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Well, the answer lies just a 1.5-mile vaporetto ride away on the fishing village islands of the northern Venetian lagoon.
Though there are dozen of islands beyond downtown Venice—including the long, skinny barrier island of the Lido, lined with 19th century beach resorts—by far the msot rewarding are a trio of islands in the northern lagoon you can visit in one long, perfect day:
Murano - Murano is the biggest of the major islands in Venice's northern lagoon, offering a sense of what Venice might have been like as a small village, before the tourists invaded. The docks and canals of Murano bustle with fishermen unloading the day's catch and its calle are heated by the furnaces of its many glass factories, an age-old traditional craft that has made "Venetian glass" famous the world over... » more
Burano - Tiny Burano is the fishing village version of Venice, a clutch of islets threaded by mini-canals and lined by eye-poppingly colored houses where little old ladies still hand-tatt the lace that once made the islands famous... » more
Torcello - Torcello was a thriving metropolis before Venice was even founded, yet it now lies sleepy and largely abandoned, its marshy badlands providing the best feeling for what Venice looked like when people first started settling the lagoon. Left over from the glory days is a glorious basilica lined with spectacular 11th and 12th century Byzantine mosaics... » moreThere are two main ways to get to the islands of the Venetian lagoon: by tour, or by public transport.
The Northern Lagoon of Venice with the major outlying islands.Somewhat amazingly, a tour will also cost less than doing it yourself using public transport.
These tours also (almost invariably) include a visit to one of the Murano glass factories. This does give you an insight into how that famous Venetian Murano glass is made, but remember that the real purpose is to get you to buy glass trinkets in the shop at the end of the factory tour. Fair enough—and perhaps you're only too happy for the shopping opportunity. Just know that this is an integral part of most escorted island tours:
Do-it-yourself tour using Venice's public transportationnetwork using the vaporetto water ferries costs around $26.
Doing the outlying Venice islands on your own is a bit more complicated (and time consuming), but eminently possible. Give it all day. Here are the details.
First of all, if you have been buying individual vaporetto (water bus) tickets as you need them, go ahead and invest in an 24-hour unlimited ride pass for today (€20—if you think you can fit it all into just 12 hours, you can save €2 with a 12-hour Travelcard, but I wouldn't bother). You are going to take the water bus at least five times, so it will definitely save you some money.
Here are your public trasnport options for getting to and around Murano, Burano, and Torcello.
Unless you are close to the Ferrovia or Piazzale Roma stops (from which you can catch vaporetto Line 3, the express to Murano), you should probably first make your way to Fondamente Nove vaporetto stop, which is way up on the north side of the Castello district (though there is a "shortcut" is you are near San Marco; see below).
Line 12 is the main vaporetto line to take to reach the outlying islands in the Northern Venetian lagoon.
Line 12 stops at the main "Faro" (lighthouse) vaporetto stop on Murano (8 min.), then continues to the residential island of Mazzorbo (another 24 min.), then across a channel to Burano (10 min. from Mazzorbo—which means 34 min. total from Murano, or 42 min. total from Venice).
From Burano, you can grab the #9 traghetto up to Torcello and back (5 min. each way).
Getting back to Venice: From Burano, Line 12 continues to Treporti and, in summer, on to Punta Sabbioni, where all the campgrounds are), before turning back around to reverse its route: Burano, Mazzorbo, Murano, Fondamente Nove.
(Note: From Fondamente Nove, instead of line 12 you could also take Line 4.1 or 4.2, a local line which makes all 7 local stops around Murano before circling back to Fondamente Nove.)
From the San Marco area you can grab the 4.1 or 4.2 vaporetto or the Alilaguna line B (blue) (for trips within the city like this, they only charge the standard €7 ticket)—from the Piazza San Marco/S. Zaccaria stop.
The #4.1 or 4.2 ferry will chug around Venice, making eight local stops, then stop at Fondamente Nove before turning to head up and around Murano and back (On the Alilagune B line, Murano will be the 5th stop after San Marco).
