Murano

Touristy, Boring!

I visited Murano with a friend on a bright sunny day and fell in love with this charming island. It felt like a small and cozy neighbourhood, with people greeting each other in the streets and flowers in every window – and most importantly it is QUIET (in Murano I noticed how much noise cars make – because there weren’t any!)

The glass shops are all lovely, some more than others – and also in some of the bigger shops you can actually watch the glass-blowers at work. At the places we saw the entrance was free, thay just had little plates (glass, of course) for people to put money in. It’s amazing to watch these people work and realize that all the beautiful things you see in the shops, from goblets to vases to huge chandeliers, were all made in the very same way.

The glass museum is impressive and interesting, combining historical and contemporary items with scientific explanations about the glass-making process. I recommend going to the museum first and then exploring the shops and workshops – you get a better understanding of what you see.

It’s very easy to get to Murano from Venice by vaporetto (sea-bus) and there are several stops on the island. It’s not very big, so you can’t really get lost. We had lunch at a lovely and not at all expensive restaurant on the main canal with an amazing variety of seafood dishes. All in all, a beautiful place to spend a day.

This is a pretty island – much quieter than Venice itself.
The glass is everywhere as expected.

My tip – look in 10 shops before you buy anything as this way you’ll find the more interesting items and know which items are tacky and everywhere. There are often more tasteful versions of the tacky items that look much better made.

I visited this island. It was beautiful. There was certainly lots to see here – a lot of art, a lot of tapestry and a lot of glass…beautiful glass.

I bought some glass here. It was not cheap, but over the years I have gotten many compliments on my glass dolphin and tea set (my ex now has the set).

Maybe a side trip

I make a lot of jewelery, so a chance to shop for murano glass beads sounded good. The island is colorful friendly. The buildings are a bit different than Venice, so it is a nice change of scenery. Do the traditional things of seeing the glass made, and visit the shops, but do price comparisons before buying. Glass beads were much less than they are in the states when I visited, I wish I had bought more!

who wouldn’t want to go back to this isle of mirrors?

nice small floating island-city

Murano is renowned as a center for blown glass so this place is worth a visit. Yes, you should avoid the chintzy shops and the pushy people looking to sell you “special tours” of the area, but if you avoid them you can see some interesting sites, enjoy the glass museum, and perhaps find some nicely crafted glassware.

It’s also a nice boat ride north of the main group of islands, as having a large concentration of furnaces was seen as a poor idea for the main group. In addition, highly skilled artisans were not allowed to leave the island so they would not be able to take their secrets elsewhere.

1. Glassware is delicate and light, not hulking aand heavy
2. Like other parts of Venice, Murano is an island with no cars