And an ideal place to escape the crowds of mainland Venice

Abandoned for a very long time and unknown to most visitors, the green and wooded Certosa is just 15 minutes by vaporetto from Piazza San Marco and the bustle of central Venice. The Venice Certosa Hotel is the only hotel on the island. There are no shops, houses or other commercial activities, just grass, trees, birds, a marina with a shipyard and sailing school and a few grazing rabbits.

There are also supposed to be goats wandering around the island, but we never found them!

The majority of its 22 hectares comprises a huge ’park’ with a network of paths for walking, jogging and cycling. It surprised me when in Venice, just how many Venetians kept dogs – not just small breeds either – and many local dog owners seem to come to the island on the water bus to let them run free in the open air.

The large grassy areas are perfect for children to kick a ball around and let off steam at the end of the day.

And outdoor library!

There’s a small sandy beach, although not very well kept, where we sat and watched the boats go past, and Rupert did some drawing.

There’s also what seems to be a little help-yourself ‘library’ built into tree trunks in the grounds, a sort of book exchange. We even found packets of digestive biscuits there!

La Certosa has a diverse history. Once home to religious orders, the island was also turned into military grounds by Napoleon and used as a munitions factory and shooting range by the Italian army. Over the past few years, though, the island has been transformed to create a recreational and green space, providing an ideal place for visitors and Venetian families alike to enjoy.

The only accommodation on the island

We stayed on the island for a couple of days in March. The hotel is a more minimalist, upscale hostel in feel rather than a fully-fledged hotel, and felt a bit functional or institutional, but is an inexpensive option by Venetian standards.

The restaurant, which serves traditional Venetian food, has a lovely outside seating area, with snacks and cocktails also available from the bar. It seems that if you book direct, breakfast is included, but if you have booked through an external booking system as we did, then a continental style buffet breakfast will set you back an additional few Euros.

One of the advantages of staying here is the activities on offer. There are half or whole day sailing trips on typical Venetian boats, or a mini-cruise with a night on board, and sailing courses which sounded great. We would have loved to have given this a go but sadly didn’t have the time.

Apparently, they run a sailing camp for children during the summer holidays. You can leave the kids at the camp while you go off and explore Venice – how great is that!

Venice Kayak, an all-year kayaking tour operator, also have their base on Certosa and the island is the starting point for kayak trips around the lagoon and along Venice’s canals. There are even kayak trips by the light of the moon, reaching the canals near St. Mark’s and the Bridge of Sighs during the evening, then paddling back to Certosa through the inner canals. We would have loved to have done that too.

Getting to & from Certosa Island

The island can be easily reached on vaporetto lines 4.1 or 4.2 to Certosa Island. This is a request stop only during the winter months, so don’t forget to mention it when you board the vaporetto – I was a bit nervous about this, not speaking Italian, but it was fine. Look out for the stop before, S. Pietro di Castello, to make it easier to spot.

To return to Venice centre, there is a button on the platform which turns on a light to tell the vaporetto driver that you would like to be picked up. Just make sure you select the right direction! After 21:00, the hotel offers a free private boat service to Venice.

From 00:00 till 06:00 am, the hotel offers guests a private boat to the landing stages of Sant’Elena (Pontile Stadio) with the return to Certosa from the same point. We never actually did this though.