Side Trips

If you take a boat from the Grand Canal near San Marco to Murano, Burano, and Torcello, it can take hours. But in about 20 minutes or so, you can head north from Piazza San Marco, coming to the Campo di Santa Maria Formosa and continuing north until you reach the vaporetto stop at Fondamente Nuove. Here you can catch the vaporetto to Murano or the other islands and cut down traveling time considerably. You can spend more time seeing the sights instead of taking a long boat trip with seemingly endless stops.

Murano

For centuries, glass blowers on the island of Murano have turned out those fantastic chandeliers that Victorian ladies used to prize so highly. They also produce heavily ornamented glasses so ruby red or so indigo blue that you can't tell whether you're drinking blackberry juice or pure-grain alcohol. Happily, the glass blowers are still plying their trade, although increasing competition (notably from Sweden) has compelled a greater degree of sophistication in design.

Murano remains the chief expedition from Venice, but it's not the most beautiful nearby island. (Burano and Torcello are far more attractive.)

You can combine a tour of Murano with a trip along the lagoon. To reach Murano, take vaporetto no. 5 or 13 at Riva degli Schiavoni, a short walk from Piazzetta San Marco. The boat docks at the landing platform at Murano where the first furnace awaits conveniently. It's best to go Monday to Friday 10am to noon if you want to see some glass-blowing action.

Touring the Glass Factories & Other Sights -- As you stroll through Murano, you'll find that the factory owners are only too glad to let you come in and see their age-old crafts. While browsing the showrooms, you'll need stiff resistance to keep the salespeople at bay. Bargaining is expected. Don't -- we repeat, don't -- pay the marked price on any item. That's merely the figure at which to open negotiations.

However, the prices of made-on-the-spot souvenirs aren't negotiable. For example, you might want to buy a horse streaked with blue. The artisan takes a piece of incandescent glass, huffs, puffs, rolls it, shapes it, snips it, and behold -- he has shaped a horse. The showrooms of Murano also contain a fine assortment of Venetian crystal beads, available in every hue. You might find some of the best work to be the experiments of apprentices.

While on the island, you can visit the Renaissance palazzo housing the Museo del Vetro di Murano, Fondamenta Giustinian 8 (tel. 041-739586), which contains a spectacular collection of Venetian glass. From April to October, it's open Thursday to Tuesday from 10am to 6pm (to 5pm Nov-Mar). Admission is 5.50€ ($7.15/£3.85). It is closed January 1, May 1, and December 25.

If you're looking for something different, head to San Pietro Martire, Fondamente Vetrai (tel. 041-739704), which dates from the 1300s but was rebuilt in 1511 and is richly decorated with paintings by Tintoretto and Veronese. Its proud possession is a Madonna and Child Enthroned, by Giovanni Bellini, plus two superb altarpieces by the same master. The church lies right before the junction with Murano's Grand Canal, about 229m (750 ft.) from the vaporetto landing stage. It's open daily 9am to noon and 3 to 6pm; it's closed for Mass on Sunday morning.

Even more notable is Santa Maria e Donato, Campo San Donato (tel. 041-739056), open Monday through Saturday from 9am to noon and 3:30 to 7pm, with time variations for Sunday Mass. Dating from the 7th century but reconstructed in the 1100s, this building is a stellar example of Venetian Byzantine style, despite its 19th-century restoration. The interior is known for its mosaic floor (a parade of peacocks and eagles, as well as other creatures) and a 15th-century ship's keel ceiling. Over the apse is an outstanding mosaic of the Virgin against a gold background from the early 1200s.

A Special Glass Museum -- For a really special museum, call for an appointment to visit the Barovier & Toso Museum, Palazzo Contarini, Fondamenta Vetrai 28, Murano (tel. 041-739049). Here Angelo Barovier displays rare glass from his private collection acquired over half a century. Free guided visits are Monday to Friday 10am to noon and 2 to 5pm (but do call ahead to make an appointment).

Burano

Burano became world famous as a center of lace making, a craft that reached its pinnacle in the 18th century. The visitor who can spare a morning to visit this island will be rewarded with a charming fishing village far removed in spirit from the grandeur of Venice but only half an hour away by ferry. Boats leave from Fondamente Nuove, overlooking the Venetian graveyard (which is well worth the trip all on its own). To reach Fondamente Nuove, take vaporetto no. 52 from Riva degli Schiavoni.

Exploring the Island -- Once at Burano, you'll discover that the houses of the islanders come in varied colors: sienna, robin's egg or cobalt blue, barn red, butterscotch, and grass green.

Check out the Scuola di Merletti di Burano, "Museo del Merletto," Piazza Galuppi 187 (tel. 041-730034), in the center of the village at Piazza Baldassare Galuppi. From November to March, the museum is open Wednesday to Monday 10am to 4pm (to 5pm Apr-Oct). Admission is 4€ ($5.20/£2.80) adults, 2.50€ ($3.25/£1.75) seniors and children. The Burano School of Lace was founded in 1872 as part of a movement aimed at restoring the age-old craft that had earlier declined, giving way to such lace-making centers as Chantilly and Bruges. On the second floor you can see the lace makers, mostly young women, at their painstaking work, and you can purchase hand-embroidered or handmade lace items.

After visiting the lace school, walk across the square to the Duomo and its leaning campanile (inside, look for the Crucifixion, by Tiepolo). See it while you can, because the bell tower is leaning so precariously that it looks as if it might topple at any moment.

Torcello

Of all the islands of the lagoon, Torcello, the so-called Mother of Venice, offers the most charm. If Burano is behind the times, Torcello is positively antediluvian. You can stroll across a grassy meadow, traverse an ancient stone bridge, and step back into that time when the Venetians first fled from invading barbarians to create a city of Neptune in the lagoon.

To reach Torcello, take vaporetto LN from Fondamenta Nuova on Murano. The trip takes about 45 minutes.

Warning: If you go to Torcello on your own, don't listen to the gondoliers who hover at the ferry quay. They'll tell you that the cathedral and the locanda are miles away. Actually, they're both reached after a leisurely 12- to 15-minute stroll along the canal.

Exploring the Island -- Torcello has two major attractions: a church with Byzantine mosaics good enough to make Empress Theodora at Ravenna turn as purple with envy as her robe, and a locanda that converts day-trippers into inebriated angels of praise. First the spiritual nourishment, then the corporal sustenance.

Cattedrale di Torcello, also called Santa Maria Assunta Isola di Torcello (tel. 041-2960630), was founded in A.D. 639 and subsequently rebuilt. It stands in a lonely grassy meadow beside an 11th-century campanile. The attractions here are its Byzantine mosaics. Clutching her child, the weeping Madonna in the apse is a magnificent sight, and on the opposite wall is a powerful Last Judgment. Byzantine artisans, it seems, were at their best in portraying hell and damnation. In their Inferno, they've re-created a virtual human stew with the fires stirred by wicked demons. Reptiles slide in and out of the skulls of cannibalized sinners. The church is open daily: March to October 10:30am to 6pm (to 5pm Nov-Feb). Admission is 3€ ($3.90/£2.10).