Murano factory visit?

Hey Miguel... We visited Murano in summer of 2007, a welcome break from busy Venice! We simply walked around, stopped to peek in windows wherever we saw a fiery glow, and before we knew it, we were being invited in for a tour by the manager! Most factories have shops, too, so they actually like having visitors. :-) Don't know of any museums in Murano off-hand (always check Rick's books!) but can highly recommend taking the water taxi to the cemetery island of San Michaele. Very peaceful, wonderful old headstones, trees and shade and avenues to walk up and down, like a city of the dead. Pretty amazing, if you're into that kinda thing. ;-) Ciao, and enjoy!
Jean

You won't have any trouble visiting some of the factories in Murano. Except for Sundays, they are open for visitors. After all, they want to sell you things. Watch out for the sales people on the main islands that want to take you to Murano in a water taxi so that you can visit certain factories that pay for the salesperson. The offer is genuine and you do get the water taxi ride to Murano but it won't take long to get the high-pressure sales treatment. If you don't purchase, they abandon you and you don't get the taxi ride back. It's OK though. It's easy to jump on the vaporetto for a return trip.

As mentioned most of the factories will let you observe the furnaces while the artisans are working. Please be aware though, that most of the furnaces quit around lunch time. they start early to avoid the heat of the day added to the heat of the furnace. So if you want to view, get there early.

Knowing that the factories in Murano are working factories and don't need us to bother them as travelers. Has anyone visited a factory that welcomes travelers who want to enjoy watching glass being formed? The glass factories on Murano are like the hat factories at Disneyland. They exist for tourists. They'll welcome you at any hour they're open. Expect persistent sales pitches. That said, Murano is well worth a visit. There are great pieces of glasswork throughout the island.

Miguel:
There is a lovely and interesting glass museum (Museo Vetrario), 4 euro or covered by the same pass you use for museums on the main island. We foudn it worth a visit and a contrast to the commercial nature of today's Murano.

There is a beautiful Jewish ghetto area in Venice and it has a lovely museum and wonderful historical stories.
You only need about an hour to see it.

I felt like the trip to Murano took precious time away from Venice. Spent a half hour watching glass being blown-a horse and you will see many of those in Murano and Venice. Bought some glass candy kisses for a bargain but said no thanks to the pricey chandeliers. Beware of going there on Saturday because the vaporettos run infrequently. We spent/wasted over an hour waiting to get back to Venice.

My wife does lampwork and fusing. So it was a must for us. Like the Lapidary museum in Florence was for me. Ask at your hotel desk. There were free tours with a taxi picking you up at the hotel dock. Not enough time for us but some time to watch the working staff. And a water taxi brings you back to Venice. They are more then willing to sell you glass. The real reason for the tour, I suspect the hotel gets a cut. The taxi didn't drop us off at our hotel but at the nearest dock in Venice. So bring a map to help find your way back. But you'll soon see arrows pointing to places like St Marks, the bridges etc. The walk across Venice was confusing (we were new to Venice and didn't understand those alleyways between houses were streets.) But it was fun and gave us time to learn Venice from the local perspective. Have fun.

On each of my trips to Venice(all with different people)we havetaken a half day to visit Murano and Burano.Both are neat places with Burano being the best. Well worth the time.