Union Lido for first-timers and regulars

We have been coming to Union Lido for around 25 years. You might think we would have accumulated a vast store of insider knowledge by now.

We have.

We can explain how the campsite rules used to be enforced. We know what each bar was once called and what it served. We have our favourite spots and restaurants, our routines and rituals.

Genuine insider knowledge, then. Only it is mainly useful to us. Or interesting to us.

There can hardly be many secret tips on a campsite like Union Lido anyway. Practically everything is public and nearby. After three days, you know the different stretches of beach. After three evenings, you have strolled past almost every restaurant several times. The entertainment programme is in the app, the evening music is advertised on boards, and even small changes are reliably communicated.

Besides, poor quality rarely lasts long here. Much is therefore simply a matter of taste.

So this article deliberately does not cover everything Union Lido offers. Only the things we believe are, first, useful — and, second, not already obvious in the app or on the next noticeboard.

In brief

01 – Book during school holidays. For August, book very early. Meaning: the year before.

02 – Know about the waiting area. With a booking, it is practical. Without one, the wait can be very long.

03 – State your preferences when booking. In our experience, they really are taken into account where possible.

04 – Do bigger shops outside the campsite. For anything spontaneous, fresh or forgotten, you can find practically everything on site.

05 – You do not necessarily have to join the long queue for breakfast rolls. There are alternatives.

06 – Bring bicycles. They open up plenty of possibilities beyond the campsite.

07 – When it rains, either leave early or stay on site.

08 – Do not think of Venice only as a single day trip. You can make use of its proximity again and again.

Book — or wait

Outside the real low season, we would not arrive without a booking. As soon as schools are on holiday anywhere in Germany or Austria, the campsite fills up.

For August, that means being early. Very early.

Bookings for the following year do not always open on the same date. From October onwards, we therefore check the website or app regularly and book as soon as reservations open. If no pitches are available, do check again later. Things usually change.

For our most recent reservation, the deposit was 70 per cent of the price of the booked package. Cancellation is possible up to four weeks before the planned arrival date, for a fee of €100.

We find it useful that you can enter requests in the comments field: a particular area, a location or even a specific pitch number. There is no guarantee, of course. But our experience is that they genuinely try to accommodate such requests.

Arriving with more people than originally stated is also straightforward.

Less pleasant: if you leave early, you still pay for the reserved period.

The waiting area

If you arrive outside the campsite’s vehicle-access hours, you do not find yourself stuck at a closed barrier. Instead, there is a large waiting area by the sports grounds on Via Fausta, where arriving campers can park overnight before entering the campsite.

There are separate areas for guests with and without bookings. Electric hook-ups are available, along with toilets and some shade.

With a reservation, it is quite comfortable. Park the caravan, wind down the steadies, connect the electricity, sleep. The next morning, you move onto the campsite.

Without a booking, the same field can become considerably less cosy. If the campsite is full, you wait for pitches to become free. That can take a few hours, sometimes a day or two. During that time, you have no daytime access to the campsite and have to keep moving forward as the queue ahead gets shorter.

In low season, there is a smaller waiting area for night-time arrivals closer to reception, also with electricity.

With a booking, the waiting area is a practical stopping point. Without one, it can become uncomfortable.

What does it cost?

There is no longer a conventional price list. You see the actual price on the website or in the app for the dates and package you want to book. On site, you can request a printout with your own booking details.

Exactly how the prices are calculated is not explained.

As a guide: in summer, a standard pitch with electricity and water for two people now costs close to €100 a day.

Five-star camping is not cheap.

Arriving

If you arrive during the day, you drive straight to reception at the campsite entrance. Your personal details are recorded, and you receive your pitch number, chip wristbands for campsite access, a car tag and the usual information material.

Then you pass through the automatic number-plate-recognition barrier and drive to your pitch.

In peak season, you may first be directed to the sports grounds. You continue a little further along Via Fausta and turn right. Arrivals are organised there, and you are then directed to the entrance or the waiting area.

The procedure has been tried tens of thousands of times and repeatedly improved, so it usually runs smoothly.

Where we like to stay

We usually choose a Venezia pitch. With electricity and a water tap.

We particularly like the more westerly part of the campsite, below Aqua Park Laguna and before the Dog Camp. There used to be a wall there, which is why long-standing visitors still call it “behind the wall”.

That is not an official area name. These days, the wall has become a fence.

In our experience, the Venezia pitches there are a little more generous and quieter than in the more central areas. In return, you have a slightly longer walk or ride to the shops, restaurants and busier spots.

