My partner and I have been to Venice a few times and have done all the usual tourist stuff. Apart from Vicenza and Burano on our trip in April 2018 we were looking for somewhere else different. The name Chioggia came up, as “Little Venice” some 40 km south of Venice

However I couldn’t find any images of Chioggia except for a few stock photos that looked suspiciously like a side street of Venice. When we asked the young lady at Tourist Information at Mestre about this place, she just said it was difficult to get to. Now that WAS a challenge!!

We had each bought a 2-day waterbus ticket for €30 (normally €20 per day). So armed with the information collected from my research we caught the 8.17 train to Venezia Santa Lucia station. 

We took Line 1 just outside the station ( Ferrovia) at Pier E to Lido – it took about an hour

At Lido we bought return tickets (€3 each) for Bus 11 to Pellestrina at the ticketing office opposite to the tobacconist where the bus was parked just outside

About 20 minutes after the bus left Lido it drove on to the ferry for a 10 minutes ride. You could always tell who were the first-timers on this route (like me) by the way they nipped off the bus for a walkabout!

On the other side of the harbour the bus drove for another 15 minutes and arrived at the ACTV pier for the ferry to Chioggia.

The crossing took 25 minutes and the fare was included in the day ticket. 

We arrived in the mid morning sunshine. The approach was very promising. Although there were quite a lot of people on the ferry, they appeared to be locals going about their business as soon as they left the ferry. 

The Harbour

Chioggia was a really charming place with few tourists (it was not a straight forward journey it has to be said). The white bridge and the marble columns with the Venetian lions were really imposing.

It was such a laid-back place. On the harbour side, there were restaurants and cafés on both sides of the small square, Piazzetta Vigo – a perfect place to have a drink or refreshments and to see the locals going about their daily lives:

People ambling along the square, who crossed the road to exchange pleasantries with someone at one of the outdoors cafés. People on their bikes who stopped in the middle road to show a friend what they had bought at the market…. absolutely charming! 

On the canals side

Chioggia has the charms of Venice minus the hectic streams of people stopping to pose for photos and then running to join their tour groups! On the other hand, there must be enough visitors to Chioggia for there to be fridge magnets, which I was not expecting to find!!

Was Chioggia worth the effort to get there?

Yes, for visitors who have had a taste of the grandeur of Venice and its unique charms and have a day to spare. It’s probably not for first-timers on their first trip to Venice.

Got the fridge magnet 😁