The final leg of the München-Venezia cycle route mainly follows the Girasile cycleway, and the Sile river, as it winds its way across the Veneto plain Venezia itself. There are some options depending on whether you want to end at Venezia, or on the eastern edge of the Venetian lagoon.

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Options

There are three options for the final section:

• one follows the Girasile cycleway along the banks of the Sile river and then on to Mestre (56 kilometres)
• the second turns off the cycleway to head via Jesolo, and Cavallino -Treporti to Punta Sabbioni on the eastern shore of the Venetian lagoon (83 kilometres). Once you get to Punta Sabbioni you can take the number 14 traghetto to the Lido di Venezia.
• the third takes advantage of newly-opened stretches of cycleway beside the river Sile and the Taglio del Sile to offer a slightly more direct route around the laguna from Quarto d'Altino to Punta Sabbioni. (72 kilometres)

The main route via Mestre is the shortest, but while taking the causeway to Venezia may seem like the obvious choice, the obvious choice isn't always the best one: although there's now a cycleway beside the road it's still far from glamorous or romantic.

For my money the best way to see Venezia for the first time is on a boat coming into the city from the sea, so you really aren't missing out on anything if you opt for one of the variants. If you have few days, then I'd head for the eastern shore which would make a great base for visiting Venezia and the islands of the Venetian lagoon.

A compromise option would be to take the car ferry (service number 17) from the Tronchetto terminal (close to the end of the main route) to the Lido di Venezia. For more inform­ation see the transport and services section below.

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Riverside cycleway in the centre of Treviso

Treviso to Musestre di Roncade

The route out of Treviso is a little tricky because of the one-way system around the Riviera Garibaldi. From what I could see, the best way is to follow the signs into the centre of town and then go through the cobbled vicolo that comes out on the waterside by the Osteria al Dante, then cross the road to the ciclabile by the river. Then, just before the bridge over the river, cross back over the road (there's a crossing) and take the cycleway along the arcade of trees. When you reach the (push-button controlled) crossing, that leads to the water-side turn right and cross the road and turn left. The ciclabile by the river seemed to stop at this point, but going straight on, following the river, seemed to be the easiest option here. Follow the waterside to the start of the Girasile cycleway – it starts just before the railway bridge (you should be able to see the twin circular blue signs about 50 metres away). There’s an I2/​I4 sign although the Girasile is numbered E4).

The Girasile is just beautiful. The Girasile park authority and the local author­ities in this area have invested a lot of money (€3.75 million) on new and upgraded sections of the cycleway as well as some bridges.

Treviso: the GiraSile cycleway

The stretch out of Treviso is popular with runners and walkers (at least it was on a Saturday morning). The cycleway out of Treviso is tarmac surfaced but this gives way to aggregate for most of the 22 kilometres. It is mainly dedicated traffic-free cycleway but there are some sections of quiet road that are restricted to residents (with a 15 kph limit). There's also a section of boardwalk where you have to get off and walk ('Cicli a Mano' signs).

There aren't a whole lot of places to eat and drink along the cycleway itself: the best bet is probably Casier sul Sile, about 6.5 kilometres out of Treviso, where there's a bar and a trattoria.

The GiraSile cycleway (part of the München-Venezia cycle route) near Roncade in the Veneto

Musestre di Roncade to Mestre

At Musestre di Roncade you cross the river and head for Mestre via Quarto d'Altino. The route makes a detour to take advantage of two quiet bridges over the Zero and Dese rivers - passing close to the Marco Polo airport.

The final stretch into Mestre was surpris­ingly quiet. There are a couple of points where you have to go under the rail line and under a main road, but in both cases, the underpass has a separate ciclope­donale.

Mestre, seemed pretty bike-friendly, and coming into town you pick up a cycleway that takes you pretty much all the way to the station - although note that there is a pedes­trian-only zone in the Piazza Erminio Ferretto.

