Venice, Italy

You didn't say if your arriving on a flight from N.A. or from some where else in Europe. If arriving N.A., you'll be pretty well bushed for the rest of the day. All the sights you list save the Rialto Bridge are within 100 yds of each other, you could knock them off the bucket list in a morning. Rialto bridge is only a 15 minute stroll from San Marco. If you got money to throw away, take a water taxi, but half the fun of Venice is riding the vaporetti. I suppose you could do a crash tour of Murano and Burano in an afternoon. When you go back the next time, you'll know it takes a week just to let the atmosphere on Venice to soak in.

Sandra, lines at St Mark's are shorter in the late afternoon (day trippers are gone), but at any time they move pretty quickly. Murano and Burano are easy to see together (I like shopping in Burano better than on the other islands). Torcello is the first island settled by the Venetians and has a beautiful church, but it's further out (although you can get there easily from Burano). Even in September (especially early rather than later in the month), I would book ahead as much as possible (although the museum is not usually too crowded).

Just keep in mind that I think many of the glassblowers on Murano are only open til noon - the workshops...we made the mistake of going over once around 3:30...but not realizing it took a bit to get there, and most of the shops were closing up and we wasted all time getting there, not seeing much, and having to get back. If you don't care about seeing the workshops, I'd still go around noon and visit Mur/Bur and Torcello if tnat intersts you

A trip to Burano and Murano will consume at least a half a day. If you do go, the vap. is much cheaper and almost as fast a water taxi. TC

Do you have a copy of RS Venice 2012 Guide Book yet? If so, great. If not, I would suggest you get one even for your short stay as it has lots of suggestions for making any stay in Venice a productive one. We are finding it extremely helpful while planning our visit next month.

For your travels to Murano and Burano, make sure you know the difference between the water taxi and the water bus. The water taxi is a smaller private boat and like land taxi, it takes you from point A to point B using the shortest possible route. Fare for the ride in Venice runs from 90E-115E. The water bus (vaporetto) is the larger boat with regular routes and is part of the Venice public transportation system. A single ticket is 7E. But, if you buy the 1, 2, 3 or 7-day tourist passes, you have unlimited rides. For Murano and Burano, you can take the Number 3 vaporetto from either the Piazzale Roma stop or the train station stop (Ferrovia) and you will be there in just under 20 minutes. You really don't need a water taxi.

If the mosiacs of San Marco are of interest, I'd suggest going when the church is lit. That's for an hour or so, midday on weekdays, 11:30-12:30 I think (but check if it's important to you). It's an amazing experience and really a completely different experience than at other times (rather dark). Suggest you go up into the gallery (ie, where you go to get to the horses on the facade); it provides amazing views of the church interior and is relatively quiet. Agree with others... use the vaporetto to Murano/Burano; it's a lovely ride.
San Marco's museum is quiet small and won't take much time. Suggest you consider the Accedemia if that's of interest; wonderful collection and not too crowded.

It will be busy but you can do it. Plan for Burano and Murano to take the day but plan on eating that evening near the Rialto Bridge. Lots of good resturatants and it is nice in the evening. St. Marks, Dogges Palace and sighs all doable in a day easy. Take that evening to walk around a bit. As most will tell you the beauty of Venice is getting lost.