DO NOT take the "free tour to Murano"

I second Marie's observation...don't waste your time with the sales pitch in Murano (unless you really like to hear the spiel from the timeshare shills). Your time in Venice is precious, and if you have time to go to neighbor islands, I suggest that you visit Burano and Torcelli...great history on Torcelli and a very quaint and picturesque village on Burano.

Marie I stopped believing in "free" anything years ago.
Guess you now know why.

Literally every con begins with the promise of something for nothing. The person who doesn't expect and won't accept something for nothing is con-proof.

Thanks, Marie. I think I agree with your take on the 'free' tour, personally, BUT there is another side, one that distinguishes this operation from a scam and makes it, to me, more of a tourist trap. First, you do see a glass-blowing demonstration, which you really won't see in Venice, itself, and which is 'real,' so to speak. Also, you do get at least one-way transport at no cost. In addition, while you are indeed forced to withstand a heavy-handed sales pitch, you are not OBLIGATED to buy anything at all. And you can leave at any time, as well. Caveat emptor, always--but if you know what you're getting into, some might choose this option just the same. Not me--and not clearly you--but some.

Sorry, I should have mentioned that this was our first trip to Venice and Europe. We saved up for 10 years for this trip and really looked at everything as a "once and a lifetime" experience. I guess we were just too naive, but I'm sure that we are not the only ones like this who go to Europe for the first time.

For the record the tour package that we booked through Costco Travel had included a Murano, Burano, and Torcelli day trip. However Costco called and said they were going to change that tour to a walking history tour of Venice since the hotel informed them that "hotel room package" included a tour of a Murano, Burano, and Torcelli and didn't want us to pay for something that was already included. So we went on the tour offered by the hotel thinking that it was a legitimate tour. Since our "tour" was in the afternoon, my husband and I were the only ones on the beautiful speedboat which took us to Nuova Venier factory on Murano. We had no other tourists to confer with (and did I mention that this was our first day in Venice). Anyway, long story short the boat leaves we get a "factory tour" which consisted of sitting on the side and watching a bunch of guys blow glass for 5 minutes (which was cool) and then listened to a sales pitch/gallery tour for another 20 min. We found some glasses which we liked and then after some pretty pushy sales tactics I was made to sign a bunch of papers which were all in Italian and it turned out the price which we were quoted was about 1000 euros less than was charged to our credit card (this is more fraud and theft than scam, and our credit card company is now dealing with them).

After all of that the salesman told us that he would do us a personal favor and lend us his boat back to Venice (and not to Burano, and Torcelli as we had thought). Oh well, maybe in another 10 years we can try again.

I'm sorry you had such an annoying (and expensive) experience on Murano, Marie, but I want to put in a word for the beauty of the island itself. My wife and I took the vaperetto over and strolled around for an afternoon, looking in windows and visiting a lovely, old church. We came back in a spectacular sunset and we've never forgotten the day. Give it another chance, next time you go, but this time just go on your own. Personally, I can't wait to get back.
-John Brownson/Oakland

MARIE you bought four glasses for 1000 euros,, are you nuts, LOL. If you can spend like that on glasses you can afford to travel more( but shop less,LOL) .
You are out of my league..

.....maybe?..Marie meant 100 euros, not 1000...??..I too was surprised...but i guess the Rick Steves world includes ..a "wild assortment" of people in his followers...

It looks like she said that the price QUOTED was 1000 LESS than what they actually charged her credit card.

It looks like they wanted to pull one over on her from the get go.

Sorry you had such a poor experience. We were in Venice in April. We were offered, and accepted a free ride to Morano while walking along the GC. We took them up on it because it was windy, misty and cool. Decided it would give us something to do indoors. We did not regret. We saw a very simple blowing and then were taken to shop and shown some beautiful items. Almost bought but decided not to risk having it shipped etc. Don't remember shop name. No pressure and we ended up buying. Then walked through rest of shops and found some nice small pieces I felt comfortable taking on plane. It was a nice experience. And yes I had to pay to get back but it was less then round trip would have been had I gone on my own. By time we were done with tour the sun was out. So it worked well. Not all of Morano or Italy is out to get you.

One thing about the prices in Venice being less. Be absolutely certain that what you are buying was actually made in Murano. A lot of the shops are selling cheap Chinese imitations and do not tell you they are not real Murano glass. If it isn't translucent, if it is obviously molded and if the price is significantly lower than similar items, chances are it isn't the real thing.

Hmmm...our tour to Murano offered through our hotel was completely free and quite a nice experience. We enjoyed a great glas blowing demonstration and they let us ask all sorts of questions. Then we went on a tour of the gallery and while the man was a sales guy, he wasn't any pushier than any other sales person we met in Italy. Yes, it costs a great deal more than it does in Venice but that's because it's true Murano glass. The majority of the "Murano glass" that you find in the shops in Venice is not real Murano - it's pretty obvious that it isn't. If it looks cheap and doesn't cost very much then it's not real. My mom got a fabulous and quite lovely necklace from the tour. It wasn't cheap but it's a million times prettier and higher quality than what the shops in Venice had.
If you want to see some gorgeous Murano glass pieces, then go on the tour. It was worth it for us.

Just to clarify...
We bought 4 sets of glasses, it was supposed to be 850 euros and they charged my credit card 1850 euros.

I am sorry that we didn't get to see Murano because the postcards look amazing.

We have nothing against Murano, or Venice, and we had a lovely time aside from this incident. We made the most of it, and saw as much as possible given our limited time and would love to go back again. I was just trying to warn FUTURE travelers about this since all we ever got warning about from anyone was pick pocketing and beggars.

Thank you to those of you with nice comments and suggestions.

To you others, if being rude to people who are trying to help is how you get off...then I feel sorry for you and travel has taught you nothing.

850EUR for glasses?!? No wonder you were saving up for 10 years!