Of the 118 islands that form Venice, Burano is my favourite. Venice as a whole is wonderful but it is Burano’s colourful contrast that most complements the city. With some 4,000 inhabitants it is a fair sized island (it actually comprises four separate islands linked by bridges) famous for it’s lace, fishing, leaning bell tower and, most particularly, it’s colourful houses.
Legend has it that the neon coloured houses were first introduced to help fishermen get their bearings. Not sure I believe that – It is more likely to do with tourism since it is the local council which has made it compulsory for Burano residents to paint the facades of their houses every so often and it is the council which stipulates the colour (although residents can make application of the local council for a colour change).
There are a number of private tour operators who will take you to Burano and you can take such a tour from Zattere but we chose to walk across Venice’s principal islands from Zattere to Fondamente Nuovo and get the number 12 water bus (vaporetto). The bus goes every half hour or so with the journey taking about 45 minutes and stopping at Murano (the largest of the islands in the lagoon and famous for it’s glass), Torcello (very quiet with just 10 residents), Mazzorbo (connected to Burano by a long wooden bridge) and, of course, Burano. It goes on to another island but don’t ask me which one.
No more talking. Time for photos…
Unique