beautiful spots to experience the show is the island of San Giorgio Maggiore, but remember to reach it before waterbuses stop to leave the water basin free for all the arriving boats! There are many offers in the city to experience the event by boat or gondola as well.
Visit: Festa del Redentore – Venezia
Don’t miss the opportunity to walk the bridge that is especially built for this event each year, connecting the shore of the Zattere to the one on Giudecca. This is also a great opportunity to visit the Chiesa del Santissimo Redentore, designed by Andrea Palladio to remember the end of the epidemic outbreak with a religious procession in the presence of the patriarch of Venice.
