I'll be in Venice for 4 days in early March. Since I'm an avid amateur photographer, I would like to visit Murano/Burano/Torcello on this trip and take photographs and walk around a bit (especially the church in Torcello which seems to be very interesting). What would be the quickest way to visit all 3 islands in one day? I have heard taking the vaporetti to all three islands takes a very long time. Since time is of the essence, has anyone ever booked tours? If so, from whom and how much? Can I book at American Express for example at a reasonable cost? I know it's difficult to get the full flavor of all 3 islands in one day but there never is enough time anyway. How early should I begin in the morning and in what order should I visit the islands? Thanks to all you travellers in the know!<BR>

Even a guided tour will have to transport you to each island by boat, so I can't imagine that they'll be a whole lot faster than doing it yourself. It seems like you'll have much better control of your itinerary to simply opt for public transport and travel on the vaparettos.<BR><BR>

We have been to the islands four times, and the quickest way that we have found, is to walk from San Marco past the Doges Palace to the waterfront. A man will stop you and ask if you want to have a free tour to Murano. Say yes, and he will give you free tickets for a private water taxi to Murano.<BR><BR> You will have a quick, pleasant trip to Murano where you will be taken to a glass factory. There you will watch an interesting short demo of glass making and then be invited into the factory to view the merchandise. Spend a short time looking at beautiful glass and then go out the BACK door of the factory into the town of Murano. Walk around, perhaps have lunch, then get on the vaporetto for the short trip to Burano. Get off , enjoy Burano- it is very small, then get on a vaporetto for another short trip to Torcello where you can walk quickly to the Cathedral. <BR><BR>When you are ready, get on a vaporetto for the long ride back to Venice. It is a full day, but quite doable, especially if you start the trip by taking the free water taxi to Murano. It is MUCH longer in time and distance if you go by vaporetto both ways. You do not need to go on a tour - it is easy to do this on your own.

You didn't mention being on a budget. If money is less important for this trip than time, then get yourself a water taxi to each island. It will save a bunch of time versus vaporetti, and when you go to Torcello it will save several bunches of time. <BR><BR>Torcello is a long way off compared to Burano and Murano, so another alternative is to go to Murano and Burano by vaporetto, then get a water taxi to Torcello. You will have to coordinate this ahead to make sure there will be a water taxi available, but that's usually not a problem. That way, an early morning departure to Murano and then to Burano by vaporetto, would be followed by a water taxi ride to Torcello, lunch at the Cipriani restaurant there (a great place), and an afternoon of photography before returning to Venice by a boat of your choice.<BR><BR>Having been to these islands, I would say you can walk around and photograph everything you want in Murano in no more than 2 hours; same for Burano. Then you will have the whole afternoon for Torcello.

Sally: I loved your response. Very detailed and pretty funny at the beginning. I am going to purchase a small glass figurine as a gift but the part about sneaking out the backdoor was great! I mean, I'd go on the "free" boat with all good intentions of purchasing something after the glass demo but if I don't like the merchandise they have for sale (which is doubtful -- everyone loves Murano), the onus is on the store. I loved your advice and am going to take it. Thanks a lot! I'm still chuckling.

Wayne: Your advice is equally good. Thanks so much. I have read in several books Torcello is a long way off and since I would like to see all 3 in one day and still get back to Venice in time for an evening passeggiate (complete with camera, of course), I'll seriiously consider the motoscafo option since the added cost might be worth it in time savings. If the weather is fine towards late afternoon, then a longer ride home on the vaporetto is a good option. I appreciate everyone's advice ... grazie!

Another alternative would be to walk through Campo Santa Maria Formosa to the Fondementa Nuova and catch the vaporetto to Murano from there, which is only about a 10 minute ride and a lovely walk through less traveled parts of Venice to get there.

Frank,<BR>We took a late morning/early afternoon trip to Torcello via a private water taxi (departing from the stand in front of the Danielli) which provided transportation to the Locanda Cipriani inn andrestaurant on Torcello. We made lunch reservations at the Locanda and booked our water taxi transport via the Danielli's concierge (weren't staying at the Danielli). I can't recall the cost (wasn't prohibitive), but it's a very elegant way to travel to the island. There were only 5 passengers on this very handsome launch. We had time for both sightseeing and lunch before returning to Venice. Don't know if the Locanda still provides that taxi service for their guests, but It was the very highlight of our trip. A truly wonderful, memorable experience, as Wayne says.<BR>You can see pictures of the island at<BR>www.locandacipriani.com

When I was in Italy last yearo, the American Express office sold a half-day visit to all 3 islands. About 30 minutes was spent on each island. I found this to be more than adequate. If you are short on time, this is an easy way to see all 3 islands.<BR><BR>This was more of a transportation service than a tour, because the visits were not guided. When we arrived at each island, the passengers were told the time the boat would leave, and from that point on we were on our own.

Dear Frank,<BR><BR>Torcello was definately a highlight of our 4 day trip to Venice. Took some of my favorite photos there, especially from the top of the bell tower - I think there was a small extra fee to climb it, but definately recommend doing so, as the views of the islands are wonderful. The mosiacs are fantastic (however, when I was there, no photography allowed inside). <BR><BR>The only mistake we made on the trip was to have lunch at the first restaurant we came to after we arrived at Torcello - we were hungry, and they had pretty outdoor tables. But, the food was so bad - the seafood risotto was inedible. I'm sorry we didn't know about some of the suggestions above about places to have lunch.<BR><BR>

Whoa, whoa, reality check please! The vaporetto gives extremely fast service from Fondementa Nuova, look at an online ferry map. And Burano towers above the other islands in photogeniety... leave hours and hours for it and only minutes for the others. Murano mainly offers mediocrity by wanna-be architects who try and fail to emulate Venice; Torcello is mostly empty. Burano is miraculous folk art...

I agree with JT---Burano is the best photo op and the vaporetto from Fondamenta Nuove is the fastest access.