Is 4 - 5 hours enough for Burano from Venice? Is it worth going?

I enjoy Burano very much. Also Torcello, which is nearby.

Burano has a small-town quality to it. It may take more time than you want to spend to get there and back, though. Six hours would be enough for Burano and Torcello, with a break for a drink or a quick lunch.

Hi Carian,

I'm so excited for you! I'm having the same dilemma for our upcoming trip. We have a private guide, Luisella Romero, from 9am-1pm and we'll head over to Burano from 3-9 pm and have dinner there. A long day but I just have to see Burano sinced we missed it on our honeymoon in '88. So much to see with so little time. A good problem to have for sure. Enjoy your trip.

We did the same thing in our 2 full days in Venice last November since we didn't want to do many museums in Venice.
Burano is beautiful, lots less crowded and totally worth 2-3 hours. Check the return ferry times before u enter burano so that u don't miss it as they are not that frequent and you don't want to miss ur reserved tour.
The pastel colored houses of Burano make for beautiful photos. Also the lesser crowds are a relief after St Marks. Since you are in a hotel near St Marks, please visit the square at dawn with no crowds. You won't believe it's the same place when you return from Burano.
Have a great trip!

Plan most of a day.... We usually do the Murano/Burano/Torcello trip with lunch and it is a minimum of 6 hours. Nothing really opens on the islands until 10:00 as I recall, so we usually leave Venice at 9:00/9:30 and are back about 15:30/16:00.

I agree it will take most of the day. We got off at the Cemetery Island and looked around. A lovely park/cemetery and several famous people are buried there. The cemeteries in Italy are really amazing, and so I try to see as many as I can.
Anyway, back on track...
Then got a boat to Murano - walked around there, but did not spend a lot of time. I have seen many glass blowing studios before.
Then hopped another boat to Burano and it was my favorite. I took so many pictures there - the
buildings are all bright colors and we walked all over the small island.
Than hopped a boat back to Venice . It was then dinner time.....
so it took almost the whole day.

Thanks for you replies. We want to do Burano only, not Murano or Torcello, so by the sound of things we should be ok if we leave at 8 and get back around 12.30?

Does anyone know where the best place to get a vaporetto is? Should we get one near St Marks, close to our hotel, or will that make the ride much longer? Would it be better to walk the 25 or so minutes to the top part of Venice to get a vaooretto?

Fondamenta Nuova at the North end of Venice is the place to get ferries to Burano.
It's a pleasant walk from St Marks, especially if u go early morning. Make sure u carry a map of get one from the hotel as it's very easy to get lost in Venice. Though that is part of the fun of Venice , you don't have the time to get lost that morning.
The church at Burano opens pretty early and unless u need to shop for lace, which the island is famous for an early visit is as good ( Even better to get good photos)
Have fun..

Thanks Yogibaba

I looked at googlemaps - 20 minutes walk from our hotel to Fondamenta Nove, and then we can get an 8.40am vaporetto to Burano which gets us there at 9.22, spend 2 hours or so and get an 11.44 boat back, getting us back by 12.26. If the vaporettos are reliable, this sounds easily doable... Do you think that's enough time on Burano for a decent wander round the main area, do a bit of shopping, have a gelato etc?

vaporetto timetables are reliable

Yes.. Vaporettos are usually very reliable..2 hours is enough for a walk around Burano and a visit to the local church.. I don't usually shop so that is enough for me..If u want to shop for lace products that may take more time..
Have a great trip..