SteveA bit of background
It only seems like yesterday when we travelled to Venice and then decided to visit Murano and Burano. Actually, it was August 2019, as part of Amy’s birthday celebrations. You can lose yourself in Venice for days, exploring the beauty of its architecture and canals. As we only had three days, we decided to use one of those to venture out and see a couple of smaller islands in the lagoon.
We had decided we wanted to visit both Murano and Burano as we had heard great things. Our plan was to visit both on the same day, so that meant and early start! So without further ado, here’s how to visit Murano and Burano from Venice – weigh the suitcase style!
Getting to Murano
Cutting to the chase, there is only one sensible way to visit Murano from Venice. A Vaporetto (water bus) is the answer. You could take a water taxi I suppose, but the cost would be pretty high. We were based in the Santa Croce area of Venice so our best option for picking up a Vaporetto was at Piazzale Roma. You can also pick up a Vaporetto on line #4.1 or #12 from Fondamente Nove that runs to Murano. You can find the timetables for all Vaporetto lines here.
We chose Vaporetto line #3 to take us from Piazzale Roma to Murano. This appeared to be the fastest route to us, with the Vaporetto only stopping at Ferrovia (the train station) before making its way to Murano. It was also very pretty as it ran through part of the Grand Canal before heading out into the lagoon. We got off at the first stop in Murano which was Colonna. Our trip took 20 minutes, and the Vaporettos run every 20-30 minutes during the day.
Visiting Murano
Our main reason for wanting to visit Murano was so we could see some authentic Murano glass ornaments being made. Murano glass has a solid reputation for stunning craftsmanship as well as beautiful colours that dates back to the 13th century.
When we got off the Vaporetto in Murano, we were immediately accosted by a chap who wanted to point us in the direction of the ‘best’ place to see them making Murano glass. We politely declined the offer and began to explore some of the island before finding a glass-making factory ourselves.
Murano is a small island that is less than a mile wide, so it didn’t take us very long to explore it. It looks just like Venice, with some canals dissecting the island and very similar old architecture. Being early, it wasn’t too busy at all except for other tourists from Venice exploring the streets.
Once we had a feel for Murano we decided to visit a glass-making factory. The one we chose also had a shop attached to it that seemed to be very popular. After hanging around a bit we went to the back of the establishment to see where the glassmakers plied their trade. There were lots of other people watching a demonstration as we entered, and all were mesmerised with just how easy glass blowing was made to look!
Once the demonstration was over, everyone rushed over to the shop to buy some authentic Murano glass – including us! Despite it being sold at source, it still wasn’t cheap! Mind you, for the colours and quality it is definitely worth purchasing a piece of glassware. We purchased a necklace for Amy along with some glass ‘sweets’ in a small dish. We figured that buying a larger ornament would be asking for trouble, as we didn’t trust ourselves not to smash it up on our way back home!
Getting to Burano
Like getting to Murano, the only sensible way of getting from Murano to Burano is by Vaporetto. You can catch line #12 Vaporetto to Burano from the Faro stop when on Murano like we did. It was a pleasant 30-minute trip to Burano, crossing the lagoon. We discovered that visiting Murano and Burano from Venice is very popular, and we saw some of the same tourists on our Vaporetto. Clearly great minds think alike!
The Vaporettos run every 20-30 minutes from Murano to Burano. Whilst we waited for our boat to dock at the pontoon, we were disappointed to see it was absolutely packed. This would mean getting a good view, or even a seat was going to be a problem. Luckily, pretty much everyone got off the boat to begin their exploration of Murano. This meant we could get a decent spot on the boat and enjoy the journey!
Visiting Burano
Burano is even smaller than Murano but no less pretty. In fact, it’s pretty in a slightly different way. Most of the houses are painted in bright pastel colours. Apparently, in the past, the local fisherman used to paint their houses in bright colours so they could be seen from the sea. They could also be used to guide them home in foggy conditions.