That is exactly what we like.

Anyone who wants to be as close as possible to everything will prefer other areas.

Shopping

You can easily do your shopping at Union Lido without leaving the campsite. There are two supermarkets, fruit and vegetables, a bakery, camping supplies and fresh fish several times a week.

We have little to fault in the choice or quality. Prices are naturally higher than outside, though.

Our approach is to do bigger shops off site and stock up. We like going to Alì in Cavallino for that.

Anything else we suddenly need, want fresh or have simply forgotten is almost always available at Union Lido.

For us, that is the most convenient combination. Partly because it means most of the shopping travels in the car boot.

The breakfast-roll question

In the morning, the queue outside the bakery in the middle of the campsite can stretch for several dozen metres.

Service is actually quick. Even so, we do not like queuing.

There are alternatives. The supermarkets sell surprisingly decent packaged rolls — including wholegrain rolls and pretzels. Bread&Milk at the entrance to the Dog Camp also sells baked goods; the queue there is usually shorter.

Or you can leave the campsite, turn left and head past the sports camp to Panificio Vianello.

Even by bicycle, that is probably no quicker than waiting at the bakery.

But Vianello offers more than cappuccino. In the mornings, ordinary Italian life happens there: the refuse collector, the gardener, the woman in the black skirt, families on their way to the public beach, a Mercedes beside a rust bucket — and a few tourists in between.

That is why we go.

Mosquitoes and pine needles

A campsite between the Adriatic and the lagoon sounds like somewhere mosquitoes would eat you alive.

That is not generally our experience.

There are mosquitoes. But the campsite regularly arranges biological treatments against them. Several evenings a week, a spraying vehicle drives through the rows.

When it comes, it is worth being a little careful and at least briefly putting away any crockery still standing outside.

Another everyday issue is sometimes the pine needles. In the morning, they are in the awning; by the afternoon, outside it again; and the next day, everywhere once more.

For that, rakes hang at various points on tall stands along the hedges.

Take one, use it, hang it back.

Campsite infrastructure can be very simple.

A brief history of the wagon

On a campsite, you get around almost entirely on foot. Sometimes by bicycle. But there is often something to carry. Beach equipment: parasols, loungers, blankets, inflatable animals, towels, sand buckets. Children. A cool box. A paddleboard. Packs of bottled water. Pizza boxes. Chemical toilets. And sometimes several of these at once.

The answers to these challenges are varied. We use an old beach trolley. And a separate trolley for the chemical toilet. Fashions change too. The latest must-have is the folding wagon. We had a wagon in our early days as well: an ungainly frame, five planks, a pulling handle, two axles, four wheels. A nightmare in the boot. The modern version, by contrast, is high-tech. A single unit, folding down to around 30 × 60 × 90 centimetres, wide wheels on 360-degree swivels, an integrated sun canopy — which can also carry a paddleboard — and external pockets. Optional extras include rain covers and seat belts for the occupants. Suddenly, even the trip to the wash block has a touch of high-tech logistics about it.

Windsurfing and a little yoga

At the western end of the beach, below Lido 55, is Mana Surf&Yoga.

Michi, who runs the surf school, is the only personal recommendation in this article. He has a particularly good rapport with children and teenagers.

After twenty minutes, almost every beginner is actually standing on the board. On the water.

That is when the fun begins.

All our children learnt to windsurf here. We also find it remarkable that Michi almost always remembers former pupils — and their parents — by name, even years later.

Several times a week, Mana Surf&Yoga also offers paid morning yoga on the beach (€10 in summer 2026). This runs independently of the regular entertainment programme.

Bring bicycles

For some years now, cycling has been allowed throughout the campsite. That is sometimes handy, but not essential.

For us, the real reason to bring bicycles begins outside the barrier.

The new cycle path along the lagoon towards Punta Sabbioni is particularly lovely. Large stretches run directly beside, or even over, the water.

The lighthouse at Punta Sabbioni makes a good destination. Chiosco al Faro is the perfect place for a cappuccino and a brioche before riding back.

Another lovely loop takes you to Lio Piccolo. The landscape becomes quieter and more open there. With a little luck, you will see flamingos.

If you want more kilometres, you can head towards Caorle. A wonderful destination. The route begins picturesquely along canals and over a floating bridge. Further towards Caorle, though, you have to accept longer stretches on roads.

Or you can ride across Lido to Pellestrina and perhaps even on to Chioggia.

