FULLY UPDATED ON 02/07/2021
Please Note: All information in this post is pre-pandemic. While many countries have begun welcoming tourists back, do be aware that the situation can change quickly. Please review and follow latest travel advisories before finalising any plans. You can find information regarding the conditions of entry into Italy here.
My visit to the colourful fishing island of Burano on a gloriously sunny first day of May was intensely overwhelming. And not all due to its flamboyant hues.
It was standing room only on the vaporetto ride from Venice, as well as in the restaurants around the Piazza Galuppi. I explored some relatively quieter side streets and then picked up a surprisingly well made crumbed fish panini and escaped to a bench on the sea front.
The May Day hordes here contributed muchly to my appreciation of tranquil Torcello later that afternoon.
The island’s multicoloured building facades, however, were well worth braving the crowds for. Although I couldn’t help thinking I would likely have painted my house a boring white if I were one of its three thousand hapless residents!
I only discovered later that painting one’s house on Burano isn’t a matter of personal choice. It requires prior permission and is restricted to a list of permissible colours. So white might not be an option at all.
Why is Burano as colourful as it is? There are several theories to explain those rainbow hues.
One claims the vibrant skyline almost acted like a lighthouse in guiding the fishermen back home. A second, that the distinctive colours made it easier for the fishermen to identify their individual houses.
A third, rather morbid theory, claimed that individual facades matched the colours of the owner’s boats and when a fisherman was lost at sea they knew ‘which door to knock on’!
Born sceptic that I am, I think someone decided to splash leftover paint on all the facades one jobless day and the residents loved it so much, it stayed. Your pick!
Is it worth visiting Burano? It absolutely is!
Picking a quieter time will likely go a long way in making the experience more enjoyable. I recommend getting there just before sunset, a time when day-trippers are replaced by local families in town squares all along the Veneto. Also,that’s when the light will be optimal to capture all those glowing colours.
PLAN YOUR DAY-TRIP TO BURANO
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WHAT TO DO IN BURANO?
The top thing to do is to stroll along the three canals of Burano, over the Tre Ponti bridge so popular with Instagrammers, Corte Comare, Terrenova’s bridge, and back through Piazza Galuppi where the Church of San Martino boasts Burano’s own leaning tower. But don’t forget to wander off into the parts where the vibrance night be dimmed, a bit, but the atmosphere is truer to the island’s trade
Next, is to get an understanding of the lace making traditions that date back to the 14th century. Burano lace was once prized by nobility across Europe but has since been reduced to local souvenir status. You’ll find women showcasing their skills in shops along Via Galuppi. Much of the products on display are machine made. La Perla (Via Galuppi 376) stocks a reasonable variety of hand made lace products.
The Lace Museum is a worthwhile stop if interested in antique lace and textile. It was, sadly, closed during my visit for May Day.
Crossing the footbridge to stroll through Mazzorbo is one more thing to do if you have time to spare.
Here’s a handy guide by yhe official Burano site for those who prefer a structured itinerary.
Allow 2 – 3hrs depending on your interest in photography and museums. And food!
ADMISSION FEES TO THE LACE MUSEUM
TICKET: Adults: €5,00. Children aged from 6 to 14; students aged from 15 to 25; visitors over 65; holders of the Rolling Venice Card; holders of ISIC €3,50. Free entry for the disabled and their helpers.
BEST TIME TO VISIT BURANO
Summers are over crowded. Spring and fall are the best times to visit.
Ideal time of day, as mentioned above, is early morning or just before sunset.
HOW TO GET FROM VENICE TO BURANO
The no.12 vaporetto departing from the Fondamenta Nove station (Fte Nove) connects Venice to Burano via Murano and Mazzorbo. It departs from line A, but do confirm in advance. The journey takes approx. 45 min
No. 14, departs from the Zaccaria station. The station is more centrally located, but the ferry schedules are less frequent and slower by 15-20 min. Your choice, for the return journey in particular, might depend on your plans for the evening.
For the return from Burano: No 14 ideparts from Stop A and no.12 from Stop C.
Use vaporetto no.9 for the 5 min ride from Burano to Torcello. For the reverse journey you can use either no.9 or no.12.
FARES: A single vaporetto journey is pricey at €7.50. Travelcards for the duration of your stay are a much better option. My 7 day travelcard was most useful for island hopping. If not opting for a multi-day card, recommend a 12 hr travelcard at €18.00 for Burano and Torcello, or a 1 day card at €20.00 for all three islands.
