I am hoping for some informed advice from the great Fodorite community.
In October my wife and I will be in Venice for the first time for a full 4 days. We have decided, with the time we have available, we want to devote one day to a trip outside of Venice.
Originally Murano and Burano seemed like very good options to see a bit more of the Venice lagoon and islands, even though we're not planning on buying any glass and know they are very touristy.
However, the more we read about what's available within a reasonable train ride we start thinking we may enjoy Padua, Vicenza, Verona, Treviso, or some other reachable place even more than the touristy islands.
So, I'm asking for help and advice. What have you enjoyed in the above areas? What do you recommend for a day trip? Maybe Murano and Burano are a "must do"?
A little about us: We are in our forties, love beautiful "places" (history / architecture / churches / destinations), love to just walk around and experience an area, see the sites, take some awesome pictures and have a nice lunch (my wife made me add that bit about lunch). We do enjoy art and see as many museums as we can, but wouldn't take a special trip to see one. Not into shopping or buying "I heart Italy" t-shirts.
Any advice is greatly appreciated!

I would see the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua with the amazing Giotto frescoes - must book ahead.

I never considered Murano and Burano as a "day trip" from Venice. Burano has lots of colorful houses. If you do go to Burano also go to Torcello which is much less visited by tourists and has a wonderful church. You could have a nice lunch at Cipriani's or a much less expensive lunch on Burano.

I love Treviso. One of my best American friends and his Italian wife, live there as she was born and raised there. A friend and I stayed with them in Treviso and then we took the train to Venice. two days in a row. As the friend and his wife have a car, we drove around the area and went to some really cool, quaint and beautiful towns. I really liked Asolo. We had a great lunch in a small hotel restaurant with a beyond stunning view. My friend's wife said that one could see all the way to Venice. I'd have to look up the name of the restaurant.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mZOu29T5bE

Happy Travels!

Well, it's another case where those places are touristy for a reason. From your self-description I think you'd particularly like Burano, which is extremely picturesque (see Google images). Maybe you could see it in an afternoon, and do a daytrip by train another day. Personally I'd go to Vicenza and check out works by Palladio -- but I'm especially interested in architecture. You have lots of choices.

I vote for Torcello and lunch at Ciprianis. It is in a beautiful setting and I thought the price was appropriate for what you got. We spent as much or more for meals not as good in Venice (but that's Venice for you). We enjoyed the ride on the lagoon - you need to see Venice from that perspective at least once on your trip.

We have also enjoyed a day trip to Padua, for some reason Vincenza was a bit of a bust. You might also look into day cruises on the Brenta Canal - that is an idea on our "next time" list.

Four full days is not too much for Venice - I would be inclined to stay there. However, if you want a day trip, Padua would be my choice. The Giotto frescos are worth a trip but be sure to reserve. I'd skip Murano and visit Burano and Torcello if you decide on the islands.

We have visited Venice each year for the past many years. For us, Vicenza is more than a day trip. We have stayed there 3 0r 4 days, enjoying the Palladian architecture. From Venice, we always do a day trip to Murano (brief stay there), on to Burano, walk around, then to Torcello for the magnificent chisea there. Of course you can have an excellent lunch at Ciprianis with the other tourists willing to pay the price. But we take the vaporetto back to Burano, walk across the bridge to the little island of Mazorbo, and have lunch at one of the little restaurants along the water with the locals and the few tourists who have discovered the fine food (especially seafood) there at quite reasonable prices.

4 days isn't enough time to see Venice. You could spend three weeks there and not see everything.

Most of us go year after year and still find surprises.

The Scrovegni Chapel is a great suggestion, as is La Rotonda in Vicenza.

But, do not cut off your nose to spite your face.

Do not go to Vicenza to view Palladian buildings, but skip the Palladian Church of San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice.

Do not skip the Accademia's The Tempest by Giorgione or Tintoretto's Wedding at Cana in S M Salute to go all the way to Padova to see the Giotto frescoes.

Thin
Thin

I am a big fan of Verona.it has some of theost azing Romanesque churches in northern Italy and has a great " cozy" feel.

If you want to go the extra distance from Padua then consider it. Padua would be a great day trip as well.

Here's another vote for Burano and Torcello, where the 1000+ year old basilica must surely be worth the trip. we actually had a very nice lunch at the trattoria di Attilla on Torcello but HlRoamer's recommendation looks good as well.

