Barone Yachting

Itiniary the bay of venice

Itinerary Venice Lagoon

Exploring the Laguna di Venezia by Houseboat

Finally our long awaited holidays have come. For months we, a group of seven, have been looking forward to this moment when we will embark on our houseboat trip on the many diverse waterways around the Lagoon of Venice. With a lot of luggage and a good mood we reach Chioggia, the starting base of Crown-Blue Line near Verona and Venice located in the northern part of the lagoon. The skilled staff of the base are already waiting for us. After we have parked our car on the guarded parking lot not too far away from the base, we receive a briefing of about an hour on how to handle our Crown Classique on the large lagoon. We decide to spend our first night on board in Chioggia. After an easy walk through the picturesque old town district, with its many canals and bridges as well as its manifold cafés and fish restaurants, we let the night come to an end with a glass of good wine and a real Italian espresso.

On the next morning we start early with a cruise in which we get to know the area a bit. Our instructor is fluent in many languages and can easily inform us on what to keep an eye on. In relatively short time we have learned how to handle our well equipped boat. “Such a bow thruster is simply great!“ says Daniel as he maneuvers the boat away from the landing. 45 minutes later we are in full control of the boat and Paolo, our instructor, leaves us with a loud “Ciao!“. We cruise along the lagoon and enjoy the sun. As we are beginners it seems too difficult and stressful to us to land in Venice directly and so we decide to leave our houseboat at Vignola where our charter company owns a private landing place and from where we can easily reach the world famous city built on water. Only a short trip on a water taxi separates us from Venice now and we decide to start our trip to the beautiful town.

Having walked through the many narrow paths of Venice and having seen its astonishing monuments our feet become tired and we think it's a good idea to end the day in one of the many nice restaurants where we can enjoy the wonderful pasta and the equally wonderful wine.

The next morning Margret is preparing our breakfast while the men are already busy maneuvering the boat away from where we spent the night. Our goal this time is the island Burano and we move along the Canale della Visa passing by St. Erasmo with its famous Tri Porti. “This is just like Disneyworld!“ shouts Daniel as he spots the small and colorful houses on our side that are surrounded by water with their silk stores and puppet shops in them. This time we go to bed early because we want to see a guided tour through the famous cloister of San Francesco which starts at eleven on the next day.

When we arrive at San Francesco we are immediately convinced that this must be the lagoon's most romantic island. We think that this is the ideal place to spend the evening under pine trees at an open fire and have our fresh water tanks filled up. The Canal del Deserto that led from Burano to San Francesco was very narrow and shallow so that we had to stick to the demarcations that guided our way through the water. Our next goal is Murano. We are astonished by how much traffic there is on our waterway but we are lucky enough to find a place where we can leave the boat that is located directly opposite the glasblowing museum. We are happy that we don't have to make a long trip on land in order to reach the museum and the many stores that offer glasblown products of the region. On the next morning, however, we have to pay for the good place we discovered for our houseboat. The location where we left our boat is in reality the landing place of a big tourist boat that now arrives with its captain engaged in gestures that seem to indicate that we have to leave here immediately. Now we are happy that our boat has its bow thruster because it really is of great help as we move the vessel away from the museum and the approaching tourist boat. We are relieved as we spot Vignole in front of us where we stop the boat at our old landing place and enjoy our breakfast peacefully. If we had more time we could now embark on a trip into the Venecian hinterland through one of its many canals. But we only have five days and so we decide to remain in the waters that we know. We thus stay one more day in the lagoon and then start on our way back. We make use of the time that we still have and cruise away from the shore and to the open sea which is very calm and even. At Lido we discover a great place to drop anchor and we swilm from the boat to the nice beach that is just nearby. We can hardly believe it that our holidays are already coming to an end. We turn around and see Venice slowly disappearing on the horizon. Back in Chioggia we explain to Paolo, who gave us our first instructions, that we want to come back indeed. “A rivederci!“ he says as he waves his hand while we are leaving this wonderful place.

 

Note:

Please note that this is a suggested itinerary and not all yachts have the necessary licences / insurance to call at all destinations.

Please clarify this with the charter company before planning your trip. You will receive the necessary papers for your route planning from the lessor before the start of the charter, so these must be requested from the hirer / skipper in good time. The terms and conditions of the lessor / owner and, if applicable, their restrictions apply.