Chioggia Old Town

Level of difficulty 2 |  Gastronomy 3 |  Length 3.7 km  Time 60 - 80 minutes

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Chioggia's old town offers a truly unusual paddling experience. Romantic canals, great restaurants, and cute house facades invite you to take a leisurely break everywhere you go.

General information

• Veneto tourist information
• Chioggia tourist information
• Chioggia Wikipedia
• Tour video
• Climate
• Wind, waves, weather

Navigation rules

Chioggia's waterways are full of fishing boats, which of course must always be avoided. Since people also fish from the quays, it is important to paddle with foresight and keep a sufficient distance from the banks – as far as this is possible in the town center.

In addition, passenger ships and taxi boats regularly circulate around the artificial island that forms the town center. They must be given way as well.

Please do not anchor the SUP at boat moorings, but always take it ashore after docking!

Dangers and risks

Anyone parking along the main road must be careful not to obstruct traffic or passers-by while preparing for the tour or walking to/from the launch point. Cyclists and moped riders also pass by very quickly here - often in groups and side by side.

The water accesses at the boat moorings near the parking lot at Isola dell'Unione should be approached with caution. You climb down about half a meter from the quay onto tiny wooden walkways, which consist of just a single slat and can sometimes be quite wobbly. Don't rush, and it's best to bring the board and paddler onto the water in pairs!

Extreme caution is required at all launch and exit points to avoid touching the shells on quays and boat moorings. These can be fatal for iSUPs if they cut into the board.

In order to keep the entry and exit height at the quay as low as possible, and thus ensure greater safety and comfort at the start and the end of the tour, it makes sense to plan the tour around the peak of high tide.

The slipway at Isola dell'Unione should be avoided, as it is simply too slippery to move around safely!

There is busy water traffic with corresponding waves around the old town. In the canals themselves, however, it is quite calm, mainly because the speed limit in the center is only 5 km/h.

The water around the church Chiesa di San Domenico at the northern turning point and in the lagoon at the southern turning point can be relatively shallow depending on the tide. Keep a safe distance from any buildings and monitor the water depth!

Be particularly careful in strong wake to avoid being pushed against quays or watercraft. Motorboats can travel at high speeds between Isola dell'Unione and the long Isola dei Cantieri, and passenger ships anchor in the north of the old town. Expect heavy traffic in these areas!

Many bridges are so low that you have to either crouch or kneel to paddle underneath them.

Outside the old town, there may be fishing boats with lines or nets cast out. So keep an eye out and paddle around far enough!

Stronger winds of up to 4 Bf can occur from time to time, which can prevent tour planning or make finishing a roundtrip more difficult.

Directions

The journey to Chioggia is possible by every conceivable means of transportation. By car, for example, you can take the A 13 and the SS 309 to Chioggia from the south. From Venice in the north, you can also travel via the SS 309 and reach Little Venice in just under an hour.

Paddlers traveling by train, take a connection to Rovigo or Padua, for example, and from there continue by regional train to Chioggia (Sottomarina). Alternatively, there are long-distance buses from cities such as Venice, Padua or Bologna - often with a change in Piove di Sacco or Adria.

From Venice, there are also attractive private boat connections and public ferry connections by vaporetto (local water bus) across the lagoon (line 11 via Lido and Pellestrina).

The nearest airport is Venice Marco Polo (VCE), from Treviso Airport (TSF) Chioggia can be reached in approx. 1.5 hours by train or bus.

Parking

On the island of Isola dell'Unione, there are paid parking spaces with hourly rates of €1.5 and daily rates of €8 (as of 2025). The parking lot at the bridge Ponte dell’Unione is ideal, as there are shady trees and plenty of space to pump up, and you can start your tour right on the quay. You can also park along the main road for the same price, but with less space to prepare for the tour (sidewalk) and lots of traffic.

