By boat from Lignano to Grado: the beautiful islands of the lagoon

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23 July 2018

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By boat from Lignano to Grado: the beautiful islands of the lagoon

Do you want to lose yourself in a little but fantastic world? I leave the dock of Lignano Sabbiadoro and head out to sea passing the island of Martignano, better known as Isola delle Conchiglie, today a nature reserve and favourite spot for kite-surfers. I remember that as a child it was a must to spend at least an afternoon there to look for a shell that “echoed the sea” more than others and have a swim on a wild and not very busy beach, very different from those of the seaside resort and a unique alternative for a day trip. Then, still on the seaward side, I pass in front of the island of San Andrea, another solitary site, ideal for a day of playing a modern “Robinson Crusoe” equipped with picnic basket and cooler. Leaving the green light to starboard, the red light to port, I enter the Portobuso canal from the sea: today it divides the lagoon of Grado from that of Marano. A little more than a century ago, it marked the border between Italy and the Austro-Hungarian Empire and heard the first gunfire of the war in the night between 23 and 24 May, 1915. The islet of San Andrea was the last strip of land on the Italian border and the current Porto Anfora, Portobuso was an Austrian area and housed a military barracks that was later abandoned and destroyed. Today, it is the object of an ambitious project to recover the site for tourism; it will be home to a museum of the lagoon, educational centre and ‘scattered hotel’. I cannot wait to visit it! Each bricola or dolphin that delimits the channel leading from Lignano to Grado is the throne of a seagull or a heron or egret that, sleepy but alert, hope for a piece of bread (of course it is not an invitation to stuff our fauna, but if you have a little piece left over, one of them will be happy for the rest of the day). The internal canal that leads from Lignano to Grado, sheltered from the open sea by these islets, is a timeless landscape. A kingdom of unique fauna, of “wildly ordered” vegetation: the tamarisks alternate with poplars, elms and, in the private islands that house the casoni of the fishermen (the typical buildings with thatched roof rising up against the horizontality of the lagoon) wonderful geraniums bloom. Some of these casoni have been converted into inns of the sort one used to see in the past: tables outdoors set with white and red checked tablecloths. Even if you were blindfolded, once you land at the casoni, you would know exactly how to get there: just be guided by the smell of grilled fish and you're done! The ideal is to take this tour with a small boat, and there are various companies that rent them. But if you do not feel like being in charge, there are also many tour operators from Lignano, Grado and Marano Lagunare that offer different variations of lagoon tours. There are taxiboat services and lately I have seen houseboats that shuttle to and fro between the restaurants and the prices are really modest... you just have to take your pick!

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Tiziana Fiorentino

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I am a cat, with many lives: a company manager, I participate in the organisation of food and wine events, I cook, I helm the boat, I do sports, travel, read, write and am curious to hear and share. I'm passionate about everything, but I will focus on my Top Passions that are Food, sport and slow tours.