Chioggia
April 7th 2026
Myself, Palo, Sandy and Monica.
Today we said goodbye to our generous hosts, Monica and Palo (Antonio’s parents). Sandy had never been to Venice, so we thought we would take a last minute trip and drive north towards Venice. Our flight does not leave Rome until Thursday morning, so we h ave a few days to do some exploring. We have a hotel booked near the airport in Rome for Wednesday night, so we have one night to fill before we leave. The hotels in Venice are expensive ($700 a night was the cheapest we could find. Sandy read that the city of Chiogga was a good choice for a Venice like experience. Since it is on the south side of the Venetian Lagoon, we decided to check it out. We found a place to stay on Booking.com for $85/night. much better than the prices in Venice.
Chiogga
The town is located on a small island at the southern entrance to the Venetian Lagoon about 16 miles south of Venice. This town is known as “Little Venice”. Like Venice, it is an island community with canals for transportation. It has brightly colored houses lining the canals to add to the charm.
Aperol
Looking online, we discovered that this is the area where Aperol was invented in 1919. Now I see why Aperol Spritz is to prevalent in Italy! They use prosecco made from moscato grapes, so it is a bit sweeter. This seems to be the key ingredient that makes these drinks taste so good (better than what I have had at home).
Ba Riva Vena
We arrived in Chiogga early, so we found a car park near our rental that our host recommended as there is not much parking in the city. We could not get into our place until 2:00, so we wandered the streets and found a nice place for lunch. Ba Riva Vena was a small restaurant located on a canal. This seemed like the perfect place to relax and have an Aperol Spritz and a light lunch. We ordered the Pinsa Romana with mozzarella and parma ham. It was delicious!
Old town Chioggia apartments
The place we found on Booking.com was called Old town Chioggia apartments. It was right in the middle of town, just off a canal with a street lined with brightly colored buildings. It was a small functional studio apartment with a table outside for us to use and take in the neighborhood.
There are fewer tourists here, and I think we are the only Americans here. We are really getting a good taste of the local culture. We wandered the streets and I found a grocery store to pick up some tonic water to go with the gin I had brought with. The canals are beautiful and the streets were not crowded. We walked over to where the ferries came in and found a table at Ristorante Alle Baruffe Chiozzotte to sit and watch people come and go. It take about 1.5 hours to take the ferry to Venice. This can be a cheaper was to see Venice. Stay in Chiaggio and visit Venice for the day.
Canal in Chioggia
Bacaro La Baia del Porci
Since we were in a seafood town, Sandy found this recommended restaurant and got us a dinner reservation. It is a small place, but the food was amazing. We ordered the Tuna Tartare for a starter. I ordered the Tortelloni stuffed with scallops and shrimps. Sandy ordered the Catch of the day. Since she wanted the catch of the day, they lead her back into the kitchen to pick out her fish. Such a fun experience.
After dinner we walked down the main street. The town looks so different at night. I came across the Sugar Cafe that makes all types of spritz’s. I will definitely need to come back to check them out! the Palazzo Comunale di Chioggia (the city’s town hall) was even light up in Italian colors.
Palazzo Comunale di Chioggia (town Hall)
The canals also look very different at night. I really enjoyed walking around at night. It was safe and beautiful. We ended our night with a light cocktail in front of our apartment. Great way to end the day.
Canals at night