The Park Unione parking garage is located at the bridge Ponte Translagunare. Some of the parking spaces are outdoors and the prices are slightly higher than at the parking lots mentioned above.

Other paid parking spaces can be found to the west on the Isola dei Saloni and to the east in the center of Sottomarina. However, these are not ideally located for this route. Free parking spaces (marked in white) are usually limited to a parking time of 60 minutes.

Swimming

There is no swimming possible along this SUP route, only at the beach in Sottomarina. It is Chioggia's own seaside resort, so to speak, and offers long, well-maintained sandy beaches on the Adriatic, which are particularly popular in the summer months. In Sottomarina there are numerous lidos (bagni) with sun loungers, parasols, showers, bars and playgrounds. Access to the sea here is shallow and child-friendly, and the water is usually clean and calm.

The water temperature rises to around 18-20 °C from May and reaches 27 °C in July and August. Public and private beach sections alternate, with many hotels having their own beach access. Lifeguards ensure safety in the high season, and there are also plenty of opportunities for windsurfing, pedal boating and stand-up paddling. There is an official kite surfing zone at the northern end of the beach. The kilometer-long beach promenade (Lungomare Adriatico) is ideal for walking and cycling and is a lively meeting place, especially in the evening.

In addition, the Isamar Holiday Village to the south has a large water park with eight swimming pools and three small slides. However, this water park is unfortunately only accessible to overnight guests and there are no day tickets for external visitors.

Tour

From the quay at the Isola dell'Unione south to the Canale San Domenico, leave it to the north and turn left into the Canale Vena, going back south to the launch point.

Length

3.7 km

Time

60 - 80 minutes

Start and landing

Jetty at the Ponte Translagunare Bridge.

SUP rental

Noleggio pedalò, canoe e sub da luca
Bagni clodia, 30015 Chioggia
Phone +39 (0)33 91948 700

Centro Astoria
Lungomare Adriatico 29, 30019 Sottomarina
Phone +39 (0)41 5540 576

Decathlon Rent Chioggia
Strada Statale Romea 309, int. 508
Parco Commerciale Clodì, 30015 Chioggia
Phone +39 (0)41 490256

On the beaches there are also SUP rentals without an internet presence.

Small-town paddling against a lively backdrop

It was only a matter of time before I came here to SUP in Chioggia after discovering this town with its artificial island on the map about two years ago. Today, in perfect summer weather, a pleasant and entertaining small-town SUP trip awaits me.

Paddlers arriving by car from the north or south can, for example, pass through Sottomarina and park the vehicle on the small Isola dell'Unione. Ideally, you should first look around the parking lot at the bridge Ponte dell'Unione. If there is nothing free there, the route first leads to the next traffic circle in order to drive to Sottomarina and from there to the other side of the small island to the parking garage or to the parking spaces along the road. The parking garage costs a little more, but might offer more security.

I choose to access the water at the moorings near the Ponte Translagunare Bridge and have to be extremely careful not to touch the sharp shells. It's best if one person secures the SUP while the other loads it. But it can also be done solo. The swell from passing boats can also make it difficult to start the tour, but they have to slow down sharply at the low bridge anyway to get through between the narrow pillars.

My Chioggia tour starts to the left and takes me around the outside of the town center to the south, where it already looks quintessentially Italian, but not yet really as picturesque as a postcard. From now on, I will pass hundreds of moored fishing boats and ships, as they dominate the cityscape along the water and can sometimes take up more space than there is room to pass. I immediately feel at home here and take care not to paddle too close to the quay walls.

At the first southern turning point, the tension rises as I enter the first canal - the Canale di San Domenico. It is relatively wide and, like all the other canals in the small town, is around 900 m long. I can already see its exit straight ahead and the church Chiesa di San Domenico on my right, which I'm about to paddle around. But first I glide through a typical harbor atmosphere, where boats are transferred from or into the water by cranes and the number of tourists is limited. After all, the crowds want to see Little Venice, not the generic outskirts.

