Kayaking Venice and the Laguna

Our Venetian adventure begins on the very colorful island of Burano that can be reached by Vaporetto ferry from Venice’s Santa Lucia Railway Station and by Alilaguna line or water taxi from Marco Polo Airport (VCE). We’ll enjoy a welcome aperitivo and discuss trip details before dining at an open-air restaurant.

We launch our kayaks and paddle through the myriad tiny islands of the northern Laguna. Our silent kayaks allow us to approach and view the variety of birdlife residing in this rich Barene, wetland environment. A lunch stop at the tiny outlying village of Lio Piccolo gives a chance to stretch our legs and imagine living in the tranquility of outer laguna. Returning to Burano for the late afternoon sun lighting up the village and a paddle through the canals that are a riot of reflected colors.

A paddle to the island of San Francesco del Deserto starts the day. The cypress-lined island is home to a Franciscan monastery and we’ll be able to land and tour the gardens. Crossing northward we’ll ply the channels and canals of Mazzarbo, Mazzorbetto, Dei Laghi Islands before arriving at Torcello, a favorite haunt of Ernest Hemmingway during his time in Venice. Entering the Maggiore canal we’ll glide through farmland and pass under the medieval Ponte del Diavolo (Devil’s Bridge) before arriving at the village and the impressive Basilica di Santa Maria Assunta. We enjoy lunch and a walk before winding our way back to Burano and dinner at another of the island’s fine restaurants.

Today is a more extended paddle. We depart Burano and point our bows towards Venice. Following the lines of three posted briccoli, we’ll paddle past San Erasmo island, the “Garden of Venice,” before stopping for a lunch break on Murano, famous for glass arts. The iconic skyline of Venice is a tantalizingly close and it’s not long before we’re paddling past the Arsenale and through a canal in the Venetian sestiere of Castello and entering the basin of the Canal Grande. There we are met with a panorama that includes Piazza San Marco, the Salute church and the cathedral and campanile (tower) on San Giorgio de Maggiore, our destination. Our luggage is waiting for us in the waterfront rooms of the Compagnia della Vela Venezia, one of the oldest yacht clubs in Italy. After a shower, we’ll take the elevator to the top of the campanile for what is the best view of Venice before boarding a Vaporetto ferry across to San Marco and dinner in one of our favorite local restaurants.

Launching from the ramp conveniently adjacent to our rooms at the yacht club we’ll paddle along part of the sixth sestiere of Venice, Giudecca. Peaceful, working-class and somewhat bohemian Giudecca has great views of the city and the islands of the southern lagoon. Crossing the Giudecca canal we’ll enter the San Polo and Dorsoduro sestieri that features among other things a gondola workshop built in the style typical of the Dolomites. Returning to Isola San Giorgio in the early evening, there will be time to relax, have a shower, and perhaps a glass of wine before catching the Vaporetto ferry to dinner on Giudecca.

Today after a morning walking tour we’ll once again cross the basin of the Canal Grande and with the best light, pass into the canal by the Doge’s Palace and under the Ponte dei Sospiri, the Bridge of Sighs and explore the Castello and Cannaregio sestieri as well as the Arsenale, where for over seven hundred years much of Venice’s naval power and economic wealth was manufactured.

A shorter morning paddle starts the day. We’ll head in the direction of the Lido, one of the outer islands that that define the Laguna a navigate around the island of San Servolo once a Benedictine monastery and now a university and museum before continuing on to San Lazzaro degli Armeni home to Armenian monks that maintain a library that famously Lord Byron would row across to use while he was residing in Venice during the early 1800s. Returning to the club on San Giorgio we can shower and change before crossing to Venice. This afternoon and evening you are free to discover the city and have dinner on your own.

Crossing the Castello district of the city by canal we will pass the cemetery island of San Michele before reaching Murano, the famed home of Venetian glass. For centuries the furnaces that enabled this Venetian art were considered far too dangerous to be housed in the city itself and were kept at a safe distance on Murano. After exploring Murano’s canals, we’ll stop for a demonstration of glass blowing in the Venetian style. In the afternoon, we’ll paddle the final leg of our Venetian odyssey, landing at Campalto and board a van for the short drive to an Agriturismo for the final night’s accommodation and a farm to table farewell dinner to celebrate our exploration of Venice and the Laguna.

After breakfast at the Agriturismo, we will provide a mid-morning transfer to Marco Polo Airport (VCE) where a range of onward travel options can be accessed. Arrivederci!