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Venice: Murano, Burano & Torcello Private Motorboat Tour

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Free cancellationTravelers' pick

1/31

Duration4h

GroupPrivate

LanguagesEN · IT +2

PickupAt your hotel

Three Islands, One Boat: How Venetians Actually See Their Lagoon

You'll ride a private motorboat to three working islands in Venice's lagoon: watch glass-blowing on Murano, wander the painted streets of Burano, and stand in a 7th-century basilica on Torcello. Hotel pickup and a local guide are included, and the small group size means you're not herded through with hundreds of other visitors. The boat moves on your schedule, not the vaporetto's.

Step-by-step itinerary

Travel to Murano island
Visit glass factory and watch glass blowing
Explore Murano historical area
Visit Murano Basilica
Travel to Burano island
Discover colorful village and local biscuits
Travel to Torcello island
Visit first Basilica of Venice

The Experience

"You want to know the lagoon? Don't take the vaporetto with two hundred people," our guide said as we stepped into the private motorboat. "You take this." And that's the difference — a private water taxi means you're not following a schedule printed for tourists. You move at the pace of the three islands themselves: Murano first, where the glass masters still work in their foundries, then Burano with its riot of painted houses and the smell of fresh Bussolà biscuits, and finally Torcello, where the first basilica of Venice stands quiet and almost empty on an island that's mostly water and sky now.

Murano hits you first with the heat of the furnaces. You can watch a glass master blow and shape molten glass into something that'll outlast the building it sits in — it's the kind of thing that sounds touristy until you see the concentration on his face and realize this is just Tuesday for him. The Basilica dei Santi Maria e Donato sits on the same island, a 7th-century church that arrived here when people were still fleeing the mainland invasions. The mosaics inside are worn and tilted, and the guide will tell you why, but you'll already feel it — this place has been standing for fourteen hundred years.

Burano is the postcard version of Venice, except it's real. The houses are painted in colors that seem too bright until you're actually there and realize they're exactly right — reds, yellows, blues, greens, all of them faded just enough to look lived-in. Fishermen still moor boats here. The lace shops and the seafood restaurants aren't performing for you; they're just there. You get time to walk, to buy those biscuits, to sit and watch the water. Then the boat takes you back out to Torcello, the third island, where the basilica is older than most of Europe's cathedrals and the population is maybe forty people.

The whole tour runs on the private boat's schedule, not the public ferry's, which means you're not racing between stops or waiting for a crowd to clear. Hotel pickup is included, so you don't have to navigate to the dock yourself. A minimum of two people per booking keeps the group small enough that the guide can actually talk to you, not at you. If you're visiting Venice for the day from outside the city, there's a €5 lagoon access fee on certain dates — check the official Venice tourism site to see if your visit falls on one of those days.

What’s included

Transport by private water taxi to all three islands, hotel pickup from your Venice accommodation, and a private tour with a local guide who knows the lagoon and its history.
The guide will take you through the glass-blowing demonstration on Murano, give you time to explore Burano's streets and shops, and lead you through the basilica on Torcello.
Everything except meals and purchases is covered.

Good to know

Moderate physical levelPets welcomeNot for pregnant travelersNot for heart conditionsNot for back problemsInfants must sit on laps

Operated by Glass factory Colleoni Murano

Is this one for you?Book this if you want to see the three main lagoon islands without the crowds of the public vaporetto and without arranging your own boat and timing — the private motorboat and included pickup mean you show up at your hotel and the logistics are handled. It's built for small groups, which is what makes the guide's attention and the unhurried pace possible.