{"id":39452,"date":"2025-11-25T18:21:12","date_gmt":"2025-11-25T18:21:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/usa\/give-venice-a-break-this-nearby-italian-town-has-the-canals-and-fairy-tale-charm-without-the-crowds\/"},"modified":"2025-11-25T18:21:12","modified_gmt":"2025-11-25T18:21:12","slug":"give-venice-a-break-this-nearby-italian-town-has-the-canals-and-fairy-tale-charm-without-the-crowds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/usa\/give-venice-a-break-this-nearby-italian-town-has-the-canals-and-fairy-tale-charm-without-the-crowds\/","title":{"rendered":"Give Venice a break &mdash; this nearby Italian town has the canals and fairy-tale charm without the crowds"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.insider.com\/6924c6bce1a9cbb014dedf3b?format=jpeg\" alt=\"Treponti Bridge\"\/><figcaption>Treponti Bridge<\/p>\n<p>Max Cavallari for BI<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<ul>\n<li>Comacchio offers Venice-like canals and charm without the crowds or overtourism issues.<\/li>\n<li>The town features tranquil lagoons, pink flamingos, and eel cuisine.<\/li>\n<li>This article is part of &quot;Undiscovered Europe,&quot; a series exploring overlooked travel gems.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Roughly 20 million tourists visit Venice, Italy, each year, shuffling shoulder to shoulder over tired bridges, crowding alleyways lined with souvenir shops, and snapping selfies from gondolas in congested canals.<\/p>\n<p>For over a decade, overtourism in Venice has made life harder for residents.<\/p>\n<p>Enter Comacchio \u2014 an Italian city less than two hours away with a similar landscape and vibe that most tourists have yet to discover.<\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.insider.com\/6924c77cabd5e944effb64ef?format=jpeg\" alt=\"Comacchio\"\/><figcaption>Comacchio<\/p>\n<p>Max Cavallari for BI<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Like Venice, Comacchio is made up of islands, where you&#039;ll find canals rather than streets and historic, colorful buildings lining the waterways. But unlike Venice, this floating city is a hidden gem.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;It&#039;s a very relaxed, frozen-in-time atmosphere,&quot; Bologna-based blogger Andrea Chierici told Business Insider. &quot;It&#039;s a place that is calm with no crowds, no noise, and no big groups with the umbrellas.&quot;<\/p>\n<h2>Historic lagoons home to pink flamingos<\/h2>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.insider.com\/6924c5d4e1a9cbb014dedf02?format=jpeg\" alt=\"A flamingo in Delta po Park\"\/><figcaption>A flamingo in Delta po Park<\/p>\n<p>Max Cavallari for BI<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The proximity to Po Delta Park \u2014 which includes the Comacchio Lagoons, one of Italy&#039;s largest wetland complexes, according to Po Delta Tourism \u2014 is one of many reasons to visit Comacchio. The park is part of a protected biosphere reserve and a UNESCO World Heritage site. A representative of the locally owned tour company, Comacchio Experience, said it&#039;s a must-see for visitors.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;You can imagine the lagoon like a big lake, so you cannot see the horizon on the other side of this lagoon, but it&#039;s not totally water,&quot; the representative told Business Insider. &quot;Inside the water, we have a lot of banks and houses of ancient fishermen.&quot;<\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.insider.com\/6924c607e1a9cbb014dedf0f?format=jpeg\" alt=\"Delta po Park\"\/><figcaption>Delta po Park<\/p>\n<p>Max Cavallari for BI<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>You&#039;ll find many waterbird species in Po Delta Park, including the pink flamingo. Both experts recommend taking a walk, bike ride, or boat tour of the lagoons.<\/p>\n<p>The representative of Comacchio Experience also recommends relaxing at the area&#039;s wild beaches, which haven&#039;t been taken over by tourists.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;This is a very different experience because in Italy, we have a lot of beaches, but there are umbrellas everywhere and loud music,&quot; he told Business Insider. &quot;But here, you can find a quiet and very free place.&quot;<\/p>\n<h2>Eels are a seasonal delicacy<\/h2>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.insider.com\/6924c66fabd5e944effb64ba?format=jpeg\" alt=\"Stewed eel and marinated anchovies: the three dishes that characterize Comacchio&#039;s cuisine.\"\/><figcaption>Stewed eel and marinated anchovies: the three dishes that characterize Comacchio&#039;s cuisine.<\/p>\n<p>Max Cavallari for Bi<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&quot;If you like food, the main reason to go to Comacchio is the eel,&quot; Chierici said.