A vaporetto ride from Venice takes you to Burano, a small island in the Venetian lagoon with a lacy past.
Burano – How to get there from Venice
Vaporetto lines 12 and 14 of Venice’s Fondamenta Nuove take you to Burano, as well as to Murano (glass blowing) and Torcello.
A 40-minute ferry ride from Venice, the colorful houses of Burano offer visitors a respite from the faded gray of most Venetian Pallazzi. The houses are said to have been painted in these bright colors because of the fishermen’s desire to see their own houses from afar at sea (or find them when they had drunk too much).
Visit Burano – Things to do
Most tourists come to see the colorful houses and famous lace on the island of Burano, and to buy lace. Unfortunately, much of the lace you see is mass produced in Asia and the idea of producing fine lace is falling out of favor with the young women who still live in Burano. Still, you could catch a glimpse of someone making lace in front of their house. It is important to verify the origin of the lace you buy. Keep in mind that truly handmade lace is laborious and very expensive. Visit La Perla Gallery , a lace shop on Via Galuppi 376, the main street, where women are often seen working inside so you can see how it is done.
You can also visit the Lacemaking Museo Burano ( Museo del merletto di Burano ) located in Piazza Galuppi, 187. It is open from 10 am to 5 pm every day in summer. The cost, as of 2019, is € 5.
Colorful houses are everywhere. Take a walk through the canal lined streets, check out the leaning bell tower of San Martino, have lunch at the historic Trattoria da Romano or a similar restaurant that preferably doesn’t have people bothering you in bad English to see the egregiously translated menus, and take some photos. Better yet, follow our itinerary for a day trip outside of Venice that begins with the colorful island and goes beyond Burano – a splash of color in the Venetian lagoon.
Viator offers quite a few tours of the outer islands of Venice, see Viator Burano Tours for prices and information.
For those visitors on a very limited budget, we recommend staying in Padua, somewhat cheaper, 25 minutes by train from Venice. This is not ideal, so try to stay in the big city and take trips to the outer islands from Venice.
Images of Burano
See our Burano photo gallery.
