Venice - Lido (Island)

In previous centuries for Venetians the Lido only represented a trip into the country. Subsequently a fashionable resort, today it is a Mecca for tourists.

The island is 12km/7.5mi long, almost half of which is a beach of fine smooth sand. Apart from the usual bathing (each section of the beach belongs to one or several hotels), there are facilities for golf, tennis, horse-riding and clay-pigeon shooting, as well as places of entertainment. In August and September every year the Lido is the venue for the International Film Festival (in the Palazzo del Cinema).

The main architectural feature is the massive fin de siècle hotels (the hotel Des Bains and its beach was the setting for Thomas Mann's novel "Death in Venice"). In the north part of the island there are villas, functional modern buildings and hotels, beach and residential districts.

Cars can be taken over by ferry, otherwise it is possible to get around on foot or by bus or horse-drawn cab.

Lido hosts the annual International Film Festival, where the Golden Lion is awarded to the best films in the competition. The festival takes place between August and September.