<\/p>\n<p>The eel is a historic delicacy in Comacchio, celebrated with annual festivals.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;The original food of Comacchio, the eel, is a prehistoric fish that comes here naturally, and we&#039;ve fished for 1,000 years,&quot; the Comacchio Experience rep said. &quot;This fish is so important because it was the only economy here until the last 70 years.&quot;<\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.insider.com\/6924c7c4e1a9cbb014dedf5e?format=jpeg\" alt=\"Interior of Al Cantinon restaurant\"\/><figcaption>Interior of Al Cantinon restaurant<\/p>\n<p>Max Cavallari for BI<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The eel is a seasonal food that&#039;s fresh in the fall but is preserved to eat all year long. Chierici said that the town has a fishing system that allows all of the smaller eels to go free.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;We keep the life cycle of the eel alive, which is very important because they make a long trip to come to Comacchio,&quot; he told Business Insider. &quot;They come from the Sargasso Sea to the unique landscape of the Po Delta Valley, especially near Comacchio, to reproduce.&quot;<\/p>\n<p>Chierici said that restaurants around town serve eel in various ways \u2014 from grilled entr\u00e9es to sandwiches and risottos.<\/p>\n<h2>Nearby places<\/h2>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.insider.com\/6924c815e1a9cbb014dedf6b?format=jpeg\" alt=\"Comacchio\"\/><figcaption>Comacchio<\/p>\n<p>Max Cavallari for BI<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Comacchio is conveniently located about an hour away from many other historical cities, like Ravenna, Bologna, and Ferrara, making it a great base for a longer trip to Northern Italy, the Comacchio Experience representative said.<\/p>\n<p>Within a half-hour drive, Chierici also suggests visiting Pomposa and Tresigallo for entrancing architecture.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<h4><strong>6 things to do in Comacchio<\/strong><\/h4>\n<ol>\n<li><strong><em>Take a sunset boat tour. <\/em><\/strong><em>Both experts say the best way to explore Comacchio is by boat. According to the Comacchio Experience representative, sunset is the best time to go.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><strong><em>Go bird watching at Po Delta Park. <\/em><\/strong><em>Chierici suggests taking a bird-watching tour to find pink flamingos in the lagoon.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><strong><em>Tour the eel factory. <\/em><\/strong><em>Chierici suggests touring the<\/em><em>Manifattura dei Marinati to see how eel is marinated and preserved.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><strong><em>Try eel in all its forms.<\/em><\/strong><em> Eel is prepared various ways in Comacchio. Try it at one of Chierici&#039;s favorite restaurants: Vasco e Giulia, La Barcaccia, and Al Cantinon.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><strong><em>Attend the fall food festival. <\/em><\/strong><em>Both experts suggest visiting in the fall to attend the annual Sagra dell&#039;Anguilla, a food festival celebrating the eel.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><strong><em>Visit nearby cities and towns. <\/em><\/strong><em>Both sources say it&#039;s worth visiting nearby places like Tresigallo, Pomposa, Ravenna, Bologna, and Ferrara.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>And if you must go to Venice, it&#039;s just an hour and a half away.<\/p>\n<p> Read the original article on Business Insider<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Treponti Bridge Max Cavallari for BI Comacchio offers Venice-like canals and charm without the crowds or overtourism issues. The town features tranquil lagoons, pink flamingos, and eel cuisine. This article is part of &quot;Undiscovered Europe,&quot; a series exploring overlooked travel gems. Roughly 20 million tourists visit Venice, Italy, each year, shuffling shoulder to shoulder over [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":39453,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-39452","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-usa"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39452","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39452"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39452\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39453"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39452"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39452"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39452"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}