LIDO DI JESOLO

This vibrant Italian seaside town on the edge of the Venice Lagoon has an impressive collection of top-end hotels and high-rise apartments, making it one of Italy’s most popular destinations. There’s a sparkling marina, a dozen piazzas brimming with trattorias and all-night discos, plus Via Bafile, Europe’s longest car-free avenue.

Beach

Lido di Jesolo’s beach is a 15-kilometre swathe of golden Dolomite sand, lapped by the rolling waves of the Adriatic. The Lido section in the east is busy with sandcastle-building competitions, games of beach rugby, and a portfolio of watersports. For a more pared-down beach, try the outlying sands of La Pineta in the west – they’re backed by pine forests and the pace is much more easy-going.

Family-friendly attractions

Lido de Jesolo packs in tonnes of family-friendly attractions. For starters, there’s Aqualandia, Italy’s number-one waterpark and home of the world’s tallest slide – the 42-metre Spacemaker. Then there’s New Jesolandia, a fairground that has a giant ferris wheel, chair-o-planes and a skyflyer. And next door is Pista Azzurra, the go-kart track where F1 legends Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher raced as teenagers.

Close to Venice

A 90-minute ferry ride across the lagoon takes you to Venice, the fairytale city of canals dotted with gondoliers and sinking palaces filled with Renaissance masterpieces. St. Mark’s Square is a breathtaking setting for a morning cappuccino. Apparently, if you kiss under the Bridge of Sighs at sunset, you’ll be granted eternal love.