There is no doubt, that one of the more utilitarian things you can have in your wallet when traveling to Venice, is a Vaporetto pass. It will make those stretches between the islands more economical and easy to manage. Whereas a taxi ride may run up to a hundred or so Euros, a pass for seven days costs around 60€, and will take you to most places on the water. They also have one, two, three and five day passes if I recall correctly.
The tickets can be purchased in multiple place, but the easiest place to find them are right outside the train station. There is a string of ACTV stands right before the Grand Canal.
A Taxi Ride To Murano
Booking a full-day tour through Mark the American, which we would recommend if you have the time, included the luxury of an incidental taxi ride out to the island of Murano, which is known for the glass blowing. Since our tour up to that time brought us to Piazza San Marco, the taxi made it extremely convenient by using the canals to cut through and get to the island in double quick time.
Murano
Once on Murano, we walked a short way to our Glassblowing demonstration.
The master also gave us a private demonstration where he blew a glass vase. It took all of ten minutes for him to create a beautiful and colorful glass vase from what was once a molten ball of glass.
Burano
This island of Burano is especially interesting for the Lace manufacturers that work here. It is also well known for its beautifully painted houses, reminiscent of some tropical islands that we have visited.
Before leaving this island, we debated for a while whether we should take the trip to Torcello. But, since we could see it from the Vaporetto station and it was so close, we hopped on and went over.
Torcello
A flat island, Torcello does not have much to see but the ancient Basilica di Santa Maria Assunta, which was built before the middle ages. The walk to the church takes about ten or fifteen minutes on an improved surface, so you should not worry about any trails or wearing heavy shoes.
There is a fee of 7€ to enter the basilica, but we felt it minimal since it was being used to renovate the old structure. There is much to explore in the basilica, so plan on a stay of 20 to 30 minutes.
The trip back, using the Vaporetto system, took about 45 minutes to an hour to our hotel on the Grand Canal and three different boats. That included waiting for them at the dock, which sometimes can be upwards of fifteen minutes.
A last note related to tourists and traffic. Since staying here, there has been a noticeable uptick in tourists. I suspect many are taking long weekend breaks to see Venice, before it eventually gets crowded again. However, the nights are still very quiet, we therefore think many people are staying outside and doing the park and ride in for the day. The weekdays were the least crowded, if you can call this crowded for Venice!
There will be one more post, on some last sights we enjoyed and the restaurants we visited in these last days here. Ciao.