My husband and I will have 4 days in Venice this Sept 16 - 20. I am trying not to 'plan' too much as it seems everyone suggests that just getting lost in Venice is the best plan. I am curious though about what people think about Murano, Burano and Torcello? Are they worth a trip during our precious 4 days?

Also, we are not really church and museum people but are not lost on the fact that there are some not to be missed. Wondering what you all would recommend as 'must sees' and when invest to visit each?

You might try not flooding the forum with 3 straight posts, since you really are a newbie.

Getting lost works for me. I once found the docks where working ships were loaded and unloaded.

Didn't have a clue as to where I was.

Thanks for the advise. I am new and i do have a lot of questions as I have never been to Italy. I thought it would be best to post with more specific topics and questions then to do one large post that covered so many different areas.

I'll pace myself going forward.

Hi Tanya...please don't worry about 'flooding' the board with questions....that's what the forum is for!!

We enjoyed a day trip to the islands using the vaprettos and you can easily fit them into your four days on one day.

Enjoy Venice!!

It’s really hard to say whether Murano/Burano/Torcello is worth doing if you have only four days, but my first thought would be, No, not worth it. To visit those islands will take the major part of a day, and it is about an hour each way on a vaporetto to get there. So I’d think not worth it.

That being said, we did visit Murano on our first trip to Venice, but we did have six or seven days there. Also we were very ignorant then about what Venice had to offer. Since then, we have visited Torcello a couple of times, but that was when we were staying in Venice for a much longer visit, and felt that we wanted a day in the country.

There is a lot to see in Venice, even if you never put foot in a church. But I do think that you miss out a bit on what makes Venice special, if you don’t look at the odd church. Religion has been a big driver in Venice’s history, and that history is recorded in the churches. You can buy the Chorus Pass for about 15 euro, and that gives admission to about 20 churches in Venice (but not the basilica of St Marks or St Zanipolo). Having the pass makes it much easier to think, “Let’s just take a quick look in here. It’s not costing anything, and we can escape the heat – or crowds – for a little while”. I think that the Basilica is really worth seeing, and also the Frari, which for me is the most special church in Venice. But then, San Polo has some exquisite paintings by Tiepolo ….

If you click on my user name, you will find a couple of trip reports that I wrote about Venice, and they might help you to plan. And don’t be put off by being called a newbie – keep on asking questions. There are many polite people on here who enjoy sharing their knowledge. I’m just one of them.

(The shipyards are at the extreme eastern end of Venice near the soccer ground, and also on the south side of Guidecca)

You can actually walk to an island if you want to.
For example if you walk from Saint Marks to the Arsenale (worth seeing) and cross the bridge. you come to the Via Garibaldi. It is quite a wide street with proper shops where Venetians go. There are restaurants and cafes varying in price. If you keep walking, you come to Isola de S. Pietro which is almost tourist free. It's quite a working class part of Venice with small boat yards etc.
You could also click on my name. However, because I have been to Venice several times now, I tend to go to avoid the big tourist attractions

> It’s really hard to say whether Murano/Burano/Torcello is worth doing if you have only four days,... So I’d think not worth it.

Different people, different opinions : I do think it's possible and worth as well to use your 1 day out of 4 for the island visits. However will you have 4 full days? Or your Arr/Dep dates are included in those 4 days? If the latter, I would rather stay in Venice all the time. Still you can visit nearby islands like Giudecca and Lido on quick vaporetto ride. That's me. I like riding boats and enjoy seeing Venice from the water. And in September when Venice is so crowded and possibly quite hot as well, I like getting out of Venice and visit somewhat less crowded islands. You come back to Venice in the early evening and visit the Venice free of day trippers. As most say here, Venice after dark is so nice and different, even Piazza San Marco.

Ok, you did write Sept 16 - 20 ( 5 days ) so probably you will have 4 full days. And you also say " we are not really church and museum people ", so really why not. Do a google image search for Burano, Torcello and if you like what you see ( e.g. those brigh color painted houses on Burano, etc). And if you do it, at least buy a 12-hour vaporetto pass. Should be much cheaper than buying singles tickets that's about €7.00 each.

I liked Murano and Burano, but I'm not sure I would give up a day in Venice on my first trip. In my opinion, Murano is not especially picturesque. I liked Burano much better, with its rainbow-colored buildings and crazily tilting campanile. I have not visited Torcello.

Even if you are not "church people," I would say that Basilica San Marco and Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari are must sees. I also enjoyed the wide-open feel of Santi Giovanni e Paolo in the Campo of the same name. San Giorgio Maggiore is worth a visit even if just to take the elevator to the top of the campanile for soaring views of Venice and the lagoon. It is also much less crowded than the line for the campanile at San Marco.

Thanks for the input eveyone. Still no decisions but it helps to have opinions of people who have been to Venice. I think I will leave Murano and Burano on the 'Maybe' list and see how are time goes when we get there.

Are there any days of the week we should definitely NOT go to Murano and Burano?