Children below six travel free. Wheelchair bound passengers only pay €1.50 per single ticket and caregivers/attendants travel free. More details here. And here’s the timetable.
Tickets and/or Travelcards can be purchased at ticket vending machines in the stations as well as manned ticket booths. There’s usually at least one in every station.
Remember cards/tickets need to be validated at machines at the departure stations. Failing to do so will incur a fine of €60.00 in addition to the price of a single ticket.
WHERE TO EAT & STAY IN BURANO
STAY: Burano is generally visited on a day-trip from Venice. There are a handful of modern properties to choose from on the island and on Mazzorbo next door. Find one to suit your budget from this filtered list.
EAT: Burano is packed with seafood restaurants. I’d avoid those around the Piazza Galuppi. I popped into Bar Ciccheteria Da GigettoI and it seemed lovely with its canal facing terrace. I wasn’t hungry enough for a full meal so I grabbed an excellent crumbed fish panini from one of the takeaway spots on the road leading away from the square towards the canals. On hindsight, I should have returned for an evening meal.
If you are looking for a special meal consider reserving ahead at Trattoria al Gatto Nero (closed Mondays)
Here’s another handy guide by the official Burano site that offers some excellent suggestions including pizzerias and bakeries (for the essi and bussolai biscuit specialties): Eating Out Around Burano & Venice.
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The Urge To Wander 
I love the colors. Beautiful! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
You are most welcome. Thank you for reading.
Nice…I love the brightly coloured houses, at least as a tourist 🙂
🙂 Imagine living under the glare of that much attention!!
oww i love the colors – great pictures!
Happy you do! Thanks Busybee.
Lovely colours Madhu 🙂
Aren’t they just? And they make the most amazing reflections.
The houses are rather gaudy, and so narrow too. Love the pic with the wobbly reflections. 🙂
That is my favourite too. Thanks Sylvia 🙂
Love those colours:)
Me too. But I feel for the resident’s ‘fishbowl’ existence Sue 🙂
Yes, that’s true…
I’d be happy to paint my two storey brick box any one of these colours if it created this kind of charm. As it is I hide it behind a mini-forest.
The reflections are wonderful. Is there a rule about the colour of the washing too? It harmonises beautifully with the buildings.
I would too Meg. I was referring to the trials of living in such a touristy island! The thought that their linen and clothes might be colour co-ordinated did cross my mind as well 🙂
Really beautiful photos! Great post!
Thank you so much for your visit and comment.
When I went to Burano, I’m sure my waterbus exceeded it’s capacity by a few hundred. Well worth the ride once there though!
I think it exceeded its capacity on this occasion as well Richard! 🙂 I would go later in the afternoon or very much earlier if I were to return.
Burano has always been on my list… the pictures are so invitingg.. lovely post madhu.
Thank you Divz 🙂
lovely photo of the reflection in water…
Thank you Shabnam. Those colours make for fantastic reflections.
Hope to make it there sometime thanx for the inspiration 🙂
You are most welcome 🙂
I love all these colors. Places like this don’t even seem real.
I do too Juliann. I read somewhere that each house was painted a different colour, so the fishermen out at sea could identify their houses from a distance! Not sure why they needed to do that 😉
Reblogged this on dalbas2012.
Such wonderful pictures! 🙂
Thank you Preethi 🙂
Inspiring colors – so eye-catching – very well captured… 🙂
Thanks Drake. Appreciate your visit and comment 🙂
Fabulous to visit but I wonder if it gets a bit too dazzling after a while!
I wondered as well Gilly. Wondered too if the residents escape the island altogether during the day! 🙂
Wow. These photos are absolutely amazing! I’ve only spent an afternoon in Venice, so didn’t get to see all that much (was on the way from one city to another, and changing trains). It is clearly a city I’m going to have to explore more of!
Thanks for sharing!
Thank you for reading Stephen. Half a day isn’t enough to scratch the surface. I hope you do return and soon.
Flamboyant indeed! Hard to be …grumpy in a place like that! 😉 I love your photos, Madhu. 🙂
Happy you do….thank you Marina 🙂
Strongly seductive with all the hues and patterns.
The allure is unmissable even with the crowds. Thanks Sally.