Either way, the ride takes about 40 minutes.
Get off in Murano and explore. From Murano, you can continue on the #12 line to Burano, thence Torcello, etc.
The reason I call this a "sort-of" shortcut is that these boats from San Marco takes a half-hour longer than if you left directly from Fondamenta Nove.
Then again, it'll also probably take half an hour just to walk from Piazza San Marco to Fondamente Nove, so the timing is about equal, but taking a boat the whole way is a bit easier (especially if you're leaving early in the morning and want to ease yourself into the day).
From Ferrovia (train station) or Piazzale Roma (parking lot), you can grab the express Line 3 to reach Murano in about 20 minutes (24 min. from Piazzale Roma).
If you happen to be staying on Murano—or just want to hit it en route to Venice—the Alilaguna B (blue) and R (red) ferries from the airport both stop at Murano (~30 min.).
By the way, if you tarry too late on the outlying islands (last boats: somewhere between 11pm and midnight, depending), never fear.
A night vaporetto Line N connects Murano and Burano (and a few residential islands) back to Fondamente Nove.
If it's getting late on Torcello, they're really good about shooing you down to the docks so you won't miss the last #9 traghetto to Burano at 8:10pm.
If you manage to miss that, you can still hop the night line, but it'll come out to Torcello by request only, so you have to call ahead (tel. 800-845-065)—plus it only stops at 11:56pm, 12:35am, 1:31am, and 2:31am en route to Burano (where you'll have to wait again for a night ferry going the other direction, since this one continues on to Treporti and Punta Sabbioni, not Venice).
Or you can get really lucky and call ahead to catch the 1:35am from Torcello, which goes semi-express back to Fondamente Nove.
(Don't miss it; the next one's at 4:03am.)
Venice outlying islands (Murano, Burano, Torcello) ★★
None of the outlying islands has its own tourist office; visit one of the offices in downtown Venice for information. As for transportation to the islands:
Actv - Vaporetto
tel. +39-041-2424
www.actv.it
Alilaguna
tel. +39-041-240-1701
www.alilaguna.it
Venetian Islands tours
All three islands
• Murano, Burano and Torcello Half-Day Sightseeing Tour
• Context: The Islands of the Lagoon: Byzantine and Early Medieval Venice (Murano & Torcello; Burano if you choose)
• Private Tour: Murano, Burano and Torcello Half-Day Tour
Murano and Burano
• Murano Glass and Burano Lace Tour from Venice
• Venice Shore Excursion: Murano Glass and Burano Lace Tour
• Two Islands in the Venetian Lagoon: Murano & Burano
Others
• An Island in the Venetian Lagoon: Murano
• The Magic Art of Glassblowing (Murano)
• Context: Science and Secrets of the Lagoon (note: unique tour in a skiff of all aspects of the lagoon, without shore visits except a potty break on Torcello)
Get up early in the morning since to visit all three islands takes a good five to seven hours.
The time you spend on Burano and Torcello is in one-hour increments (vaporetti ferries leave hourly), and one hour is about enough for each.
Add in 10 minutes for the ride from Venice to Murano, 35 minutes from Murano to Burano, 5 minutes from Burano to Torcello, and 70 minutes from Torcello to Venice.
If you start by 9 or 10am, you can be back in Venice by late afternoon/early evening (assuming you take time to have lunch).
Time it just perfectly, and you ride back to Venice with the sunset sending orange sparklers across the waters of the lagoon as you arrive. Very cool.
Meals: As far as lunch goes, you can either pack a picnic in from Venice (Torcello is prime for picnicking), or sit down for a good meal at a restaurant:
Though there are now tiny B&B and/or rental rooms operating on Burano (two of them) and Torcello (three—including at Cirpriani), most of the lodging in the Northern Lagoon is concentrated on Murano, which has several small hotels, B&Bs, and rental apartments:
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This article was written by Reid Bramblett and was last updated in July 2013
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All information was accurate at the time.
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