We will be in Venice (with a tour) for just a day and a half in early October. We are to arrive in Venice in early afternoon (total free time for us), then followed by a full day there where the tour has an informal morning walk to St. Mark's, Bridge of Sighs and the Rialto district. We are trying to decide if we have enough time to visit either Burano or Murano or both. We are avid amateur photographers, so we were thinking Burano might win over Murano with all the colorful buildings. Would there be enough time to go to either island on our first afternoon in Venice? How late do the boats run in October?? Thanks for all your help!

Forgot to mention that this is our first visit to Venice.

Lots of people here will tell you that 1.5 days is not enough for Venice proper. I went to Venice for a whole day and managed to catch a vaporetto to Burano and Murano on the same day. So it could be done, but it depends on what you want to see. Since I didn't have a hotel room in Venice, I found Venice too sleepy and quiet, albeit beautiful, in the morning. That is when we went to the two islands and spent a couple of hours on each. the boat ride does take a long time, something like an hour each way (maybe 45 minutes). I liked the entire combination and didn't feel that I missed much of Venice.

It takes about an hour each way to Burano on the ferry, about 25 minutes each way to Murano. However you need to factor in the time it takes to walk to the ferry stop on Fond. Nuove from your hotel, and allow some time for getting lost too. It could easily take ¾ of an hour to walk it, probably more.

So it is certainly do-able. However, I think that you might employ your time better by staying in the main part of Venice, which is certainly not short of photo opportunities. It is all priorities, I suppose, and if you had a week in Venice, then I’d certainly recommend a trip to Burano. But with one and a half days, I’d not recommend it.

If you have to chose between the two islands I would recommend Burano hands down. I wasn't that impressed with Murano other than the glass factories. The factories are kinda like an infomercial - there is a lot of pressure to buy stuff.

Burano is a cute town. Beware though, much of the lace they are known for is now imported from China!

Our hotel is in the northern part of Venice.

We were leaning toward going to Burano over Murano, so thanks, nanabee for your input. I just wonder if say we catch a 2pm boat to Burano and it takes 45-60 minutes to get there, if that would be enough time to take in the Lace Museum and walk through the town before catching the last boat back--whenever that is.....

According to this website, the lace museum on Burano has been closed for restoration and will be "opening again October 2010." I'd found out the status of the museum before planning your free time. You could try sending an email to the address provided.

http://www.turismovenezia.it/eng/dyn...NA=433&ID=8434

Just came back from 2 nights in Venice.

We loved Burano and enjoyed Torcello. Would skip Murano. It's a long boat ride out so you'll need most of the day.

Personally, I would highly recommend Burano and Torcello and then just walk around Venice during the rest of your time.

Gosh, didn't realize the Lace Museum was closed for restoration. We'll be there the second week in October, so hopefully it will be reopened. Thanks for the heads-up, Jean.

Still wrestling with seeing Burano first thing on our arrival "early afternoon". Do you think it's enough time?? Does anyone know how late the boats run??

You can check boat schedules and trip times here:

http://www.actv.it/en

Well with such limited time, I don't know, but I will say that viewing the city from out on the lagoon is a nice experience. Its great to walk around Venice but you do need to spend some time on the water too. Be sure and ride a vaporetto up and down the Grand Canal at some point in your visit - it is really interesting at high tide when you can see how much the water is rising and invading the lovely homes. Have a wonderful trip!

By the way, with such limited time I would probably not make the trip to Burano for the purpose of photography unless it was a sunny day. . . Never mind that you will find things to photograph on the main island of Venice around every corner.

You will not run out of things to photograph in Venice herself. I would also suggest not going to Burano with such limited time.

For spectacular views of Venice and a few minute excursion, take the vaporetto to Chiesa San Giorgio Maggiore on the island of San Giorgio Maggiore, just east of Guidecca. The church, designed by Palladio, is lovely, but take the time to go up in the campanile. The view back to Venice is outstanding.

hi marlene,

I'm one of those who loves the islands and therefore I understand your eagerness to get to see them.

line LN goes out to Burano, takes about 45 mins, and calls at Murano Faro, so you can hop off there if you like on the way back. as people live on the islands, the boats run ti lquite late, and timetables are posted at the stops. Though I've had trouble finding them on the web, you can use the link that ellenem posted to put in a sample of test times to see how late the boats go. [you want Burano as your leaving point and F.nuove as the arrival].

if you decide to go to Burano in the morning [or at any rate before 12 noon], try if you can to get to see the church of the jesuiti, which is just round the corner from the vaporetto stop on the Fond. Nuove. it is a magnificent edifice, and has the most wonderful marble curtains and swags, that had our DS [aged then about 17!] entranced.

on the way back, if you are not too late, get off at Murano and change onto the line 42, which will not only take you back to Fond Nuove, but then right round the north of Venice, and round the eastern end, so that you end up back at San Marco having seen Venice from the water. [no point if it's dark].

it takes a good hour to do this, but it's a unique way to see the city and we loved it.

sadly torcello probably takes more time than you've got, though if the boat is there and you fancy it, jump straight on, [it only takes 5 mins] walk up to the cathedral to see the fabulous mosaics, [a good 10 mins walk] then walk back again - the boats from Burano back to Venice are much more frequent than the torcello boats. if you as lucky as we were, you'll be able to see [and photograph] the dolomites from torcello.

to get the real atmosphere of the rialto markets, I suggest getting up early and going to see them before your tour. in the afternoon, you could go to the Frari church and the scuola san rocco opposite, then walk through Dorsodoro to the Zattere and sit in the sun and eat gelati. or alternatively do the burano trip described above.

have a great trip!

I liike annhig's idea of the rialto markets early, but you really should try to get there before 07:00. the vegetable market will be in full swing but the fish market will still be in the midst of setting up. All sorts of wonderful things to photograph.

It is difficult for us to tell you what you would like. As you have read, it is probably posssible to get out and back in your time frame.

The thing to keep in mind is not to lock your self into that notion. Nothing really requires advance tickets so if you get to Venice and get caught up in something other than tripping to Burano, nothing lost. Venice has a way of re-arranging your plans most of the time.

Thanks, everyone for your ideas. Notbob, I will keep the trip to Chiesa San Giorgio Maggiore in mind if we forgo the Burano excursion. Annhig, I really like your plan of getting off at Murano and changing lines.

I do tend to over plan, so I need to remind myself to relax and soak it all in. Que Sera, Sera!!!