The islands of Venice with kids: why and how to visit Murano and Burano as a family

Our guide to visiting Murano and Burano with littles. A practical guide to help you plan a visit to the most famous islands of Venice with kids. How to get there, best family things to do, best family friendly boat tours.

Murano and Burano are two of the most famous islands of Venice and a lovely place to spend a day with children in the greater Venice area.

Murano is famous for being the home of glass blowing furnaces, and it is fun families who want to show the kids this ancient and unique craft.

Burano is famous for lace but this is not what kids usually remember about it!

The strongest memories about Burano are often the colorful houses of this little island, that make you feel like you are walking in a rainbow!

Both islands are worth a visit (Burano is my favorite) and easy to access from Venice.

We have been to both with out kids several times and it is always a fun day out.

If you have more than a couple of days in Venice, I definitely recommend you add them to your itinerary!

In this quick guide, I share my best tips for visiting Murano and Burano with kids.

Murano and Burano: how long do I need?

How long you need to visit both Murano and Burano with kids depends on your means of transport and what you want to do there.

If you take a private tour, you can visit both islands in as short a time as a half day.

If you want to explore on your own using the water bus, I recommend half day for each island / full day for both.

How to get to Murano and Burano with kids: 3 best ways

There are three ways to reach Murano and Burano: water bus (vaporetto), private boat tour and water taxi

Getting to Murano and Burano by water bus is the cheapest option and a great solution for families who are on a budget, have the Venice pass and want to visit in their own time.

The water bus to Murano and Burano leaves from Fondamenta Nuove, in Cannaregio, and it is safe and reliable.

You can find the exact stops and schedule on CheBateo, which is a website and app to quickly find vaporetto routes and stops.

This is the option we have used more often and it always works ok. However, it has one disadvantage: the crowds.

Murano and Burano are well on the main tourist track and while, once on the islands, you have pockets of quiet, unfortunately getting there often has you on boats that are shoulder to shoulder busy.

This is particularly the case for Murano, as it is closer to Venice and and a stop on the way to Burano.

Despite crowding, we always found the vaporetto to be an excellent means of transport to the islands especially with older kids who will fare better than little ones in a crowded space. It is also possible to get the odd quiet day, as the photo below (my daughter happily sitting in the vaporetto) attests to!

Getting to the islands of Venice by private boat sits at the other end of the spectrum from the vaporetto experience both in terms of price and comfort.

While a private boat is expensive, it is without a doubt the best way to get to Murano and Burano with kids without feeling like a sardine on a ferry.

It is also a lovely way to reach lesser accessible parts of the island which you may not get to see or even know exist, without a boat and a local guide.

A good boat tour I often recommend is this one by Matteo which also includes the lovely Venice island or Torcello, which is a little gem. Tell him I sent you as he is able to give a discount to our readers!

Last but not least, you can reach the islands of Venice by water taxi.

Water taxis are speed boat and they are a great way to mix the comfort of the private boat with the ability to then explore on your own.

I have a list of water taxi companies in Venice on my guide to getting around Venice as a family

What to do in Burano with kids

Burano is by far my favorite of these two Venice islands.

It is little, it is quaint, it is colorful, it is quiet and while it has restaurants and shops, it is not too commercialized or excessively busy.

It is also entirely pedestrianized, like Venice, and has some lovely opens spaces and piazzas for kids to run around.

I am going to be honest with you: there is not a lot to do in Burano with kids (this is a good thing! Read on!)

On the islands, you can see how lace is made (in shops and in the lace museum), you can taste the local biscuits called Buranelli and you can seek out a couple of landmarks such as the the bell tower and colorful Casa di Bepi.

But, truly, the beauty of the island is just in its colorful houses and quiet streets.

Burano is a place for wanderers.

The true pleasure here is roaming around the island’s small streets, play a game of ‘if I lived here, what color house would I pick’, taking photos of the cute doors and windows with laundry drying in the sun and watch the sparkling waters of the lagoon lapping Burano’s shores.

It is also a lovely place for a meal.

If you want to eat in Burano, you may have a look at:

Osteria al Museo Piazza Baldassarre Galluppi 113-115 Good to know: this restaurant takes reservations and is usually open for Easter lunch (I know this is a popular time to go to Burano!)

Trattoria Cade Cecio, despite the touristy location on the main piazza, this is a good restaurant with outdoor tables with view right onto Burano’s bell tower.

A cute thing to do in Burano with kids it to take the promenade along the lagoon where you also find a little playground.

You can find here >> my essential guide to Burano

Murano with kids

Murano is famous for being home to the world famous ‘Murano Glass’, made by local artisans in the many glass furnaces of the island.

Glass blowing has been a traditional Venetian craft for centuries and moved to Murano in 1291, when a Venice City decree moved all the furnaces to the islands.

To this day, the craft is very much alive so, if you are interested in glass making or buying, this is a pretty spectacular place to visit!

The island is teeming with furnaces and you’ll quickly see the whole economy of Murano gravitates around glass shops and workshop visits.

This glass work vocation is both what makes Murano great for a visit but also what, personally, left me cold abut the place.

Visiting furnaces is fun and interesting as the craft truly is unique.

However, the whole main area of Murano is so commercialized, I found it difficult to tap into the atmosphere of the place and took real effort to find anything that wasn’t a commercial venture.

However, I did!

Despite the crowds and infinite shops you first encounter when you dock in Murano, we found there still is authenticity here!

In terms of glass work for kids, we found Ferro Toso to be an adorable little place.

This is a small workshop where you can create your own murrina (colorful glass work) and while it doesn’t do big demonstration of glass blowing, it is a homely, welcoming place and the kids can have the hands on experience of actually making their own glass piece.

It is also only 15 euro, which sets it apart form the much bigger and flashier places!

The other thing we found in Murano was that once you left the shopping area, the town was blissfully empty.

So, if you wanted to get away from the crowds, see how the locals live, stroll around pretty streets, Murano is a great place!

Compared with Burano we found it to be a little less charming, due to fewer canals and more standard house colorings.

However, it is still very pretty so if you come here for the glass, I definitely recommend to also have a stroll in its quieter areas.

Also, make sure you go up to the Duomo: it is stunning!

For a meal, we had a nice lunch in Da Tanduo, which is an informal, nice restaurant on 67/68 Fondamenta Manin (the first canal you encounter when getting off the boat at Murano Colonna stop.

You can find here >> our quick guide to visiting Murano with kids

Some practical considerations about visiting these two islands of Venice with kids

As you can see from the photos, we didn’t always have great weather in Murano and Burano.

Overall, the experience is not significantly different and you can enjoy the islands even on an overcast day

However, the colors rally pop if you get a sunny day so if you have flexible plans, I recommend you pick a day with some sun for your Murano and Burano excursion.

Ifyou have little kids, I recommend you bring a stroller but only if you can easily fold it.

To carry a stroller on the vaporetto it is paramount that it is folded and compact: if not, I recommend you bring a carrier instead.

Like in Venice, in Murano and Burano there are canals and open drops into water.

Make sure you hold hands and don’ let toddlers run ahead unless you are in a piazza or area well away from water (there are are several).

If you are planning a trip to the area with a little one, I recommend you have a read of our tips for visiting Venice with a toddler

The islands of Venice with kids: pin this!