Burano is famous for its lace-making which has been a tradition since the 18th century. On our aimless wandering around, we saw lots of lace shops and stalls. It doesn’t take too long to explore Burano, but with the many shops and cafés, it is definitely a place to take it easy by relaxing and soaking up the scenery.
There was also a lot of Murano glass being sold on the island. I thought it was odd how it seemed to be sold everywhere in Burano, but then again there are plenty of glass shops on the island of Venice as well.
Burano really is a stunningly beautiful place to see, however, it gets really busy really quickly! Being so small and compact it can seem as overcrowded as Venice. We visited in August at the height of the season, so my best advice is to start your day early before things get too busy!
Heading back to Venice, by thinking outside the box
By the time we were ready to leave Burano, it was the middle of the afternoon. When we arrived back at the Vaporetto stop our hearts sank when we saw the queues for the Vaporettos. I had read about this before visiting Burano so it wasn’t a complete surprise, but annoying nevertheless. I hate queuing, and especially hate wasting my precious holiday time!
However, all was not lost. I realised the Vaporetto stop is used by many lines, not just the one that everyone wants to use to get back to Venice. Upon closer inspection, the Vaporetto stop had two sides to it. One side had a huge queue, and the other side had just a couple of people waiting at it. This was the line that headed to the Lido, so we decided to take a trip there to explore before returning to Venice. Our hope was that it would be easier to get a Vaporetto from the Lido to Venice than it would be from Burano. Plus, we get to see another island!
We jumped onto line #14 Vaporetto and made our way over to the Lido – a pleasant 50-minute journey. The #14 Vaporetto runs every hour, so make sure you check the timetable beforehand to avoid unnecessary waiting. After the Vaporetto reaches the Lido, it then completes the journey by landing at San Zaccaria which is to the east of San Marco on the island of Venice.
The Lido
The Lido is a 7-mile long thin strip of land that shelters the lagoon from the Adriatic sea. When we arrived there ourselves it seemed odd to see cars driving about. It didn’t feel anything like Venice, Murano, or Burano. It felt like a normal Italian town. If Venetians feel the need to hit the beach though, then the Lido is a great choice. It is the Venetian seaside resort. The Lido is famous for hosting the Venice International Film Festival every year.
The beach is a short walk from the Vaporetto stop (Lido Santa Maria Elisabetta, or Lido S.M.E.) we arrived at from Burano. It is more or less a straight road across the island to the beach, with some lovely little Trattorias to be found on the way. It’s just a 15-minute walk from the Vaporetto stop to the beach.
By the time we’d spent some time on the beach, we decided it was time to head back to Venice. From the Lido S.M.E. Vaporetto stop there are plenty of boats departing. You can take Vaporettos from lines #5.2, 6, 10 and 14 back to Venice. We took line #6 back to the Zattere stop, as that was the closest for us to walk back to our hotel. The #6 runs every 20 minutes and took around 15 minutes over to Zattere.
How to visit Murano and Burano from Venice
I hope that I’ve answered the question ‘how to visit Murano and Burano from Venice’. Its perfectly do-able to visit Murano and Burano in a day, and as we did also visit the Lido as well. There are other routes to visit the islands, but what I’ve mentioned above worked really well for us. There are a couple of things I’d recommend:
- Get a day or multi-day travel card for the Vaporetto. It will save you money in the long run, not just with visiting Murano and Burano. It also means you don’t have to worry about buying tickets for each single journey. You can buy either a single journey ticket, day ticket or a multi-day ticket at most of the Vaporetto stops.
- Start early. Not only are the Vaporettos a bit quieter, but it will give you more time at each island without rushing around.
- The Vaporettos back from Burano can have lengthy queues, especially in high season. Bear this in mind, or choose an alternative route back to Venice. Not many tourists want to go from Burano to the Lido, and in our case by doing this we maximised our exploring time.
Whilst you’re here, why not check out our other posts about Venice?