I'd visited Venice for a total of 8 weeks on holiday before moving here 18 months ago, and there's still lots (including museums) I haven't seen yet; so with only 4 days, I wouldn't leave.

Murano, Burano & Torcello are all part of Venice and if you want to get off the main islands for a day, they are worth visiting. I wouldn't visit all 3 in one day but since you only have 4 days it would be doable, if you make an early start and won't get too tired.

There are some tacky shops in Murano (as everywhere in Venice) but it's still a lovely place. When we finally got round to the glass museum we found it much more interesting than we expected, and learning about the various decorative techniques made us appreciate the results more (while still finding a lot not to our personal taste) - IMO definitely worth a visit.

The lace museum on Burano is tiny and not that interesting, but if you time it right you can see an elderly local lady there making genuine traditional lace (unlike almost all of what's on sale there).

The mosaics in the basilica at Torcello are amongst the most stunning - and oldest - works on art in Venice. The small museums on Torcello aren't really worth it if you have to pay.

For a more expensive lunch, our favourite places are the Gatto Nero on Burano & Osteria al Ponte del Diavolo on Torcello. Al Trono d'Attila on Torcello, the places mentioned on Mazzorbo and the place with tables on a dock on Murano's 'Grand Canal' (never learnt its name) are all OK cheaper options.

Hi, Markaphx. There is some good advice above.

DH and I took day trips from Venice to Trieste, Padua and Treviso. Padua was of more interest to us as tourists than Treviso. If you do go there, look at making reservations for Scrovegni Chapel now. They were booked for a month when we were there in March. It's small enough but close enough to be a nice day visit. Guenmai, the resto you mentioned sounds wonderful. I expect we'd have gotten more out of Treviso if we'd had a guide. If you google it, there's one post with 114 things to do there.

We based in Verona and I think it needs more than a day. We took a day trip from Verona to see La Rotondo in Vicenza and were satisfied.

We fell in love with Scuola Grande dei Carmini. There are several others to note in good trip books. If art and architecture are of interest, they are amazing but Carmini was the jewel of the 3 or 4 we visited.

With Murano, Burano and Torcello and all the other "musts" in Venice, you may be surprised that you don't have time to go any other place!

Please report back.

The Scuola is in Venice.

If this is your first time in Venice and you have ONLY 4 days, I don't see why you would want to leave it to visit other cities. ( the isalands such as Burano, Torcello are part of Venice for me. )

I agree with the other posters who say stay in Venice and at the very most travel to the other islands. Part of the appeal of Venice for just a few days is not seeing a train, or car for awhile. If you must, go to the other islands as being on the lagoon is always nice.

Torcello is beautiful, and remains fairly quiet compared to Burano and Murano. Another island to visit if you are interested in cemeteries is San Michele. It is easy to reach, 5 minutes from Venice on the way to Murano.

I've found a restaurant business card for Asolo. It must be the restaurant where we ate, as I don't remember taking a business card from any other restaurant in Asolo. But, I've just e-mailed my best friend so he might e-mail me right back as he just e-mailed me about something else.

Osteria della Giarreetiera
Via Canova, 325
Asola
Tel: 0423.951368

My best Parisian friend and I were there with my American friend and his Italian wife in the month of April as the Parisian friend and I met at CDG and flew to Venice together. I was flying from L.A. and landed at CDG and then just flew on to Venice the same day.

We went to Treviso together for 3 nights and then back to Paris. We were driven all over the Treviso area and there was also an amazing vineyard that we went to. I'll have to get the name of it. After hiking a small hill, there was a wooden platform area with tables and chairs where one could sit and overlook the vineyard area. There was a little room with a fridge where one could go and take out some wine and then just leave whatever amount of money one wanted to in a box. I think there was also a plate of cheese in that room. There weren't a lot of people there. It was also very peaceful. My Parisian friend saw the owner, I think it was, and went over and talked to him.

At the restaurant in Asolo, there were only 2 tables occupied on the beautiful terrace with the gorgeous view. The terrace had a roof to protect from rain, but it was a picture perfect day. I remember when we walked into the building, we passed some tables, but my friend's wife walked past them and then we went up some stairs and there was the terrace area. I didn't want to leave as it was so quiet and peaceful. The food was really good,too.

Happy Travels!