That, however, is a story of its own.

When it rains

At Union Lido, rain is less of a problem than the idea it gives a great many people at once.

As soon as the weather turns bad, suddenly everyone wants to go somewhere. Into town, shopping or simply off the campsite. The roads on the peninsula and along the lagoon can become completely clogged.

Our rule is therefore simple: if we want an outing in the rain, we leave very early.

For example, for the outlet centre in Noventa di Piave.

If we have missed that moment, we would rather stay on site. There are enough ways to spend a rainy day there — and when in doubt, a wet day outside the caravan is more pleasant than a dry one in a traffic jam.

Beach on Fire

We do not plan our summer holiday around this event. But if you are already there, you should not miss it. And if that means staying an extra day, it is certainly worth considering. Once a year, usually on the last Saturday in August, fireworks are set off simultaneously along the entire coast of Cavallino-Treporti. Ten launch sites are spread over roughly twelve kilometres between Punta Sabbioni and the Cavallino lighthouse.

In the events calendar, that initially sounds like the usual fireworks on the beach.

It is more than that.

Because the coastline curves, from the beach you see not only the fireworks in front of you but the coast lighting up simultaneously far in both directions. In 2016, Beach on Fire even set a Guinness World Record with it.

Venice, again and again

One of Union Lido’s great advantages is its location as a base for trips to Venice.

Boats run regularly from Punta Sabbioni towards San Zaccaria. After a pleasant journey across the lagoon, you get off practically at St Mark’s Square. No search for parking, no bus: a boat straight into a city that lives on the water anyway.

You can reach Punta Sabbioni by bus, bicycle or car. There are numerous private paid car parks around the boat stops.

If you only want to visit Venice once during your holiday, you do not need a complicated plan.

These days, something else interests us too: no longer thinking of Venice as the one big day trip.

You can go over for a few hours. Have dinner in the evening. Spend a day or two at the Biennale. Come back again later.

ACTV’s 24-, 48- and 72-hour tickets are useful for this. Even a day pass usually pays off if, besides the return crossing, you also take a vaporetto through Venice. And if you plan to cross repeatedly over several days, a 48- or 72-hour ticket changes how you approach the city.

Recently, it has become even simpler: ACTV has introduced a tap-to-pay system with a best-fare guarantee. Just hold your phone or credit card against the reader before boarding — always the same device or card! — and the system calculates the best fare afterwards. It also takes the appropriate time-based pass into account if that is cheaper than individual journeys.

With a multi-day ticket, not every visit has to do everything.

This has worked perfectly for the Biennale in particular, especially since Biennale tickets allow visits to the Giardini and Arsenale on different days too.

Leaving

Departure is now straightforward as well.

We pay the day before, at a time when the queue at the payment desks is not too long. In July and August, the desks are open from 08:00 to 17:00; in other months, they close for lunch from 13:00 to 15:00. You get your identity documents back along with the bill. Paying immediately before departure is very impractical.

On the way out — from 07:00 onwards — you pull over briefly just beyond the barrier, show the bill, hand back the wristbands and car tag, and drive away.

There is not much more you need to know.

What we would do differently now

Above all, we would bring less.

We used to have several inflatable animals, air mattresses and, for a while, even a paddleboard. Getting to the beach and back soon became a small transport problem.

By the third or fourth day, when everything was finally inflated, it was almost time to start letting the air out again.

If it had not already broken by then.

Incidentally, you can hire a paddleboard for €15 an hour (as of 2026).

Clothing is similar. After a few days, you generally settle into one or two pairs of shorts. You change T-shirts when they feel sweaty.

For running, a pair of shorts, perhaps two shirts and a pair of running shoes will do. The rest of the collection can stay at home.

One thing, though, we would buy much sooner now: a good compressor cool box. It is useful not only on the campsite but now comes on many of our journeys.

Bringing less does not mean doing without everything. It means finding out what you actually use.

Things we would do again

Book early for August.

State our preferences when booking.

Meet our Union Lido friends.

Espresso and cappuccino at Lido 55 every day. An Aperol Spritz now and then too.

A family pizza at Pizza&Sapori, burgers at the Dog Camp.

Bring bicycles.

Have breakfast at Vianello. Almost every day.

Cycle through the lagoon.

Cross over to Venice now and then. When it is not too hot.

After 25 years, we could tell you much more. Much of it would be memory, some habit, and some simply a matter of taste.

This, though, is what we would tell someone going there for the first time tomorrow.