Guided tour of Murano Glass

Wow....that is the same question I wanted to ask....my wife wants to actually take a class but it like a whole week long class....and unfortnately our schedule not going to permit it...... Murano glass is very exspensive.....I just had a friend come back and one piece of glass was about 10,000 from this glass maker.....

First, it is very easy for you to go out to the glass blowing shops and see them blowing glass. A guided tour sounds OK as long as its not one of those sales people you run into in the many touristy locations. Just don't go on Sunday as we did when they are closed. If is very common for sales people at the very touristy locations to sell free trips in a nice water taxi to see the glass blowers. You get a great taxi ride out to Murano. You also get a great sales pitch. If you don't buy, you are abandoned and do not get your free ride back. Don't worry, the No 3 vaporetto can get your there from the train station stop in 17 minutes. If this is a truly guilded tour of a couple of glass blowing operations, this could be OK. Just watch out for the high-pressure sale.

We will have a vaporetto pass so I am not worried about the ride there and back. This guided tour includes the museum and a tour of the blowers. The tour is 5 euros purchased from Viviticket. I am still trying to find someone that will give me some kind of cost of the small animals. It just seems like the prices are a deep dark secret. I have searched alot of sites and no one ever tells what they paid. I know to stay away from the people offering free tours. I just want to know if the museum is worth it. Thanks again,
Mary

I can't see why people would pay for such a tour when there are so many "free" ones easily available. I guess it is for people who are not informed before they arrive. Good thing this Helpline is here. True Murano glass is not inexpensive. Most of what is sold in Venice, even if it hints of Murano, is imported from China. On most genuine pieces if you have to ask it is too expensive. Look for the Murano logo, and more importantly buy from a major furnace's showroom on Murano. All the good ones have sales rooms, mostly looking like art galleries. And do have deep pockets - it is really wondrous stuff.

I must have been writing when you were. We very much liked the museum. It is on a couple of floors if my memory is right and there is some really great stuff. It seems to me that the museum was more than €5. You can pick up a small horse anywhere in Venice for €0.99 to €25 (ish) which was imported from China. A properly made Murano one might cost from €15 to maybe €100? I don't buy animals and tend more to vases and art pieces (not cheap) so haven't paid a lot of attention to the animals. Those are pretty much educated guesses but I'm fairly certain it won't be far off. They make a lot of horses, and an awful lot more horses are sold...

We took the Vaporeto from Venice to Murano one morning and simply walked into one of the workshops where they presented a half hour (or so) demo. I think there was a small fee; not more than a few euros. Afterwards, we looked through the shop. Items can be very expensive. I'm talking thousands of euros. But we ended up buying a few small colorful glass pendants costing anywhere from 25 to 45 euros each. (They ranged in size from a quarter to half-dollar.) You can buy inexpensive Chinese knock-offs at the souvenir stands for about 10 or 15 euros. I'm not sure I could tell one from the other, but my wife wanted the real thing.

Murano glass comes in all sizes and prices. You can get something for as little as 3 euro like a cherry or a berry; little animals starting at around 12 euro; ornaments at 18 euro. From there, the price can go up in the thousands.... If you want the real Murano, buy something that has the Murano glass sticker. There are tons of imported glass in Venice and Murano.

By the way, if anyone plans to make a big purchase please compare shopping and know your prices. Those big showrooms in Murano will charge you an arm and a leg, after all they have to pay for those free taxi rides, etc. etc. I have close friends in Venice who sell strictly Murano glass. A chandelier in their shop cost between 1,000 - 2,000 euro (shipping included). The same chandelier can cost you 8,000 - 20,000 euro in one of those big showrooms in Murano. And that's no joke. Last year, I got to go to one of the furnaces where two master craftsmen were working - one was making a chandelier, the other a large vase - both very beautiful It was no demonstration, but the real stuff.

I second the recommendation to know glass prices/quality before you go. I was truly amazed at the awful quality of much of the glass I saw, even some pieces made locally---basically, multicolored blobs with little design/aesthetic. It wasn't a case of not pleasing my tastes; the quality was truly bad. I can find much better art glass sources close to home (for both small and major pieces). I finally found a small shop run by the glass artist and tucked away in Venice---I bought all of my planned gifts there.