I love the different colours of the houses. It makes the quarter look vibrant and interesting.
It certainly does. Thanks Colline.
The city looks so vibrant. 🙂
It is one of the most visually vibrant cities I have visited Imelda.
Wow! I have never even heard of this place, Italy never fails to surprise me. Great pictures.
Thank you Tommy. I am falling in love with Italy all over again 🙂
Very nice and colorful. I wonder if there is something about islands and color: in Newfoundland, all the houses in small towns by the ocean are painted very bright colors.
I heard it was to enable fishermen to be able to identify their houses from far out at sea! Unsure why they need to do that. Happy to see you here David 🙂
Love the colors …. In some ways, reminds me of the colors in a small town on the other coast. I think you’ll like this post. http://afrankangle.wordpress.com/2012/08/14/on-a-stern-view/
I did, thanks for the link Frank. Portofino looks even lovelier than Burano.
Glad you enjoyed it …. and it was the Burano colors that reminded me of Portofino.
such a lovely post, isn’t Burano, the little island of glas blowers?
Thank you Cornelia. The island of glass blowers is Murano. I skipped it since I had already been there on an earlier visit and didn’t want to rush through Burano and Torcello.
Oh, yes, you are right, it’s Murano. I doubted somehow that it would be , because it looked like not so overcrowded by tourists.
Great shots and Color Madhu. Thanks for sharing them. -Max-
Thank YOU for reading Max.
as funfamilyfeats says, I love the colours too!
🙂 I do too! I was just feeling sorry for the residents that have to put up with us tourists, day in and day out!
absolutely LOVE reading your blog !!
Thank you so much Ruchika! Sweet of you to take the time to let me know! 🙂
I love all the vibrant colors and wonder, do you suppose white would be a permissible color to paint one’s house?
I doubt very much LuAnn, don’t remember seeing white anywhere on the island 😉
Beautiful Madhu – the colors are so vivid.
Thank you Mary. Have a great weekend 🙂
Lovely pictures There is something very cheerful about those colours Madhu. Though I admit my own house is painted white 🙂
I actually love colours Dilip, ours has accent walls of brilliant yellow. But having hordes descend just to admire those colours must be tiresome don’t you think? 🙂
Oh what wonderfully colourful photos, Madhu. Well captured!
Thank you Marianne. Those colours more than make up for any lack of architectural features.
Lovely array of colors Madhu.
Thank you Jerry. A pleasure to see you here.
PS: I didn’t recognize you! Whatever happened to your Gravatar? And your name links to your dashboard just so you know 🙂
Thank you Madhu. Hope all is going well for you. I do not know to both questions. Getting help from wordpress is like pulling a hen’s tooth.
Follow me here if you wish. http://papajers.wordpress.com/
What a beautiful collection of photos! Makes me want to jump into the pictures and be there!
Thank you Nicole. Where do you plan to go next?
Good question Madhu! I’m not sure yet but I still have climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro on the list. It has been there for 10 years but now I’m feeling the need to get it accomplished! 🙂 What about you? Any travel plans?
I would love to have taken that walk. The back streets of a city are always interesting and have a character of their own.
Very true Ian. Especially in bigger cities with more local flavour.
Wow! Wow! You never cease to amaze me with your post – it is a little piece of beautifully woven tapestry – everything just so. Burano sounds like a place in Alice’s wonderland. Thank you for this trip down the rabbit hole. 🙂
Take care! Keep flying!
Thank you dear Meenakshi! Have missed you 🙂
Reblogged this on sohrabshamlo.
What wonderful pics – perfect to give me that Friday afternoon feeling 🙂
Glad you enjoyed them Rachel. Thank you for your visit and comment 🙂
Funny how such a place which requires permission first is the one that is very colourful.
🙂 Think it is the other way around Rommel, it is colourful because it requires permission! Or irate locals would surely paint entire blocks white 😀
All of photos have gorgeous colors- fantastic. My favorite photo is DCS -3412.
Thank you Satenada. That is one of my favourites as well 🙂
Looks like a cool place to visit but a tiring place to live. Love the photo’s and the set-up you use.
Absolutely Jay. Thank you for stopping by to comment.
PS: The tiled mosaic is one of the gallery options on WP.
The vibrancy is enough to lift the most grouchy of us up. As you always do, you show life through a different set of eyes and I am most grateful.
