A trip to the lighthouse of the Lido di Venezia
A light route (just 12 km/7 1/2 miles) and relatively tranquil on the island of the Lido di Venezia.
Point of departure is the piazzale at the S. M. Elisabetta boat dock, the terminal of the ACTV boat lines to the Lido; travel north along the lagoon along Riviera S. Maria Elisabetta up to Via Marco Polo, turn right and follow the street as far as the front of the Lido hospital; turn left and continue on the paved street up to a one-way loop where the paved street ends and a wooden gate marks the entrance into the protected zone of San Nicolò; the cyclist can pass through the narrow passage to the right of the gate and continue on an small gravel road; you cross through a section of scrub and then come to the area of San Nicoletto; currently the road ends at a clearing in front of a construction site of (*)MOSE.
To the right of the construction area a small road follows along the construction fence at first open on the other side, then reduced to a narrow passage between the two fences up to the beach and at the beginning of the new pier, built in recent years by MOSE. The cyclist can get onto the pier and continue to the Lido lighthouse; the first section is the new one raised by a couple of meters/yards on top of the old pier, from here one can observe the work of MOSE with the new artificial island constructed between the Lido pier and the opposite side at Punta Sabbioni. Towards the end you drop down a couple of meters/yards onto the old pier and continue for a total of 2.6 km/1.6 mile (from the beach) as far as a circular collection of cement blocks that surround the lighthouse. We are at one side of the Lido inlet, one of only three inlets of the sea into the lagoon and to the port of Venice (the others being the Malamocco inlet and the Chioggia inlet).
Ride around the lighthouse and look back along the pier and the view of the Lido coastline; on a clear day you can see the outlines of the Grand Hotel des Bains and the Excelsior.
It should be noted that this bike tour up to the Lido lighthouse, is at risk of being ruined in the next few years by development; in fact a draft proposal was approved for a tourist village with marina and parking that would destroy this "oasis of peace" of San Nicoletto. One can only hope that this project can still be stopped.
