Punta Sabbioni: a natural area worth exploring
This itinerary, to be covered on foot, leads us to explore the sandy coastline of Punta Sabbioni and its striking natural environment. The different species of flora and fauna to be found in such a limited area is what makes this landscape shaped by the wind and salt water so interesting.
By moving inwards from the shore and the sandy beach where few plants manage to flourish, we pass from a dune environment to one of pine trees and littoral groves, more sheltered from the wind and hospitable. Here there is a rich variety of flora and fauna: wild orchids, rosemary-leafed weeping willows, hawthorns, black poplars, white alders, and domestic pines; and the wildlife creatures who find their habitat here, the nimble frog, the rat snake, the shrike, the hoopoe, the great red woodpecker, the golden oriole, the cuckoo
the greenfinch, the pheasant and the hedgehog.
Complementing the seashore, on one side we find the market garden area of Punta Sabbioni, a typically agricultural landscape with its rows of hedges and its small vineyards, on the other the area of the harbour mouth, with rock fauna and marine bird life (seagulls, terns and black terns, and grebes). The itinerary concludes at the harbour mouth, with the long breakwater and the Punta Sabbioni lighthouse signalling the main access to the lagoon. This was the spot where sailing ships laden with spices and oriental goods from faraway ports used to pass.
Means of transport: on foot
Route: Punta Sabbioni - Lungomare Dante Alighieri to the beach - Via Montello to the seaside grove and the dunes - Punta Sabbioni market gardens - Via Adige - the first stretch of Via Hermada - Via Podgora - Via A. Fradeletto - Punta Sabbioni.
Distance: circa 10 km.
Estimated time: 2 hours 30 minutes (stops not included).
Viability: the excursion takes place along the paved promenade, the sandy shore and forest lanes. The closing stretch, by the market gardens,
is on an unpaved, out-of-the-way road.
Points of support: bars, restaurants and shops at Punta Sabbioni and on the promenade.
Suggested period: from April to October.
Clothing: light, suitable for an excursion, with footwear fit for walking on sand, and headgear.
Warning: in intermediate seasons, stretches of the promenade and thebeach can be very windy.
August 2010 