Mestre to Venezia

When I rode this section of the route it stopped in Mestre. There's now a cycleway that takes you all the way to Venezia itself. The cycleway follows the Via Torino before going over the railway line and under the main road. It then continues to the causeway where the cycleway is on the right-hand side. The cycleway takes you over the causeway. If you are planning on getting a ferry from the Tronchetto of San Basilio piers then you need to turn right here, otherwise, rejoin the road for the final stretch (of almost 700 metres) over the Ponte della Libertà to the Piazzale di Roma. There are a limited number of bike spaces at the Bici Park on the Ponte della Libertà (see the transport and services section below). See the transport and services section for more inform­ation on ferries and bike parking.

Two steps forward … and one step back?

Update: the cycleway on the Via Torino leads to an underpass that takes you under the railway line and road, and on the other side you can pick up the cycleway across the bridge. Unfortunately, the access to the underpass has been closed because of the redevel­opment of the station at Porto Marghera. Until the work is completed you need to turn left onto the Via Paganella, heading for the station, and then take the steps that lead to the underpass under the station. At the time of writing (April 2019) the RFI (the company that own the stations and tracks) was due to have installed a canalina on the steps to allow cyclists to push bikes up and down them.

This devel­opment follows pressure from the FIAB Mestre the local branch of the Federazione Italiana amici della Bicicletta. If you want to check for any further news on this, their website is the best place to look.

Venezia - approaching the piazza di San Marco by vaporetto

Venezia and bikes

In 2016, the Comune di Venezia extended the ban on cycling in the centro storico (historic centre) so that now you cannot either ride bikes, or push them. If you do, you risk a 100€ fine.

I haven't been able to find a formal defin­ition of the centro storico, but it applies to most of the group of islands at the centre of the Laguna di Venezia. You can still ride to the Piazzale Roma on the main island, and also to the ferry terminals but no further than that. Google Maps and OpenStreetMap maps show the pedes­trian-only areas of the city, and it's safest to regard all of these as off-limits — although there is an exception for the area in front of the Santa Lucia train station.

If you want to see it in black and white, see the city's website: comune.venezia.it: Forbidden Behaviour.

And if you want chapter and verse, the ban is in Articolo 28 of the Regolamento di polizia urbana (pdf) which says:

Nel Centro Storico di Venezia è vietata la circol­azione dei velocipedi anche se condotti a mano

Note that at the time of writing the city council had just approved a new version of the regola­mento.

The regulation provides an exception for residents of Venezia, and children under the age of ten in specific areas. It also gives the police power to impound bikes until the fine is paid.

I don't know how vigor­ously the ban is enforced, or your chances of not encoun­tering someone from the local police. If you do decide to take the risk, be discreet and pay attention to the other #Enjoy-Respect-Venezia rules. Last year (2018) one unlucky cycle tourist was fined 350€ for a combin­ation of offences.

Options and connections

If you're planning on continuing south there are a couple of options to consider. The first is the eurovelo 8 route that goes via Jesolo and then the islands on the eastern shore of the lagoon and then on to Chioggia on its southern tip. For more inform­ation see:

Another altern­ative is to follow the AdriaBike cycle route which takes you to Padova and then to Chioggia.

Transport and services

Resources

Treviso: cyclist on the the GiraSile cycleway - part of the München-Venezia cycle route

Articles in this series

• München-Venezia Overview
• München-Venezia: 1: München to Achenkirch
• München-Venezia: 2: Achenkirch to Hall-in-Tirol
• München-Venezia: 3: Hall-in-Tirol to Brenner
• München-Venezia: 4: Brenner to Fortezza Franzensfeste
• München-Venezia: 5: the PusterTal (Fortezza Franzensfeste to Toblach)
• München-Venezia: 6: the Ciclabile delle Dolomiti
• München-Venezia: 7: the Via Alemagna (Sotto Castello di Cadore to the Lago di Santa Croce)
• München-Venezia: 8: the Lago di Santa Croce to Treviso
• München-Venezia: 9: Treviso to Venezia