Murano Glass Factories

Hi Lorraine,

From what I heard, you can get more reasonable murano glass pieces in Venice (vs. going to Murano). Murano I have heard tends to be more expensive.

I was in Venice and never actually made it to Murano so I can't speak from personal experience in going there. However my B&B owner had some recommendations of where we could buy Murano glass in Venice. Plus we saw it in many shops in Venice.

So personally not sure if it's worth the trip to the island if what you are going for is to find reasonable glass.

Good luck and have a great trip!

We really enjoyed our trip to Murano. We walked up and down the canals where they have tons of shops. Since it was Sunday, the glass blowing places were closed. But, we had a nice pizza and Coke Light (diet) for lunch and it was very relaxing. It did take up most of our day to go out walk around and come back. The prices are higher on Murano. The larger shops have fairly agressive sales people but the small shops were just fine. My wife found a few nice things that she wanted for friends and did buy some. We did see some beautiful glass jewelry in the Venice shops, however. We did indulge there. My wife brought home a beautiful necklace and some other jewelry. Yep, we dropped a few Euro there but that was the plan anyway.

One caution on the sales people in St. Mark's square and other places. They will promise you a water taxi ride to watch the glassblowing. It's a great ride and the glassblowing viewing is brief. You are there to buy. If you don't buy anything, you don't get the nice water taxi ride back. It's OK. The vaporetto is just fine.

I went there and I was really impressed with watching chandeliers being made.

That being said, Murano as an island is not too impressive. It really is the industrial island in the area. There are other glassblowing factories in Venice itself that you can see if you just wanted a tour and to see something being made.

In my opinion, the island of Burano is the real treasure, but it is much further out (though still accessible by vaporetto).

There is a place right off St. Marks Square that we went to for a glass-blowing demonstration and they had a very large sales room there as well. After that we did not feel the need to go to Murano but spent a half day at Burano instead. That was very much worth it! Not only did we have our best seafood meal there but it is a very attractive island to walk around and the lace is incredible!

Others may disagree but I find Murano to be one big tourist trap. All they want you to do is buy. Surely there is somewhere else you could go at home to see glass blowing? I think your time is better-spent elsewhere in Venice.

We went to Murano and missed Burano. We enjoyed Murano, but I suggest you don't go to the first option off the boat (they try to suck you in immediately off the boat), rather wander into the alleys and little shops, we found a couple of private glass shops where owners were working their craft and it was very interesting to watch. Then if you want to you can always go back to the facroty.

Thanks you everyone. As I have limited time, it sounds like my time would be better spent in Venica shopping for glass pieces while being able to see additional sites.

The demonstration we went to was very brief. It was cool to see, but didnt last more than five minutes. You are then directed into their store. Be sure to shop around, you can find the same pieces all over the island at very different prices. We bought something in their store, then found it cheaper at several other stores.

If you have only a few days in Venice, don't bother with a trip to Murano. I agree with the above comments--pushy sales people, etc. We went on a Saturday and the vaporettos run less frequently apparently--we waited a very long time for the return boat back to Venice and regretted bothering with the trip. Honestly, the most interesting thing we saw was a little gondola - like boat loaded up with fresh vegetables that were delivered to a restaurant in Murano. Plenty of nice glass selections in Venice--even tabac shops offer some great jewelry choices.

Do don't say what is reasonable?? I found it to be very very expensive and you are always being followed by a sales person that is basically assigned to you. It wasn't uncomfortable but you could tell the person wanted a commission from a high priced item. For me, everything was way to expensive

First trip to Venice we also took the "free" ride to Murano and watched the glass blowers. Then we walked around the town, looking in the shops and we found them very expensive and didn't buy anything on Murano. But we did happen upon a glass museum with some very beautiful glass pieces that were old and different styles than we see now. We thought it was interesting and had not heard about it before. We've all read the warnings about a lot of the glass in Venice being fakes, and we were able to spot some of them after that. It all depends upon how much time you have, you may be able to find beautiful things in Venice that you think are reasonable.

Also, remember that sales/down payments are FINAL. No changing of the mind the next day.

HI Lorraine. I agree that Murano isn't really worth it but in my opinion Burano definitely is. Very quaint & all the buildings are painted various colors. We really enjoyed walking around and I got a really unique & different mask there (different from anything I found in Venice).

Dear Lorraine,

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Happy shopping!

Regards,

Daniel V.M

Just returned from 3 weeks in italy and spent 6 nights in Venice. If you have the time, a visit to Murano is fun but as other posters stated not so much to buy glass. If you have the time, you can also go on to Burano, which is the real jewel. Loved Burano!

Forgot to mention that on my last visit to Murano a few weeks ago some of the glass factories were charging to watch their glass blowing demo. We found one that was free a bit further down after we got off the vaporetto. I don't recall any of them charging for the demo when previously there in 2005.

We visited Murano last September as a side trip from Venice. It was a nice ride over and back and a pleasant time walking around the island. Yes, it's a bit touristy, but the glass blowing factories are interesting none the less. We had no interest in buying anything large so just looked for smaller items that were "reasonably" priced. Feel free to walk out of any shop if the owner starts getting pushy or doesn't budge on a price. Venice is already expensive in its own right, so you won't find too many deals. However, there are little shops tucked away that can make it memorable along with the atmosphere of the island. It was our favorite part of Italy.

We had a lovely time in Murano, despite the warnings. No pressure to buy anything, or else I was just oblivious to it! We didn't buy any big ticket items. But did find a lovely little shop where I bought several pendents and small figurines. The shop owner was lovely and even gave me a small gift as a token of appreciation and I didn't spend that much. Sorry I can't remember the name of the shop. Just be cautious. There are lovely items at reasonable prices. We did eat at the lovely restaurant RS recommends and had lasagna that was out of this world

I agree with other posters that Murano is a bit touristy. I still found it interesting and the vaporetto to get there was very enjoyable and provided a nice breeze. There is a stop at a cemetery before you get there - I got off to look around a little bit. And RS recommends a restaurant that I stopped and had a nice long lunch and people watched. Burano is definitely the jewel, so stop for a bit in Murano and then spend more time in Burano.