Tomorrow we are flying into Venice. I was thinking about the free glass factory tours yet I am reading some people have had horrible experiences. Does anyone know a good factory to tour? Also what is the best way to get a gondola ride and how much should it cost? Thanks for your help.

I took the tour offered by my hotel. My daughter and I had a private water taxi ride to Murano, which was very cool. We were met at the dock by someone from a factory who took us in to a demonstration and then walked through the showroom with us. There was no pressure to buy anything, and I just ended up buying one of the animals they make at the demonstration. I had heard of high pressure sales but we didn't experience anything like that. After wandering around Murano for a while, we took the vaporetto back.

We had exactly the same experience as Nikki -- no pressure at all. The demonstration was interesting and walking around the store was like being in a glass museum.

We also went to Burano which was charming.

Thank you for your response. Do you remember the name of the factory?

No, sorry. I think our hotel arranged it for us.

Maria Luisa may have a very fine shop, but advertising on this site is banned.

We took a tour arranged by our hotel. As above, but, the pressure to buy was considerable. We did. Coming back, we took public transport.