Among the suggested itineraries for a relaxing Houseboat holiday there is without doubts a cruise along the river Sile.
With our Houseboats it is possible to traverse it up to Silea, not so far from Treviso, but it can be interesting to discover the surrounding area as well.
The Sile, one of the longest resurgent rivers in the world, offers, to those who choose it, a relaxing and calming holiday. It is said that its name comes from Latin silens, silence, and once you enter it with your houseboat you can immediately understand why it is called this way. The water flow is indeed slow and is perfect for a “lazy” holiday, which is sought mostly by families and by those who would like to distance themselves from the stress of everyday life. The area of the Sile river offers many attractions and satisfies every need of its visitors.
As it is a naturalistic itinerary for the most part, it gets the most charming during springtime: its luxuriant landscapes, colourful blossoming trees, fauna full of life and the pleasant breeze of that period make this itinerary among the most elegant and suggested during this season. It is impossible not to visit the Natural Regional Park of the River Sile, which extends over an area of 4.152 hectares and touches three provinces (Padua, Venice and Treviso). The area can be visited not only on foot, but also by bike. We suggest to bring bikes on board, in order to be able to visit the hinterland and discover the park easily.
Inside the park there is the so-called “GreenWay”, a green road for slow mobility along which you can see another peculiarity of the territory: the fascinating Burci cemetery. This magical place is located in a bight of the river and was used as a quarry in the early 1920s. Nowadays around twenty Burci can be seen, namely boats that were used then for the lagoon and fluvial transportation to the hinterland and abandoned between 1974 and 1975. As a matter of fact, the wreckages were abandoned thereby the “barcari” (boatmen) of that period as a protest against the increasingly predominant road transport.
Another cycle track that we suggest is the the Ring of the river villages and the Via Claudia Augusta, the ancient Roman imperial road. The itinerary is 20,9 km long and crosses some of the most fascinating villages of the area: Lughignano di Casale sul Sile, Casale sul Sile, Quarto d’Altino, Musestre di Roncade, Cendon di Silea. Among the landmarks we can list the clearly baroque Villa Fanio-Cervellini, the Torre Carrarese in Casale, the church of Saint Ulderico in Musestre and San Michele Vecchio in Quarto d’Altino.
They cannot be reached by Houseboat, but they surely deserve to be mentioned: the “Fontanassi”, that is the springs of the river. Near the most important unit of springs the authorities of the park have realised an equipped path, the so-called “Porta d’acqua” (Water gate), in Casacorba di Vedelago: a one of a kind attraction for families and nature lovers, who will be able to enjoy a pleasant walk immersed in an immaculate environment.
The river Sile is so a great option also for photo enthusiasts, who will be able to capture not only the wonderful naturalistic landscapes, but also different suggestive, unique locations.
We can finally mention the typical products of the area for food lovers: the red Radicchio from Treviso I.G.P. and the varied Radicchio from Castelfranco Veneto I.G.P., the green Radicchio or Verdon, the asparagus of Badoere I.G.P., the sweet potato from Zero Branco, the Casatella from Treviso, the trout and the sturgeon of the Sile.
