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Visit the lagoon islands of Murano, Burano and Torcello, Venice

Islands

Visit the lagoon islands of Murano, Burano and Torcello

Venice · Veneto

QUICK INFORMATION

CATEGORY
Islands
COUNTRY
Italy
REGION
Venice · Veneto
DURATION
A full day for all three islands
DIFFICULTY
Easy — short walks between landings and sights on flat ground.
BEST TIME
Spring to autumn; winter schedules are reduced.

ABOUT THIS EXPERIENCE

The Venetian lagoon holds more than a hundred islands, and three of them make a natural day trip from the city. Murano, a short vaporetto ride north, has been the centre of Venetian glassmaking since 1291, when the furnaces were moved there from the city to cut the fire risk; you can watch the blowers at work and visit the Glass Museum. Burano, further out, is a fishing island of small houses painted in contrasting colours so the fishermen could find them in the fog, and a centre of handmade lace. Torcello, between the two, is nearly deserted now but holds the cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta, founded in 639 and the oldest building in the lagoon — the place where Venice began.

WHAT YOU’LL EXPERIENCE

What you’ll experience

More here soon — the road is still being mapped.

THE EXPERIENCE IN DETAIL

What it’s really like

More here soon — the road is still being mapped.

HIGHLIGHTS

Moments worth savouring

01

Murano — the glass furnaces where you can watch the blowers work, and the Glass Museum in the Palazzo Giustinian.

02

Burano — the painted houses, the lace workshops and the leaning campanile of San Martino.

03

Torcello — the 7th-century cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta with its Byzantine mosaics, and the stone throne called Attila’s Seat.

04

The lagoon crossing itself — the boat ride through the shallows and the fishing weirs.

WHAT TO EXPECT

Good to know before you go

More here soon — the road is still being mapped.

PRACTICAL INFORMATION

Before you go

Access
Vaporetto lines 4.1 and 4.2 serve Murano; line 12 runs from Fondamente Nove to Murano, Burano and Torcello.
Best Time
Mornings to see the glassblowers at work; weekdays are quieter than weekends.
Context
The islands are a half- or full-day trip from the city; combine all three in a loop.

MAP & LOCATION

Visit the lagoon islands of Murano, Burano and Torcello

Visit the lagoon islands of Murano, Burano and Torcello, Venice, Veneto, Italy

45.4597, 12.3381

Open in OpenStreetMap

ATTRACTIONS NEARBY

Pair it with these sights

St Mark’s Basilica, Venice
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St Mark’s Basilica

The cathedral of Venice, begun in the 11th century on the model of Constantinople’s Church of the Holy Apostles — a Greek-cross plan crowned by five domes and sheathed in gold mosaics. The body of St Mark was smuggled from Alexandria in 828, and the church became the spiritual heart of the republic.

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Doge’s Palace, Venice
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Doge’s Palace

The seat of government of the Venetian republic — a Gothic palace beside St Mark’s holding the Great Council chamber, the prisons and the Bridge of Sighs, where the Doge, the Senate and the feared Council of Ten governed a thousand-year state.

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Grand Canal, Venice
Landmark

Grand Canal

The main waterway of Venice, an inverted S-curve nearly four kilometres long that divides the city in two, lined with more than 170 palaces from the 13th to the 18th centuries. The vaporetti and gondolas that ply it are the best way to see the city’s façades.

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Rialto Bridge and Market, Venice
Landmark

Rialto Bridge and Market

The oldest of the Grand Canal’s four bridges, a single stone arch built in 1591, with shops on its span. Around it, the Rialto has been Venice’s commercial heart since the 11th century — the produce market, the fish market and the banking quarter.

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Bridge of Sighs, Venice
Landmark

Bridge of Sighs

The enclosed limestone bridge of 1600 by Antonio Contino that links the Doge’s Palace courts to the New Prisons across the canal, its barred windows giving prisoners their last view of Venice and the lagoon.

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MORE EXPERIENCES

More to do in Venice

Ride the Grand Canal at dusk by vaporetto, Venice
Scenic & Viewpoints

Ride the Grand Canal at dusk by vaporetto

A ride down the Grand Canal on a public vaporetto as the light fades — the palaces lighting up, the water turning gold, the city seen from the deck the way it was meant to be seen.

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Get lost in the back canals of Cannaregio and Dorsoduro, Venice
Neighbourhoods

Get lost in the back canals of Cannaregio and Dorsoduro

The quiet residential quarters away from St Mark’s — Cannaregio in the north with its Jewish Ghetto and Fondamente Nove waterfront, and Dorsoduro in the south with the Zattere promenade and the Accademia.

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FOOD & DRINK

Where to eat nearby

01

Osteria alle Testiere — a tiny seafood osteria near St Mark’s, one of Venice’s best, book well ahead

02

Cantina Do Mori — the oldest bacaro in Venice, near the Rialto, for cicchetti and a glass of ombra

03

Osteria Anice Stellato — a canal-side trattoria in Cannaregio, honest Venetian cooking off the tourist track

04

All’Arco — a Rialto bacaro serving cicchetti to market workers and visitors from early morning

05

Vini da Gigio — a Cannaregio institution for Venetian classics and a serious wine list

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HOTELS & STAYS

Where to stay nearby

01

Ca’ Sagredo Hotel — a 15th-century palazzo on the Grand Canal, a Relais & Châteaux property

02

Hotel Danieli, Luxury Collection — a historic palace near St Mark’s, with lagoon views

03

Novecento Boutique Hotel — a small, quiet hotel near the Accademia in Dorsoduro

04

B&B Rota — a family-run guesthouse in Cannaregio, good value for a quiet base

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NEARBY DESTINATIONS

Continue the journey

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Verona

Veneto

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Florence

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Cortina d’Ampezzo

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INTERESTS

Explore by what you love

FishingWinter

PART OF

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