Murano

We were fortunate to visit Murano (Italy) twice during our first trip to Venice.

Our first visit to Murano was in conjunction with our visit to Burano as part of GetYourGuide-advertised "Venice: Murano Glassblowing & Burano Lacemaking Tour by Boat".

Whereas Burano is known for colorful buildings and lacemaking, Murano is known for its glassblowing.

The "Venice: Murano Glassblowing & Burano Lacemaking Tour by Boat" took the two of us (it was a private tour) to a personalized glassblowing demonstration at New Murano Gallery.

It was fascinating to see the Master at work.

We could feel the heat from the furnace even where we were standing to observe and it was interesting to watch how hot the liquid glass was.

The Master made a couple of items (including the horse shown above) in front of us. He made it look so easy (I know it isn't)!

We watched another Master working on smaller, beautiful pieces of glassware.

We were able to shop the beautiful showrooms and saw so many gorgeous glass masterpieces, but sadly no photography is allowed of the expansive shopping displays.

The "core" of our first trip to Italy was Gate 1 Travel's 8 Day Affordable Italy, which included another stop at Murano for a glassblowing demonstration at the Ferro & Lazzarini glass factory.

Again, this different Master made it look so easy!

The glass horse he created was impressive again.

The Gate 1 tour of Murano consisted mostly of the glassblowing demonstration and available shopping, so we were happy that we had also visited Murano with the "Venice: Murano Glassblowing & Burano Lacemaking Tour by Boat".

It was nice to be able to see Basilica dei Santi Maria e Donato on Murano.

As interesting as the glassblowing demonstrations are, the highlight for us on Murano was probably being able to experience sights that we associate with Venice but with far fewer people.

The TripSavvy post "Murano: Planning Your Trip" makes a similar assertion, "Murano is one of the closest islands and boasts its own Grand Canal that rivals the one on the main island—although with a lot less traffic."

The As We Saw It blog post "7 Best Things to Do on Murano Island in Venice" asserts, "Murano has a totally different atmosphere than Venice does, and we promise you'll enjoy it."

The Wander Wisdom post "Visiting Murano, the Glass Island of Venice" also talks about the allure of glassblowing and smaller crowds on Murano, "While there is plenty to see and do in Venice to keep any and all visitors occupied, a quick trip out to the island of Murano to see the world-famous Murano glass being crafted firsthand, makes for a great break from the crowds of Venice."

The "It's Not About the Miles" article "What to do in Murano on a Day Trip from Venice, Italy" lists wandering around Murano as its first item and states, "Murano has a Grand Canal, and much like Venice, part of the charm of visiting Murano is to just wander around."

The Wikitravel entry of Murano states that "walking along the many canals is part of the experience of Murano" and explains that "the island is only about 1 mile across so it is small enough to explore by foot."

The Culture Trip article "The Top 10 Things to Do and See in Murano, Venice" lists "some of the best" of the "plenty of experiences and places to explore" on Murano and says of its Grand Canal, "As with the main part of Venice, Murano has a Grand Canal that bisects it down the middle. It’s smaller, obviously, and nowhere near as crowded, so it’s a great path to trace when exploring the other features of the island."

In its "The Islands of Venice – A Guide to Burano and Murano," Italy4Real also recommends Murano (and Burano) to get away from the crowds, "Sure, Venice is beautiful in itself, but if you want to escape the crowds of tourists, head to Burano and Murano, two of the most beautiful islands near Venice."

The Wikipedia entry on Murano states that its "composed of seven islands in the Venetian Lagoon, linked by bridges over eight channels" and provides interesting graphic representations of the seven islands and eight channels.

In Murano, we were able to stroll side along the main canal, in side alleys and cross bridges just as we did in Venice, but with far few other tourists.

Murano is much smaller than Venice, so it's easy to wander around and explore Murano without really feeling too terribly lost.

The VisitingVenice.net page on Murano Island lists main sites and main churches in Murano and includes photographs and maps.

We experienced Murano with two short trips and between the two of them we were able to see two different demonstrations of the glassblowing Murano is famous for and were able to experience Venice as we had imagined it without the crowds.