Exploring Venice

People always ask me how much time they should spend in Venice and as I’ve been there four times, I feel like I can give an appropriate response. I really feel like you only need a day in Venice to see everything. Venice is absolutely gorgeous, but its just a very quiet city when the sun goes down (unless you’re visiting during Carnival). If you do feel like spending the weekend in the sinking city, a great thing to do would be a tour of three of the nearby islands of Murano, Burano and Torcello. I recently took a tour of these picturesque islands of the Venice Lagoon with Viator.

The tour lasts about four hours and leaves from the docks by Piazza San Marco. The ferry embarks and a short fifteen minutes later you arrive in Murano, the island where the glass blowers work. You are given the chance to watch a glass blower at work and then you have some free time to explore a few of the sites.

Murano

Torcello

The next stop on the tour is Torcello, home of the famous restaurant Cipriani. It’s also home to beautiful Byzantine style churches.

I highly suggest going into the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta, as it is home to one of the most stunning mosaics that I have ever seen.

There is enough time for a leisurely stroll through Torcello. It’s really all that there is to do on the small island.

Burano

The final stop of the tour was Burano, which was hands down my favorite of the three. I’ve had Burano on my bucket list for YEARS and I was really excited to check it off.

We were invited into a lace shop to see how lace is handmade, afterwards we were given free time.  There isn’t much to do in Burano, but walking around the canals was the perfect end to my day. The little tiny houses in an array of colors are so charming. If I was a little Italian lady, this is where I’d call home.

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