Worth a trip to Burano?

Depending on when you are ready to go - after the museum - you probably have time for both AND Torcello (with "the Devils Bridge" ("Ponte del Diavolo")). I hope you have a day pass because each leg in the trip is a separate journey and needs a separate ticket.

If you have to choose I would go to Burano - mainly because I like the multi colored houses.

Property is too scarce and valuable to lie abandoned in Venice. In order of preference, I prefer

Torcello
Burano
Murano (too many tourists even when I was there in January)

Burano and nearby Torcello would be a nice day trip. Add Murano if you have time but there will be more crowds. Buy blown glass at the glass blowers shops on Venice not on Murano. A good shop is L’Isola.

Visit the Peggy Guggenheim if you like Contempory art.

We LOVED Torcello. Burano was very nice, and Murano came in third. Torcello gives you an opportunity to see what Venice looked like before the massive settlement. It is also extremely quiet. I bought a scarf from a very friendly man who spoke Italian and some Spanish using some Spanish and French. My husband just stood by and laughed. It's a great travel memory - and a beautiful scarf! In 2016 I think there were only 12 residents - at one time there were over 20,000. Ernest Hemingway spent some time there in the 40s. The Byzantine mosaics at the church are beautiful.

If you like to take photos, the islands are a dream.

what did you decide to do?

All these visits mentioned are wonderful. Torcello is the birthplace of Venice, just a 5-minute vaporetto trip from Burano, then a 5 to 10 minute rural walk to the church complex where Venice was first established. Try to give yourself an hour at the complex, as there are two ancient buildings plus a bell tower, and when I was there a few years ago there was only a combo ticket for all three, so if you don’t have time to enter the three, you probably won’t enter any. Burano is great, with small colorful neighborhoods, easy to stroll around and very photogenic. Also great seafood etc. for lunch. Central Murano is very commercial and touristy, but it is quieter and interesting beyond that area, especially down by San Donato Church. Also, if you get invited into one or two of the special showrooms of the Glass places, you can see some really magnificent (and expensive) glass works. There is also a cemetery island (San Clemente?) closer to Venice, that might 8nterest your kids. The Peggy Guggenheim is beautifully located and has great modern art, if your whole family appreciates that. Can’t go wrong, in my mind.

to help Larry:-

There is also a cemetery island (San Clemente?)

San Michele

We had an awesome day! The group majority wasn't interested in the Peggy, so we bought a vaporetto pass and went to Murano. We got a late start and missed the glass blowing artisans but bought some fun treasures. Then we went to Burano....it was beautiful and eerily quiet there. Hard to believe there are many residences there?

I love this blog! I'm so happy everyone helped make our day the best day yet. Thanks to everyone!!

You mentioned that it was "eerily quiet " in Burano which is hard to believe in summer. Please excuse me for asking, but are you sure it was Burano ? Burano has lots of brightly colored houses. I could imagine Torcello being quiet, but not Burano.

Another vote for the Cemetery Island (sorry I don't remember the actual name), but we spent a few hours there. Many famous people buried there and the cemetery itself if very lovely (almost park like)

Sorry to jump on this thread, did you need a seperate Vaporetto pass (I have 72 hour one).

A 72 hour vaporetto pass is valid throughout the main parts of the lagoon for the full 72 hours. It is not valid to the airport, it is not valid in Mestre.

It is valid to all of the main Venice islands, and across the Giudecca canal to Giudecca and also San Giorgio.

It is valid to San Michele, the cemetery island.

It is valid to Torcello, Burano and Murano as well as Mazzorbo and several niche smaller islands.

It is not valid on the car ferry.

Thanks so much! Much appreciated!

Hi Susan,

We took a trip to Murano and it was 4:00pm. It was very quiet and most of the shops were closing up. Shortly after, about 5:30pm, we hopped on the boat to Burano. It was eerily quiet! I have never been there and we were entranced with all the colorful homes. There were probably around 50 or less tourists there with us, spread around, so we felt alone. We found a few shops open, some locals out on their porches watching us, and a few restaurants open. Very quiet and it didn't feel like a real town....almost like a Disneyland town after hours. We enjoyed it nonetheless and appreciated the beauty and that we had it to ourselves!

Thanks for asking! :)

Sara

Thanks for the details. Now I understand why it was so quiet during your tour of Burano: you arrived there in the early evening after most tourists had already left. I'm glad you enjoyed it!!