Look at the map of Venice and you see, south-east of the city proper, the 11-mile spit of land which is the Lido. This sandbar was, until well into the 19th century, barely populated and wholly unspoiled - it's main use was for Venice's annual 'Marriage of the Sea', when the Doge would head out by boat to Porto di Lido and drop a gold ring into the waters of the Lagoon.
The doges and their ceremonies are no more, and the Lido has barely a bare spot of sand to be seen (for that you'll need to head to your hotel's private stretch of beach or to the large public beaches, one each at the northern and southern tips of the island). Lido di Venezia became ultra fashionable in the 19th century and this is the setting for Thomas Mann's Death in Venice, memorably filmed by Luchino Visconti and starring Dirk Bogarde. The Lido is the venue for the Venice Film Festival each September and also to the Venice Casino (now sadly closed).
The main street of the island is the Gran Viale Santa Maria Elisabetta, running around half a mile from the Lagoon on one side of the Lido to the Adriatic Sea on the other. There are regular boats to Venice, the Italian mainland, out to the islands of Murano and Burano and to Marco Polo airport. The three main centres are Lido itself in the north, Malamocco in the centre, and at the southern tip is Alberoni, with Fort San Nicolo and a golf course.
To the left you'll find a selection of hotels, to get you in the mood
- see also our full listings of Lido di Venezia hotels.
