The Comacchio Lagoons and Lower Ferrara Loop

There's a corner of Italy where land and water blur into one another and the horizon is a flat line broken only by the flight of birds. It's the Po Delta near Ferrara, and in particular the Comacchio Lagoons, immense expanses of brackish water where eels were once fished and where today people come in search of flamingos. Although they are part of a park and a UNESCO heritage site, these lagoons remain a place for the few: mass tourism stops at the crowded beach resorts a few kilometres away, and you need only turn your back on the sea to find yourself alone among embankments and reed beds.

Comacchio and the salt pans

The itinerary is a loop that weaves together the lagoon embankments and the quiet roads of the Lower Ferrara plain. Its heart is Comacchio, the little Venice of canals, bridges and coloured houses, with the famous Trepponti, the monumental loggia of multiple arches and stairways that has become the city's symbol. From here you reach the observation points overlooking the lagoons and enter the landscape of the old salt pans. The Salina di Comacchio is one of the most magical places: shallow basins where the extremely saline water draws pink flamingos, seen here in the hundreds, sometimes the thousands. Not far off you pedal toward the park's stations and the valley casoni, the old huts of the lagoon workers, and toward the wild beach and the pine woods that separate the lagoons from the Adriatic.

The stages are made of observation hides, scenic embankments and small reclamation villages. You follow the thread of the water among lagoons and canals, crossing paths with herons, avocets, black-winged stilts and the countless species that make this area one of the birdwatching capitals of Europe. The Lower Ferrara plain adds its agricultural landscape of drained fields, pumping stations and long straightaways among the poplars, a reclaimed flatland that tells of centuries of humankind's struggle against the water.

In the saddle

For cyclists it's a paradise for anyone who loves an easy, long ride. Elevation gain is nil, because we're at sea level and sometimes below it: everything unfolds on embankments and flat roads. The surface alternates near-carless secondary asphalt with well-packed gravel and embankment tracks, easily ridden on a hybrid or gravel bike. The physical effort is minimal, but the real toil can come from the wind, which in this open plain often blows unhindered: plan the loop with the direction in mind, because having the wind against you on the way out and behind you on the return makes a huge difference.

When to go

The best window is broad but targeted: from the heart of spring to late autumn, so roughly March to October, avoiding the peak of the beach season. The migration seasons, spring and autumn, are the most spectacular for birdwatching, when the lagoons fill with birds and the low light kindles the colours. In precisely these months the nearby resorts are half empty and the embankments are deserted: you pedal in total silence, broken only by the calls of birds. Summer, besides the crowds on the coast, brings humid heat and mosquitoes, two good reasons to prefer the shoulder seasons.

A practical tip

A practical tip: bring binoculars and, if you have one, a small telephoto lens. Here the journey isn't just about clocking kilometres but about stopping, watching, waiting for a flock to take wing. It's worth checking the opening hours of the visitor centres and the boat excursions among the lagoons, which let you venture where the bike can't reach. And treat yourself to a food stop in Comacchio: marinated eel is the signature dish of these lagoons, and tasting it here, facing the canals, is a slice of history as much as of pleasure.

Practical guides

• How to get to Comacchio: complete transport guide
• What to see in Comacchio in 2 days
• Where to stay in Comacchio: neighborhoods, accommodation and practical tips
• Where to eat in Comacchio: eels, lagoon dishes and canal-side osterias