Enjoy A Slice Of Island Life On The Lagoon Islands, Venice

Venice is a made up of a series of islands, 6 central ones and then a large number of Lagoon islands of varying sizes and populations. In fact, the island of Torcello was the first populated island of the Venice area back in the day, until its people moved elsewhere. The islands have different characters, and so we decided to explore a few by taking a day trip to visit Burano and Murano, and visiting the island of Guidecca on a separate occasion. Here’s how we did it…

Take a tour to the Lagoon islands or go under your own steam?

Rather than go on an organised tour to Burano and Murano, we decided to travel to the Lagoon islands of Venice under our own steam, firstly, for the experience of taking the vaporetto (public water bus) and secondly, to give us more freedom with our timings. However, there are numerous tours available on Get Your Guide or Viator if you prefer someone else to do the heavy lifting on the arrangements.

The vaporetto (water bus) to Murano and Burano

Catch the correct vaporetto from the correct station

Going under your own steam requires you to catch the vaporetto (water bus) from Fondamente Nove in Venice. Both Murano and Burano are on the same vaporetto line, Line 12, which leaves from Dock A of the Fondamente Nove in the Cannaregio neighbourhood. There are various docks at Fondamente Nove and so you will need to check you are waiting at the right place.

Whilst you are waiting for your vaporetto (water bus) to arrive, you can admire a wonderful view of the Italian Alps in the distance, weather permitting, which look surprisingly close and very pretty.

Note – Fondamente Nove is a 20-minute brisk walk north from St Mark’s Square if you are on foot, alternatively you could take Line 4.1 or Line 4.2 from San Marco S Zaccaria station around to Fondamente Nove.

There is a good map of the vaporetto lines on the website: www.venicepublictransport.it

What sort of ticket to buy on the vaporetto (water bus)?

We needed to make 3 separate vaporetto (water bus) journeys on our day trip to Burano and Murano, so buying a day pass was cheaper than buying 3 separate tickets (24 Euros for the day, or a total of 26.5 Euros for 3 separate tickets). We were able to buy these tickets from the ticket machine at the vaporetto stop.

Visit Murano or Burano first?

Murano is closer to Venice (10 mins away) and Burano further away (40 minutes). It is up to you which of these Lagoon islands you decide to visit first, however, as Burano is so small (0.2 miles) then it can fill up with tourists very quickly. For that reason, we decided to stay on the vaporetto for the full 40 minutes to reach Burano first, and then head back to Murano after lunch.

What to see on Burano, Lagoon Island, Venice

We caught the 9.40am ferry to Burano, arriving around 10.20am on a mid-week morning in October, and the streets were not busy at this point. After a quick coffee (and trip to la farmacia after a nasty wasp sting), we started exploring and were delighted with what we found…

The island of Burano is a riot of colour

In terms of what to see in Burano, you simply need to walk around this tiny island and enjoy its riot of colour. Apparently, the houses were originally painted brightly so that the fishermen could find their homes in the fog hanging over the lagoon. Now, the usual laws, restricting the colours what colours Venetians are allowed to paint their houses, do not apply on Burano and so the locals go mad, and the result is fantastic.

Many of the locals put coordinating fabric over their doors to complete the look of their homes. There are colourful details everywhere – a pink post box, green shutters, a rainbow-coloured umbrella outside a doorway. It is just delightful.

As we wandered around Burano, we followed many waterways with coloured houses on both sides of the canals which were reflected in the water. The late afternoon sun is said to contribute to amazing reflections on the water, which means that it is tempting to visit Burano in the afternoon, however there were plenty of reflections in the water by midday on our visit.

The main street in Burano, Via Baldassare Galuppi, is full of restaurants and shops. The street leads to Piazza Baldassare Galuppi where you will find a statue of conductor, Baldassare Galuppi, who was born on the island. The Piazza is also the site of the Church of San Martino Vescoro with its listing tower which is visible above the rooftops as you wander around town.

When you are considering what to see in Burano, then it is also famous for lacemaking – I almost forgot about this in the chaos of all the colour!

Where to have lunch in Burano

We had booked a table at Trattoria da Romano for lunch, having seen Anthony Bourdain visit on his No Reservations series although we didn’t order its famous risotto. We sat on the outdoor tables and enjoyed delicious Venetian food with perfect service, but the interior of the restaurant was also pretty with glass chandeliers and black and white photographs. Note – it was by far the most expensive meal we had on the trip, so not cheap, however it was worth the splurge – reservations advised.

By the time we left Trattoria da Romano around 1.30pm, the tiny streets were much more crowded as we headed off to catch the vaporetto (water bus) to our next stop, the island of Murano.

Note – Burano is located next to the island of Torcello, which was the original area of Venice to be populated. Now it is a tranquil island with only a handful of residents, which would have made a good contrast to Burano on a day trip if we had not been set on a visit to Murano. Next time…

What to see on Murano, Lagoon Island, Venice

Murano is like a mini version of Venice, comprised of several islands connected by bridges on its own Grand Canal, but as Murano is only 1.3 km across, it’s easy to see on an afternoon’s visit.

