The Adriatic Cycle Route: Venice, Ravenna and Rimini

Day 1: Venice Mestre
Individual arrival, accommodation and overnight at the hotel.

Day 2: Venice
After breakfast, you will have the day free to visit the famous lagoon city. In the late afternoon, meeting with a member of our staff for the presentation of the program. Overnight at the hotel.

Day 3: Venice – Venice Lido – Pellestrina – Chioggia
After breakfast, you get on your bike and following the new cycle path you arrive in Venice, crossing the Ponte della Libertà. Once you reach the Tronchetto pier, boarding for Lido di Venezia, also known as the Golden Island by the Venetians and its inhabitants. After the birth of the first bathhouse, the island became a holiday resort for nobles and rulers from all over Europe, actors and actresses, great magnates of industry and world finance, fueling a myth that still today gives it a unique atmosphere . A fascinating past that has bequeathed to the island a vocation for tourism with a reserved and elegant character and which manifests itself through the beautiful villas and villas in Art Nouveau style. The Lido also reserves other surprises such as the ancient monastery of San Nicolò, the historic and monumental heart of the island and the village of Malomocco, a small Venice with alleys, squares, and houses leaning against each other. Do not miss the amazement of the landscapes, including the WWF protected oasis of the Dune degli Alberoni, rich in animal and plant species, as well as of course the Lagoon, with its suggestive sceneries. Then continue to Pellestrina by ferry. Pellestrina represents the southernmost of the three narrow coasts that divide the Venetian Lagoon from the Adriatic Sea; thirteen kilometers in length, with calli and campielli, neighborhood rivalry and a passion for regattas, the island of Pellestrina is a miniature version of the most authentic and popular Venice, a small world where people still live in the old way, between slow rhythms and the timeless ritual of the “ciacole”. When you arrive, the glance is extraordinary: two rows of houses forming a hinge between land and water, dotted with fishing huts. With the colorful facades of the houses, no more than two or three floors high, all facing the lagoon, the Lego effect is guaranteed: Pellestrina appears as an island-toy. Here everything refers to the most popular Venice: from the sestieri to the eternal ritual of the spritz, the local aperitif, white wine sprinkled with Campari or Aperol. From the labyrinth of calli, “sotoporteghi” and campielli, to the “ciacolar” of the fishermen who make common at Bar Perla, to the passion for historical regattas and the myth of the great champions and masters of oars. In addition to being an island of fishermen, Pellestrina is famous for its lace making, documented since the mid-fifteenth century. Even today, women embroider their laces and want to sit next to one of the last lacemakers to be told about the tradition of this centuries-old art, typical of the lagoon mirror, which is still handed down from mother to daughter today. Arrived at the southern end of the island, board the vaporetto for Chioggia. Arrival and continuation to the hotel in the Chioggia Sottomarina area. Time to relax on the beach or to visit the charming lagoon town. Overnight at the hotel.

Day 4: Chioggia – Po Delta Park (60 km)
After breakfast, departure by bike through the Po Delta Park, along canals and rivers. Once you have passed the branch of the Po River in Venice, you will start pedaling along banks, floodplains, valleys, closed pools of water, where the salinity is wisely regulated by man. These places are populated by numerous species of birds: mallards, herons, wigeons. You then continue on a cycle path immersed in the valleys of the Delta, among breathtaking scenery. Overnight in the Po Delta Park. Arrival at the farmhouse/hotel or B&B. Dinner and overnight.

Day 5: Po Delta Park – Comacchio (60 km)
After breakfast, we ride up to the vault of Comacchio, a splendid lagoon town nicknamed, for obvious reasons, the Little Venice. Heading southwards, a fabulous panorama will open up to your eyes consisting of brackish waters, wooden fishermen’s huts placed on pilings and connected with walkways: the typical Bilancioni. Some pontoon bridges will allow you to cross the branches of the Po river up to Goro, a fishing port made famous by clam fishing. Along the Adriatic Sea you will then enter the Mesola Wood, where with a little luck you can spot deer and fallow deer. Then pedaling between beaches and pine forests you will activate the Lidi Comacchiesi: From Porto Garibaldi you reach Comacchio. Free time to stroll between bridges and canals, to visit the Ancient Fish Market, the Loggia dei Mercanti, the Loggiato dei Cappuccini and the Marinati Manufacture, where you can immerse yourself in the culture of an ever-current past and discover the history of the eel. Overnight in a farmhouse or B&B.

Day 6: Comacchio – Ravenna (52 km)
After breakfast, departure for Valli di Comacchio, considered one of the Italian sanctuaries of birdwatching in Italy. You will cycle along the valley with its characteristic balances until you reach the Agosta embankment. Here you will cycle on the road that divides two streams, one salty, that of the valleys, and one sweet, that of the Reno river. You reach the coast passing through Casalborsetti and pedaling through centuries-old pine forests and lagoons, head towards Ravenna. Free afternoon to visit the famous Romagna city. The Basilica of Sant’Apollinare Nuovo, the Basilica of San Vitale, the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, the Baptistery of the Orthodox, the Baptistery of the Arians, the Mausoleum of Theodoric, the Basilica of Sant’Apollinare in Classe and the Chapel of Sant’Andrea , constitute the splendid testimony of Ravenna, capital of the Western Roman Empire (5th century). Overnight in a hotel or B&B.

Day 7: Ravenna – Cervia (45 km)
After breakfast, the morning is dedicated to the completion of a city tour. Departure in the early afternoon for Cervia, which you will reach by crossing splendid pine forests with the typical scents of maritime pines. Overnight at the hotel.

Day 8: Cervia – Rimini (40 km)
After breakfast, departure for Rimini. Today you will cycle along the beaches of the Adriatic coast. For over 160 years, Rimini has been in the memories and dreams of generations of vacationers. The secret of its success are the friendliness, hospitality of the places and its inhabitants and an area famous for its 15 km of beach and 230 colorful bathing establishments. Time to visit its art treasures which include unique masterpieces ranging from the Roman to the Renaissance period. A place to get to know by following the impressive and evocative traces left by twenty centuries of history such as the Arch of Augustus, the Tiberius Bridge, Castel Sismondo, the Malatestian Temple, the Roman Piazza Tre Martiri or the medieval Piazza Cavour, to end with the City Museum which preserves its past through over 1500 works and the archaeological site of the Surgeon’s House, with the exceptional surgical-pharmaceutical equipment, which has come intact to us since the Roman age. Return to Venice Mestre by train via Bologna.