'Where Can I Swim in Venice in October?'

Sep 14, 2014 11:31pm

Anne Hanley, The Daily Telegraph, September 15, 2014

Ask the experts: Anne Hanley, our Venice expert, offers advice on where to stay for a swimming holiday in the city.

Ann Maxwell writes

My husband and I want to visit Venice in October. We love art and architecture, but I also love to swim, and we wondered about a hotel on the Lido. We could take the vaporetto into town. What do you think?

Anne Hanley, Venice expert, replies

Choosing the Lido, you will miss that wonderful feeling of staying in the heart of somewhere unique. And on a hot summer day, it’s fun to join the towel-toting hordes on the vaporetto and make your way across to the Lido for a dip, either on the beaches in town, or further south at Alberoni (take bus linea A from the Santa Maria Elisabetta stop).

While the northern Adriatic in October can be warm in an Indian summer, you’re just as likely to be plunged into an early winter. The beachfront hotels are of the five-star variety with rates to match, though there can be good deals later in October.

On the road from the vaporetto stop to the beach is the Ausonia & Hungaria. A hotel with a pool in Venice proper is an option, though only three offer this and are expensive: the Belmond Cipriani, the Bauer Palladio and the Molino Stucky Hilton. For my guide to Venice see telegraph.co.uk/venice .

Ask the experts

Our Q&A service allows you can pick the brains of our experts at home and abroad. Email your query to [email protected] . We won’t be able to answer them all, but we will do our best.

About Anne Hanley

Anne has lived in Italy for over 25 years. Venice is her favourite Italian city and uses any excuse to go back. She also edits the Time Out Guides to Venice and Rome.

Click here to find out about our other experts