A Different Venice

You truly cannot define a Venice as a location little known to tourism; still, it is sufficient to deviate, even just a little bit, from two or three main tourist routes to discover different places, fresh views, fascinating curiosities. Here we will try to give you some ideas and indications for having a different Venetian vacation, a Venetian vacation different from the norm, sometimes even solitary...

Arriving by plane and not at night: the lagoon from above presents itself in all of its originality; the relationship between the land and water is resolved in very elaborate drawings, generated both by the nature and man-made works which have been used in hundreds of ways over the centuries.
Having arrived at the airport you can immediately get a weekly ticket for the ACTV, which will allow you to move around for one week with almost all of the Venetian modes of public transportation and then to take the bus that goes to Piazzale Rome, or else (but it is not included in the weekly ticket) take the boat which goes across the lagoon and goes to Piazza S. Marco (St. Marks' Square), and it is a pleasant cruise.
With the weekly ticket you can use the public transportation for taking a series of boat trips.
If you take the 82 at the San Zaccaria stop at sunset which goes towards Piazzale Roma and Tronchetto, you will be able to sit at one of the few seats at the head and will be able to take a cruise that is a summary of all aspects of Venice: you pass in front of the beautiful San Giorgio Maggiore, in front of Palladio, then you go along the zig-zagging Giudecca Canal, which ends on the left with the large structure "Mulini Stucki", whose restoration is complete. In front, at the Marittima Station, you can run into large cruise ships, true seven-eight floor buildings, which are pulled by tow boats and go along the Giudecca Canal until arriving in front of Piazza San Marco (St. Mark's Square). Then you will turn left towards the "Tronchetto", and you will see industrial Venice to the left, to the right you will catch a glimpse of the new headquarters of the Architectural Faculty made from an old fabric factory in Santa Maria; then, and it will be almost dark, you will enter into the Grand Canal and will go along all of it, with the buildings whose lights completely change the appearance...a true cruise costing 3.50 Euros; it is worth it.
During the day you can take the boats that go to the islands, stopping everywhere, without being afraid to not find a means to continue to return: there are many! If you can (it is not very easy, there are very few of them) take the motorships, both for the Lido and for the islands; you will have the true sensation of being on a cruise.
Take, in the early afternoon, a boat to the Lido and from there a bus for Pellestrina. At a certain point the bus goes up onto a small ferry boat and after a short stretch, you will get off at the beginning of the "murazzi"; these are massive stone-block walls constructed immediately after the last World War to protect the lagoon landscapes of the fishermen from the most violent swells of the sea; after one in particular they were almost destroyed.
A very comfortable foot path runs along the summit of these walls, with a veiw of the sea from one part and a view of the lagoon on the other. At the base of the street runs the street on which the buses run, for approximately six kilometers.
Depending on time, we recommend taking a ride on the bus and then getting off and going on foot, on high between the sea and the lagoon, and arriving in Pellestrina, and then dining there, enjoying the sunset over the lagoon. Or else, if it is a summer morning, getting off at the part of the sea and taking a swim and getting some sun; you will find yourselves surprising alone or close to it....
You can even go to Chioggia, paying only for the last stretch of the trip, but non on Thursday because there is a very crowded market, which destroys the atmosphere of the small city without offering any other motive of interest.