The Su e Zo Detour 2026 preview takes place on Sunday 31 May. It is a guided boat itinerary promoted by the North Adriatic Sea Port Authority as part of the Su e Zo Detour programme by TGS Eurogroup, an initiative that takes participants on an original journey to discover the relationship between Venice and its port.
The experience, lasting approximately one and a half hours and led by an expert from the Port Authority, offers a narrative journey through the past, present and future of Venice’s port system, departing from the railway station and ending at the Arsenale on the final day of the Venice Boat Show.
The boat tour begins in an area linking port and city, passing by the quays of Santa Marta and San Basilio, symbolic sites of the city’s urban transformation, where former industrial areas have been converted into university and innovation hubs.
The route allows participants to observe the Fabbricato 13, home of the North Adriatic Sea Port Authority, and the Stazione Marittima, both concrete examples of the evolution of port activities and services related to logistics and passenger traffic.
Drawing inspiration from the sights viewed from the boat, the narrative links Venice’s maritime history to the port’s contemporary activities, from the types of goods handled to modern shipbuilding, as well as the professions and services that today support the port and maritime logistics sector.
Along the Giudecca Canal, the itinerary weaves together memory and contemporary life, before successively revealing the profile of the Molino Stucky, the Magazzini del Sale, Punta della Dogana and the San Marco basins, the monumental backdrop of a city that has built its identity on water and trade.
The route concludes at the Venice Arsenale, a symbolic site of the Serenissima’s naval power and today a space for culture, research and innovation linked to the sea. Participants have the opportunity to continue their visit inside the Boat Show, viewing the most modern vessels in an ideal dialogue between shipbuilding tradition and sustainable technologies.
The preview also marks the first opportunity to use the new audio guides developed as part of the ADRIJOROUTES project, innovative tools designed to promote maritime cultural heritage through forms of sustainable and accessible tourism.
The initiative is part of the activities of the European projects REMEMBER and ADRIJOROUTES, funded by the Interreg Italy–Croatia Programmes 2014–2020 and 2021–2027, dedicated to promoting the memory of port sites and to the development of maritime cultural tourism.