The first time I heard of Burano it was on one of those, “Brightly Colored Towns you Have to Visit,” blogs. Today, images of Burano flood Pinterest, Instagram and Facebook. Many refer to Burano as an, “Instagrammer’s paradise,” because you really can’t take a bad photo here. Bottom line: this place is touristy. However, if you’re already in Venice, Burano is absolutely worth a day trip.
Read more about our time in Venice here.
What to expect
Lace
Burano is known for intricate lace pieces. Whether or not you’re planning on buying a souvenir, it’s fun to stop in a lace shop and take a look. We almost bought my sister an embroidered handkerchief for her wedding day, but at 40 Euro a piece we decided against it. I regret that – you’re only in Burano once! Go ahead and buy the easy to haul around souvenir!
Seafood
We ended up at some run-of-the-mill seafood restaurant that was stuffy and overpriced. My advice: look into restaurants before you reach the island. If you don’t do any research beforehand, get away from the main corridor for lunch. From what I could tell, the areas with the boldest, brightest colored homes had the highest price entrees.
Cats
If you’re a fan of felines, pick up cat food before you get to Burano. We offered treats to some local kitties (though they seemed well cared for). The cats loved the treats, but disliked being touched. We dropped a treat on the sidewalk and otherwise let them be.
Bright colors
Obviously, this place is colorful. My husband and I got creative and decided to showcase all of the building colors with goofy selfies. We could’ve taken a couple dozen more, but you get the idea!
Getting there
Getting to the islands of Burano, Murano and Torcello is easy, especially by ferry/water bus. I recommend getting an ACTV Water Bus pass the moment you arrive in Venice. We found an ACTV kiosk before we even left the main train station.
From what I remember, the passes were around 20 Euro for 24 hours. It was wonderful having unlimited access to the water buses during our time in Venice. Here’s an ACTV timetable, for reference. The ride took approximately 35 minutes from F.te Nove “A” (where our hostel was located) to the island of Burano.
My husband and I spent a full day in Burano and skipped Murano and Torcello. But I’ve heard that you could fit all islands into one day trip.
Could you live here?
I have a journal entry from Burano that’s all about picturing myself living there. Could I do it?
Imagine what it would be like living on a touristy island. That alone would be a little strange. Now imagine what it would be like having tourists take photos of your brightly colored home.
When we were passing through the alleyways of Burano, my husband and I saw a little girl playing with an Elsa doll from the movie Frozen (I guess the Frozen craze reached all corners of the Earth). When the little girl saw us she said, “Ciao!” as if she was used to people passing by her front door.
Another odd sight, when you see it through the eyes of the locals, is tourists taking photos of laundry lines. If I lived in Burano, I would be hesitant to hang intimates on the line for the world to see.
I genuinely loved Burano and was so glad we took a full day to explore it, despite it being a little touristy for our taste.
Thanks for reading,
Emma