It’s all about the glass on Murano

When considering what to see on Murano, it is difficult to avoid the fact that ‘it’s all about the glass’ on Murano. Venice brought the skill of glass making back from the East between the 7th and 9th centuries (Byzantine era) and has been the centre of Venetian glass making since the 13th century.

All glass making was moved to the island of Murano in 1291 from Venice to protect the industry’s trade secrets, and because it was viewed as a fire risk to the old city buildings of Venice.

Since then, Murano has been the centre of all things glass, and even helped develop Cristallo, the clearest glass in the world. Today, whilst many of the factories have now closed, glass is still made here in vast quantities and the opportunities to buy glass products are endless.

There are a couple of vaporetto stops in Murano, but whichever one you arrive at, when you disembark, you will be met with shops selling glasswares throughout town, each claiming to sell items made in Murano by the traditional glass makers – but caution is advised as apparently not all the glass is made by the artisans on Murano, so make sure to check its authenticity.

To understand the tradition of glass making a little better, there are several options, such as a visit to The Glass Museum, The Glass Church, or a workshop offering a glass blowing demonstration.

Glass blowing demonstrations

You will probably want to visit a glass blowing demonstrations when you are on Murano and there are plenty to choose from.

If you want to watch a glass blowing demonstration, and also try your hand at glass blowing, then book the Glass Blowing Experience at Gino Mazzuccato Factory through Get Your Guide. This tour is slightly more expensive than some of the other factory visits because of the opportunity to have a go yourself, but I think it offers a better and more involved experience.

A cheaper option is to visit the OMG (Original Murano Glass) Factory for 5 Euros to watch a craftsman make two glass objects (in our case, a vase and horse!), before leaving via the shop. I had read that there would be pressure to spend money in the shop, but this was not our experience. The visit was all over pretty quickly and so I felt that the Gino Mazzaccato Factory experience was more worthwhile.

What to see on Murano other than glass

We popped into the Church of Santa Marie e San Donato, one of the oldest churches on the Venetian lagoon dating to the 7th century. It has a lovely Byzantine mosaic tiled floor incorporating fragments of ancient glass from the island’s foundries. It also has a golden glass dome and (apparently) the alter contains remains of dragon bones, if you believe that myth?

Your walk around Murano will no doubt lead you to Campo Santo Stefano, the main square on the island. At the side of the square, you will find the Torre dell’orologio, a 19th century clock tower – sometimes there is a glass sculpture at the base of the tower, although this was not present on our visit.

Around the corner from Campo Santo Stefano is the Ponto Longi Uno, a lovely old wooden pedestrian bridge offering great views up and down the Grand Canal in Murano.

As the sun started to dip, we headed back down Calle Bressagio to the Lighthouse next to the vaporetto station to make the final 10-minute journey back to the Fondamente Nove, Venice. We were happy with the order in which we visited the islands, and felt that we had perhaps dodged the worst of the crowds by getting to Burano early and Murano later on in the day.

Giudecca Island, Venice

On a separate morning, we caught Vaporetto Line 2 from San Marco S Zaccaria (2 bridges along the Riva degli Schiavoni promenade from St Mark’s Square) to the Zitelle vaporetto station on the island of Giudecca. From here we walked south along the Fondamente enjoying the views over the Guidecca canal.

Our walk passed the Church of the Redentore with its twin minaret towers, which we had been admiring from various viewpoints around the city, and from our hotel across the water. It was a lovely walk with water lapping onto the pavements, locals coming and going, visiting numerous small cafes and pasticcerias.

Weirdly, it felt like there were fewer tourists on Guidecca, despite there being a couple of high-end hotels on the island – the imposing Hilton Molino Stucky at the western end and Hotel Cipriani at the eastern end. It was also the only place in Venice where we saw a ‘Tourists go home’ sign on our visit.

After a Venetian Mask Making Workshop at Carta Alta booked through Get Your Guide, in an old brewery converted into artisan workshops, we exited by the back gates which opened onto a small canal filled with fisherman’s boats. It also featured the Vatican’s entry for the Art Biennale which was a huge mural of two bare feet (Father by Maurizio Cattelan, 2024) controversially painted on the side of a women’s prison.

Unfortunately, we didn’t have any more time to explore Guidecca before needing to leave to catch our flight home, so headed back to St Mark’s Square on Vaporetto Line 4.2 this time. At 12.30noon, this vaporetto was absolutely rammed with people and the boat was very low in the water – no one seemed worried, and the constant chatter of locals continued. It was all charmingly chaotic!

We grabbed a pizza slice to eat on the go, but before we could shout Attenzione ai Gabbiani!, a seagull swooped down and snatched the pizza from my daughter’s hands- beware of the seagulls indeed!

Final thoughts…

Our time exploring the Lagoon Islands, Venice, was a real highlight of our trip and should I return to Venice then I would be keen to target a couple more of the Lagoon islands, in particular Torcello, and as a contrast the Lido.

Whichever ones you choose, the Lagoon islands offer a great day out and a slice of island life.

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