Variety of colors in Burano

Venice offers so many great sights that it’s easy to forget that the rest of the lagoon islands are just as diverse and worth seeing. Since we didn’t have that much time, we had to pick an island this time and decided on Burano. No, this is not a spelling mistake and is not meant to be Murano. Burano is a slightly lesser-known lagoon island far to the north and is famous for the local lace art.

Burano can be reached by vaporetto line 12 from Fundamento Nuove (Cannaregio district). The vaporetto station is about a 15-minute walk from Santa Lucia train station. Line 12 goes first to Murano, which can be reached after a 10-minute ride. Afterwards you cross the lagoon at a leisurely pace before mooring in Burano after a total of 40 minutes. It should be noted that the vaporetto line runs every half hour.

Burano itself is very small and the tour of the island takes about an hour. Burano is densely populated and that’s the great thing about the island, because there is one colorful house after the other. All in all, this results in a picturesque, colorful ensemble that invites you to linger. Honestly, I would love to live in one of these houses.

In addition to the many houses, there are a few shops and market stalls that sell the traditional bobbin lace. Also worth seeing is the high church tower, which is in a considerable leaning position. I had the impression that somehow all the church towers in and around Venice are more or less crooked in the area…

If you get hungry from strolling, you should definitely stop off at one of the pretty trattorias in Burano and enjoy freshly caught fish or seafood. My personal recommendation is Da Romano in Via Baldasare Galuppi, where we had a phenomenal lunch. For starters, the two of us shared the antipasti Romano (25 euros) and got about everything edible from the lagoon (shrimps, squid, mussels…). Although I’m not a big fan of seafood, I found it very tasty. Afterwards we ordered gnocchi with crab sauce (22 euros) and grigliata mista (27 euros) for the main course and were absolutely satisfied. Great food, great service and Italian ambience – conclusion: thumbs up!