The Venice Lido is an ideal destination for an unusual and fascinating beach holiday.

Where else can you go in a few minutes from billionaire glitz to a lonely, wild landscape that has nothing to do with glamour? All just a 15-minute vaporetto ride from San Marco, one of the most beautiful squares in the world!

The Lido is the most famous of the islands in the Venice lagoon and one of the most unique. For a start, it is the only one (together with nearby Pellestrina) that allows cars and bicycles.

With a coastline of over 10 km, it is the favourite beach of Venetians, who take advantage of the efficient vaporetto connections in summer to escape the stifling heat of the city. It is also the island of VIPs, or at least it is in September when the spotlight is shone on the Venice Film Festival, one of the most important film festivals in Europe.

Its main attractions are linked to this internationally renowned event, which transforms Venice into a nerve centre of the international jet-set, complete with red carpet and crazed photographers.

But you only have to walk a little, or take a bus, to get to Malamocco, a village that derives from one of the first permanent settlements in the lagoon area in pre-Roman times, and further on to Alberoni, where the stars of the scene are no longer VIPs in designer clothes but endangered birds and turtles looking for a way to the sea.

Fortunately, nowadays staying on the Lido is no longer just the stuff of the rich. For over a century, the Lido has been synonymous with cultured and wealthy tourism, the favourite destination of writers, poets, nobles, politicians and actors.

We are reminded of this by the elegant Art Nouveau villas scattered around its historic centre and even more so by the exquisitely retro-style beach huts. Once the spotlights of the film festival have been turned off, the atmosphere here still becomes nostalgic, almost Fellini-like. Bathing establishments close, beaches and hotels empty.

But the Lido continues to exert its unique charm given by a mix of Venetian elegance, memories of a glorious past, distinctive landscape and the daily life of Venetian residents.

Give it a thought if you want to experience a Venice other than mass tourism. In the summer, the Lido allows you to spend a few days at the seaside, making a detour to Venice to visit the main attractions; you can also do the opposite: use the island as a base to explore Venice and treat yourself to a quick dip in the sea on your way back from cultural visits.

At other times of year, you can fully appreciate the unique nature of this strip of land sandwiched between the sea and the lagoon as you stroll along lonely beaches and pine forests.