Published on: 24 February 2017  | Last updated: 14 January 2020

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Distances
Treviso to Quarto d’Altino	32 kms
Quarto d’Altino to Altino	8 kms
Altino to Punta Sabbioni	48 kms
Altino to Mestre (via Quarto d’Altino)	30 kms

Options from Treviso

The Via Claudia is quite an old cycle route, and since it was first estab­lished the Veneto region has developed a new cycle route that follows the Sile river to the coast. This is probably the best option for continuing on from Treviso, but a lot of the cycleway is aggregate surfaced, so if your bike has less than, say, 32mm tyres you may prefer to take the Via Claudia route which is on public roads.

The Via Claudia finishes at the remains of the old Roman city of Altino near modern-day Quarto d’Altino. there are places to stay at Quarto d’Altino (it is close to Venezia’s Marco Polo airport), but you may prefer to head for Venezia. again there are options: you could head for the city of Mestre and then pick up the cycleway on the causeway that links Venezia with Mestre, or you could skirt round the lagoon to the Lido di Venezia. The pros and cons of the different option are discussed in more detail in the guide.

Following the Sile river from 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 riverside by the Osteria al Dante, and 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 waterside 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, appeared 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).

Altino (Altinum)

The Via Claudia ends at Altino, eight kilometres from modern-day Quarto d’Altino. You leave Quarto d’Altino by the appro­pri­ately-named Via Claudia Augusta and then pick up the Percorso della Memoria — an aggregate-surfaced cycleway/footpath beside the river Zeno. You can also get to Altino by road.

At Altino you can see the remains of the old Roman city of Altinum. This was where the old Roman road ended. Altinum was once a thriving port city that ranked in importance alongside Ravenna and Aquileia (Venezia was estab­lished later by people fleeing to the islands for protection from invaders). Like Aquileia, the city was sacked by the army of Attila in 452. The city seems to have recovered after the invasion, but successive waves of invaders from the north lead to the important church insti­tu­tions relocating to the safety of the islands of the Venetian lagoon. Depopulation meant that there were fewer people able to maintain the drainage systems and bit by bit the surrounding area returned to marshland. You can visit the modern museum which was opened in September 2015: Museo Archeologico Nazionale Altino (or MANA for short) and see a section of the old Roman city street.

Getting to Venezia

Quarto d’Altino is about 22 kilometres from Mestre which is, in turn, another 8 kilometres from Venezia. The most direct option from Altino is to follow the SS14. However, this is the main road to and from Venezia Marco Polo airport so it’s not an ideal choice. An altern­ative is to go back to Quarto d’Altino and than pick up the cycle route that leads from there to Mestre. This route is now the last leg of the München-Venezia cycle route (see München-Venezia: Part 9). (I have included a gpx track and maps for this option in the downloads for the Via Claudia). As a compromise between the two, you could take the SS14 over the river Dese and then turn right at the next turning (the Via Paliaga) and then right again onto the Via Litomarino and from there follow the cycle route into Mestre. The cycle route continues south through Mestre and on to Fusina and the Brenta Riviera.

The Mestre-Venezia cycleway

There’s now an excellent protected cycleway on the 3.8 kilometre-long causeway that links Venezia with the Mestre on the terra firma (mainland). The cycleway shares the causeway with the main road as well as the rail line and tramway. It’s great that cyclists have the option of crossing in safety, but it’s certainly not glamorous or romantic: check the Google Streetview images and make up you own mind.

The most straight­forward route from the centre of Mestre is to pick up the cycleway beside the Via Bembo which continues on the Via Genova and turns right into the Via Napoli. At the junction with the Via Torino, cross the road and turn right onto the cycleway that runs alongside the Via Torino.

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The ciclabile beside 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 use the underpass at the Porto Marghera station. There should be a canalina on the steps to allow cyclists to push bikes up and down the steps that lead to the underpass.

The most straight­forward route to the station is to turn right onto the Via Linghindal (look out for the stazione sign), and then left at the round­about, and follow the Via Ca’ Marcello and Via Paganello to the station.

The cycleway takes you past a large car park on the Via Petroli and turns left at the round­about (Via dell’Idraulica). It then comes out beside the tramway and the main SR211. The road is off-limits to bikes — just in case you’re tempted to climb over two sets of barriers to make a right turn.

The cycleway runs on the right-hand side of the causeway for 3.8 kilometres. If you’re headed for the Tronchetto ferry terminal take the turning on the right when the cycleway comes to an end, otherwise, rejoin the road for the final stretch. The road continues on the Ponte della Libertà to the Piazzale di Roma 700 metres further on, passing the turning for the San Basilio ferry terminal.

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.

The altern­ative option is to head for Jesolo on the northern end of the Venetian lagoon, and then follow the edge of the lagoon to the Lido di Venezia or Punta Sabbioni and then take a vaporetto into Venezia itself.

Onward connections

You can, of course, continue on from the end of the tour. If you end at Altino you can follow the coastline north into Friuli-Venezia-Giulia and on from there to Trieste, following the Islands and Lagoons of the Adriatic Coast route. Alternatively you can follow it south, skirting round the laguna di Venezia to connect with the river Po cycleway.

The ban on bikes in Venezia

(For those who want to see the chapter and verse).

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, in the centro storico. 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.

Articles in this series

• The Via Claudia in Germany and Austria: Overview
• Via Claudia Part 1: Donauwörth to Landsberg Am Lech
• Via Claudia Part 2: Landsberg am Lech to Füssen
• Via Claudia Part 3: Füssen to Imst
• Via Claudia Part 4: Along the valley of the Inn
• The Via Claudia in Italy: Overview
• Via Claudia Part 5: The Vinschgau
• Via Claudia Part 6: Algund to Trento
• Via Claudia Part 7: Trento to the Lago di Caldonazzo
• Via Claudia 8: San Cristoforo al Lago to Feltre via the Valsugana
• Via Claudia Part 9: the Valsugana cycleway to Bassano del Grappa
• Via Claudia Part 10: San Cristoforo al Lago to Feltre via the Passo Croce d’Aune
• Via Claudia Part 11: Feltre to Treviso
• Via Claudia Part 12: Treviso to Altino (and Venezia
• Via Claudia Part 13: Trento to Verona and Ostiglia