Has anyone stayed on LIDO island outside of venice? Does it take long to get to venice on the boats? what about access to the airport?

Is there anything to do on the island itself?

The Lido of Venice (don't confuse it with Jesolo) is a beach resort. If you are going in the summer, and you want a beach resort experience, then the Lido of Venice is fine. If you want the Venice experience, then stay in historic Venice.

The vaporetto (waterbus) ride from historic Venice to the Lido is only about 15 minutes or so, depending on which vaporetto you catch. But you have to get to the vaporetto landing, and you might have to wait several mintues for a vaporetto to arrive.

We stayed there a few years ago. The boat ride rook 15 - 20 mins and was inexpensive. There were a few things to do there, the beach ofcourse, a shopping strip similar to other beach resorts, and one or two good night clubs if you're into dancing the night away. We were there three days and my sister is convince she wants to move there.

Clea

Note that boats run to the Lido all night (though are obviously less frequent in the middle of the night) so you can still spend evenings in the old city of Venezia and get back to a hotel in the Lido. The Alilaguna boats link the Lido with the airport.

lido is an inexpensive alternative to staying in venice proper. but one must weigh some inconveniences against the savings.

it can be a long walk to the vaporetto pier and, then as noted, a 15 to 20 minute ride to san marco and is no fun in rainy weather. in the off season, lido is quiet, some would say boring. during the season, prices rise to near venetian levels offsetting the savings factor.

i used to be an enthusiastic fan of lido (particularly if you are coming by auto as you can drive on lido island) but now i feel more comfortable parking at the ferry terminal and staying in venice.

Hi dg,

Vaporetto schedules are at http://www.actv.it/

We stayed on the Lido a few summers ago at Albergo Quattro Fontane, a beautiful B&B which was only about a 15 min. walk from the vaporetto.The downside was that we got lazy about going back and forth. My kids enjoyed going to the beach late in the day after sightseeing in Venice, but if I were to to do it over, I'd stay in Venice itself.

We stayed on Lido a number of years ago. We were there in the summer but never once went to the beach. I appreciated Venice much more when we returned and stayed in Venice itself. It was not especially difficult to get from Lido to Venice and back, but it wasn't Venice and there wasn't anything particularly special about it.

The main reason I was wondering was that we can get hotels for quite a bit cheaper (in may). Thanks for the responses

does anyone recommend a venice proper hotel or b&b that is relativly inexpensive? under 140 Euro?

This is why we're staying in Lido in May--even our favorite hotel in Venice (Hotel Flora) was booked, but their recommendations were all over $200. Good luck finding anything decent under $140. I've been to Venice several times and figured it will be a different adventure--it's not as if it's THAT FAR away!

I will be in Venice in June and I found a number of hotels that were either recommended here, in a guidebook, or on some other forum, that cost between 70 and 120 euros per night (and were not booked). I booked the apartment at Al Campaniel that a few people here recommended for only 82 euros per night. Grand Canal views? No, and not right off San Marco, but I prefer the less touristy areas of Venice anyway. I can't remember all their names-I do remember Hotel Dalla Mora, Ca de dose and Hotel Galleria-but my point is, yes, you can find reasonably priced hotels if you do the legwork. I haven't been to Lido but Venice is magical and I wouldn't want to stay outside of the city if my point was to visit Venice.