44.697° N, 12.241° E
Complete guide
Lido degli Scacchi: beach guide
What the beach is like
Lido degli Scacchi, I Scàch in the local dialect, is a seaside resort in the province of Ferrara and one of the seven Lidi di Comacchio. It lies in the municipality of Comacchio, on the Adriatic Sea. The regional tourism portal presents it, together with Lido di Pomposa, as the family resort par excellence. Its urban development came with the economic boom of the sixties, as with the other recent resorts. Every year, on 8 August, a festival is held to mark its founding, together with that of Lido di Pomposa, by Riccardo Rocca.
The cluster once called borgo Scacchi, along the Acciaioli scenic road, dates back to the sixteenth century. At the end of 1509 the Republic of Venice tried to halt the expansion of the Este family with a river attack against the Duchy of Ferrara. In the area of Polesella, on the banks of the Po, the artillery of Alfonso I d'Este waited for the Venetian fleet and sank most of its boats. After the victory an artilleryman from the Polesine loyal to the duke, surnamed Arveda, was made a knight "degli Scacchi", probably for the effective way he had deployed the guns. He was given a wooded plot, the ancient Bosco Eliceo, between the borgo della Fontana, later San Giuseppe, and Magnavacca. The first settlement grew there, surrounded by a large area of vineyards where Bosco Eliceo DOC wine was long produced. Lido degli Scacchi has the church of Sant'Antonio di Padova, a subsidiary church of the parish of San Giuseppe.
Getting there
As the crow flies, Porto Garibaldi is 2 km to the south, Lido di Pomposa 2.2 km to the north and Comacchio 4.8 km to the west. The Raccordo Autostradale 8 link road connects Comacchio with Ferrara and the A13, and the area is served by the SS 309 Romea state road. According to Wikivoyage, Comacchio and its resorts can be reached from Ferrara by TPER scheduled buses.
When to go
According to QualeSpiaggia data, the beach faces east. With the north-east wind (grecale), the east wind (levante) and the south-east wind (scirocco), the wind blows in from the sea and the beach is exposed to waves. With the south-west wind (libeccio), the west wind (ponente) and the north-west wind (maestrale), the wind blows from the land and the beach is sheltered, with calmer water close to shore. The north wind (tramontana) and the south wind (ostro) hit it from the side. This is an indication based on the orientation of the coast, not a forecast.
According to the regional portal, every year at the height of summer costume parades and masked floats celebrate the Festa di Compleanno of this resort and of nearby Lido di Pomposa. According to Wikivoyage, each of the Lidi di Comacchio has a great many places to eat, particularly during the bathing season.
Seabed and sea
The beach is sandy. In the 2025 season the European Environment Agency rated the bathing water quality as excellent. The tourism website of the province of Ferrara speaks of quiet beaches. Before swimming it is worth checking the sea conditions.
Facilities and free beach
The same website mentions quality services and beach supervision, modern beach establishments equipped for young children, and high-standard hotels and campsites. It also lists venues with music for every taste, amusement arcades and artisan ice-cream shops. According to the regional portal, the streets of the centre offer bars, restaurants, open-air markets along viale Alpi Centrali, food festivals and folk festivals. According to Wikivoyage, the Lidi di Comacchio have numerous hotels, guesthouses and B&Bs. For tourist information there is the IAT office at via Montegrappa 5, serving Lido di Pomposa and Lido degli Scacchi. In 2026 the FEE Blue Flag list for the municipality of Comacchio includes the Lido di Volano/Nazioni/Pomposa/Scacchi/Garibaldi stretch.
With children
The tourism website of the province of Ferrara describes Lido degli Scacchi as a resort dedicated to families, with plenty of facilities for young children, where a holiday can be very relaxed. Young children in the water should always be watched.
Nearby
The Po delta park, with its alternating woods and lagoons, lies a few km away. Just outside the built-up area of Lido degli Scacchi lie the Valli di Comacchio, which can be visited by bicycle or by motor boat. For sunset landscapes the portal suggests the Valle Bertuzzi, 10 km away, and for a walk in nature the woods of Mesola and Santa Giustina, 20 km away.
The regional portal recommends visiting the historic centre of Comacchio, which it calls the capital of the delta park and a little Venice for its network of bridges and canals. The historic centre of Comacchio keeps its original appearance, with monuments such as the Trepponti, the seventeenth-century Duomo di San Cassiano, Palazzo Bellini and the Manifattura dei Marinati, the old factory where eels were cooked and marinated. According to Wikivoyage, Comacchio originally grew up on thirteen small islands and is the main town of the Po delta. Porto Garibaldi, 2 km south as the crow flies, is, according to Wikivoyage, an important fishing port and marina as well as a beach resort. Lido degli Estensi, which Wikivoyage calls the most touristy of the seven Lidi di Comacchio, is 3.1 km to the south as the crow flies. There is also the Abbazia di Pomposa, in the municipality of Codigoro, dating from the ninth century, with fourteenth-century frescoes by Vitale da Bologna in the church of Santa Maria.
Sources
- Wikipedia (it) — Lido degli Scacchi
- QualeSpiaggia — open data spiagge (CC BY 4.0)
- Lido degli Scacchi | Emilia Romagna Turismo
- OpenStreetMap
- Wikivoyage (it) — Comacchio
- EEA — Bathing water quality 2025 (IT008038006008)
- Lido degli Scacchi - Ferrara Terra e Acqua
- FEE Italia — Bandiera Blu 2026, elenco spiagge
- Comacchio - Ferrara Terra e Acqua