Murano and Burano tickets: island tours, boat trips and buying advice

Guided tours leave from San Marco or Fondamente Nove, run four to six hours and include a glass-blowing demonstration on Murano plus stops in Burano and often Torcello. The schedule is tight.

By vaporetto you are more flexible and cheaper, but you need a time pass and have to watch timetables – the Murano–Burano link runs less often than central lines.

Murano is about glass: demonstrations, workshops and the glass museum. Tours usually include the demonstration; the museum is a separate ticket.

Burano is the island of coloured houses and lace; Torcello is the quiet counterpoint with its cathedral and Byzantine mosaics, worth an extra hour.

Start early: from late morning both the boats and Burano's lanes fill up. Realistically all three islands need six to seven hours.

Glass factories include a sales presentation. There is no obligation to buy; if you want to skip a long pitch, choose a tour that explicitly keeps the demonstration short.