I chose the late afternoon for this tour in the hope that it would be a little quieter on the water due to the Italian afternoon calm (approx. 2–6 pm). After all, I didn't know exactly what to expect here in terms of traffic, but I assume that you can also paddle here in the morning. With the temperatures today, however, it makes no difference whether you paddle early or late, the thirty-plus degrees Celsius have been unabated since the morning hours.

Towards the north, the canal becomes quite narrow due to the fishing trawlers waiting for their nightly shift, some of which are parked in rows of two. I enjoy the sight of the barges, some of which are already very rusty but still in good working order, and turn right to circle the small island of San Domenico with its church of the same name. Incidentally, there is also a branch of the local financial administration here, as well as the hydrobiological research station Umberto D'Ancona of the University of Padua.

My inquiring mind gives me a look down and shows me that the water is not particularly deep, thanks to the low tide. It's better to keep at least ten meters away from the island before tackling the rather undulating northern turning point of the tour.

Here many passenger ships and motorboats enter and leave the fishing town, which is why I nestle close to the boat moorings to glide smoothly into the main attraction of the tour - the Canale Vena. The picturesque Ponte di Vigo is the first of nine bridges over the canal and also my gateway to the old town. From here, I can let myself drift almost completely alone along the calm waters of the canal.

I plan to stop off at Gelatiamo for a great frozen yoghurt and look for an ideal landing spot. Near the Ponte Caneva I want to stop right by the steps of the Palazzo Lisatti-Mascheroni, which jut out into the water. It is one of the town's most important buildings from the late 16th century, but the shells clinging to the walls put me off as much as the supposedly very slippery bottom steps.

A few meters further on, next to the historically valuable building, I find a suitable wooden jetty with much less potential for slashing and carefully step ashore. You should still park the board carefully here and lift it out of the water, as there are no moorings in Chioggia without sharp shells anyway.

Then it's over the bridge on foot to the main social and commercial street of the old town. And right here, on Corso del Poppolo - the street of the people - is my favorite ice cream parlor in Chioggia. At Gelatiamo, I order a delicious frozen yoghurt with fruit and nuts, but the classic ice creams are also highly recommended, especially as they are free from gluten, lactose and sugar.

After this tasty refreshment, I march back to the water and past singing waiters who are setting the tables for the evening business, put my SUP board back in the canal and paddle on south. It's the many small details that make this town so special. They can be found not only on the historic buildings, but also in the canals, where you will spot small shrines or artistic images of saints on the tops of wooden poles. After all, religion is the most important thing in Italy, alongside family and soccer.

I duck under the stone bridges again and again, and unfortunately reach the southern end of the canal far too quickly. Here I completely overlook the Porta Santa Maria Assunta, the former town gate dating back to 1520. One could take a short detour into a small side canal, but it is narrow and only 200 m long. After that, you would have to paddle back again anyway.

As I leave the Canale Vena to the left, I quickly pass the Canale San Domenico and the moorings of the Insola dei Cantieri. Now it's only a stone's throw to the landing stages on the Isola dell'Unione. Even if it looks tempting, you shouldn't try to end the tour at the slipway. Although the bottom is free of mussels, there may be a few crabs on it. It is quite flat up to the parking lot, but you will slide back down to the water standing on the slippery bottom. This can lead to dangerous falls with the SUP in your hand.

The town's slogan is: Chioggia - che storia! In other words - Chioggia - what a story! After this old town tour, I can only confirm this, because SUPing through Chioggia is truly a great experience. Just like a meal afterwards in the restaurant Vecio Foghereo right in a side street of Corso del Poppolo.

Alternatives: Of course, you can also start and finish this round trip at other points along the Isola dell'Unione or even at the moorings in Sottomarina. With a slightly different route, you can also head for the Canale Lombardo which is, however, much less interesting. You can also take a tour of around 4.5 km around the whole old town center.