Thank YOU Valentine, for your lovely comments and encouragement. Much appreciated.
You wouldn’t!!!! I could see you with cool blue 🙂
I wanted to leave a comment on the lovely old guy pegging out his washing but WP wouldn’t let me 😦 He looks a sweetheart.
Like Torcello, we were early birds, and it wasn’t empty but it wasn’t full either. So many years ago! I dread to think how many have visited since.
Ha ha I just might if I had thousands of people pointing their cameras at my walls 😀 That old man was adorable, so intent on hanging up his laundry. It must have been so much nicer then Jo, although I think this was perhaps an unusual influx due to the holiday weekend.
Wow, is white even one of the choices?
I doubt it Bronwyn! But I suspect many residents must be tempted to do it 🙂
Was there something special going on, Madhu? It hadn’t occurred to me that Venetians would go flocking to Burano on May Day. It’s a real trip of a place though, isn’t it? 🙂
They were all tourists Meredith, down for the May Day weekend. I had expected San Marco to be crowded, but the beautiful weather must have diverted some of the crowd to the lagoons. It certainly was worth the crowds 🙂
Great color. I guess this is the Italian version of an HOA that has rules about what you do to your house.
Guess it is Angeline. I read about plans to develop holiday homes there, in a bid to get people to give back to the island. As of now few stay overnight.
The essence of the town in those vivid colours…not only on the streets but also in the reflections captured! Beautiful, Madhu.
Thank you Ese 🙂
Such vibrant colors! Very nice shots Madhu.
The island is an explosion of colour Uday! Glad you enjoyed this.
Its been a while since you posted any photos…hope all is well with you?
All is well Madhu:) Was working on a photo project which didn’t quite materialize as intended 🙂 But I am back now and should be posting more often. Thanks for asking 🙂
Oh my, the colours seem to jump right off the screen! And what a striking contrast to the murky waters of the lagoon. I wonder why the church and the palazzo remained unpainted – but they do provide visual relief from all the competing colours. I have a feeling those two were your favourite buildings in the whole town. 🙂
The church and the palazzo stood out like sore thumbs James! You guessed right….I certainly preferred their architectural styles, even though the psychedelic houses provided more photo ops 🙂
Love all those different pops of colour Madhu!
I was amazed by how those daring colour contrasts work together Patti! 🙂
amazing story, detailed and well covered. I felt I was walking the steps of this trip!
Happy to have you come along Mihrank! Thank you for the lovely comment.
Beautiful photos, the reflection are I think what make it so special. Those crowds sound tough though, perhaps an overnight stay would give tranquil evening and early morning shots? Plockton, our little highland village is horribly busy in the middle of the day in summer, with day tripper flocking in hoards…..my Aunt found two in her upstairs bedroom just helping themselves to a look around!
Unbelievable!!! That has to be the height of obnoxious, intrusive behaviour!! But then I saw several people peering into open windows here as well. No wonder locals hide behind closed doors. Robs the fun out of a visit for me, however beautiful the place. Thanks for reading Sinead.
I always love to read your posts….you bring such fun and beauty with each trip you share 🙂
Thank you! Comments like yours make all the time and effort I put into this blog worthwhile 🙂
Love all the bright colours. Looks like Quite a visual overload!
It really was sensory overload in more ways than one! Thanks Kan 🙂
Oh, I adore the colors! These shots all all gorgeous, Madhu. I especially enjoyed the one of the reflection in the canal, though it took me a moment. 🙂
Fantastic shots and colors Madhu!
Thank you Cardinal.
Beautiful shots, the scenery looks stunning. The colours captured are mesmorising. Great blog. Be sure to drop my Photography blog a visit: http://meeradarjiphotography.wordpress.com/
Thank you for your visit and comment Meera. Your photo blog is lovely!!
Io estenderei l’obbligo di chiedere un suggerimento sul colore delle facciate a tutte le città, anche perché spesso troviamo degli obbrobri incredibili, in fondo il colore fa parte di uno stile architettonico che va rispettato.
I agree completely Popof. In India I would welcome restrictions on new building styles as well. ‘approbrium’ truly sums it! 🙂
One of the most colourful places in Europe! Beautifully taken, Madhu 🙂
Thank you Paula. Welcome back! 🙂
It feels good to be back 🙂