Lido di Jesolo

Lido di Jesolo is the largest resort on the Venetian Riviera and one of the biggest on the Adriatic: roughly fifteen kilometres of wide, shallow, lifeguarded sand, with a dense strip of hotels behind it.

Running parallel to the beach is Via Bafile, among the longest pedestrian shopping streets in Europe, which is where the town's evening happens.

It makes no claim to be old -- almost all of it was built after 1950 on drained marshland. What it offers is a very well-run family beach, and Venice forty minutes away.

Jesolo's population multiplies many times over in July and August, and the water, waste and traffic systems run at their limits. June and September are materially better for the town and for the visitor.

The surviving dune fragments and the pine strip are fenced for good reason -- dune vegetation is what holds the beach in place. Stay off them.

Use the boat to Venice rather than driving there. It is faster, far cheaper, and keeps one more car out of a city that has spent twenty years trying to reduce them.

Cycle within the resort. The ground is completely flat, the routes are marked, and summer traffic is the town's worst problem.

The beach itself is mostly concessioned: umbrella and two loungers run roughly twenty to thirty euros a day in season, and free public stretches are limited. Many hotels include beach service.

There is no railway station. The nearest is San Donà di Piave-Jesolo, with buses on; direct buses also run from Venice Piazzale Roma and Marco Polo airport in about an hour.

For Venice, take the bus to Punta Sabbioni and the boat from there -- around 35 minutes to San Marco, and far better than driving.

The town is flat and cycling is the local norm; bicycle hire is everywhere and cheap.

The seafront and Via Bafile are level and accessible, and many beach establishments have accessible walkways onto the sand.

Most of the resort closes from November to April.