To the island of Murano by vaporetto (waterbus, ferry)

If you want to go to an island, you have to go by boat. Around Venice there are more than 10 islands that can be reached by public ferry (so-called water bus or Italian vaporetto). Murano is the most visited island around Venice besides Lido. Every few minutes a vaporetto leaves for Murano. On this page you will find all information about waterbuses to Murano.

>>>>  If you don't want to wait long at the ticket office of the Murano Glass Museum, you should buy the tickets online on this link beforehand.

The famous lighthouse of Murano (Faro)

Tickets for water buses in Venice are quite expensive. This is especially true for one-way tickets. But there are day tickets, multi-day tickets and weekly tickets. These are not quite as expensive.

>>> On this link you will find the tickets for the waterbuses (one-way tickets and for 24, 48 and 72 hours) 24, 48 und 72 Stunden)

Tickets to Murano

All tickets in Venice are season tickets, which means that you can take as many ferries as you want in a given time, including return trips, etc. The tickets are also valid on buses and streetcars throughout Venice. So in the buses in the districts on the mainland, between Venice and the mainland and on the islands with streets like Lido. There are no buses and streets on Murano. But the island is not that big. You can easily walk everywhere in half an hour.

There are tickets for 75 min, 24h, 48h, 72h and one week. Most tourists buy these tickets in advance on the internet. On this website you can find the tickets for the vaporetti of Venice. Vaporetti is the plural of vaporetto (public ferry, waterbus).

A waterbus or vaporetto

Vaporetto lines to Murano

Murano is the most popular island among tourists who want to visit the sights of Venice. Before the Corona pandemic, tens of thousands of visitors came to the island of Murano every day. We inform you about the sights on Murano on our main page about Murano. Murano is mainly known for the production of glass and glass products. The island of Murano is at the closest point only about 1 km as the crow flies from Venice.

>>> Website to buy tickets for the waterbuses

Now the overview of all vaporetto lines to Murano:

Line 3: The waterbus line, which you should use if you want to get to Murano quickly. A kind of express vaporetto to Murano. It departs from the Venice bus station (Piazalle Roma) at Pier D. It is the only bus stop on the island of Venice, ALL buses and the streetcar from the mainland stop here. Then, after a few hundred meters, the water buses of line 3 stop again at the central station of Venice called Santa Lucia. This is where ALL trains from the mainland arrive, the only station on Venice. Then it goes without further stop to Murano. In Murano the ferries of line 3 then stop several times and return to the main station and bus station in Venice. If you want to get off in the center of Murano, you should get off at the pier "Museo" (museum, meaning the glass museum). But also other stations on Murano are ok. They are usually only 10 minutes walk apart. The main advantage of line 3 is the short travel time, less than 30 minutes. However, the vaporetto line 3 only runs every 20 to 30 minutes and only during the day.

Line 4.1. und 4.2.:  These lines circle the island of Venice and make a detour to Murano. The important difference between the lines is that the vaporetto line 4.1. circles Venice counterclockwise, the ferries of line 4.2. clockwise. When circling Venice, the vaporetti of these two lines stop about 20 times. They do not go through Venice, for example on the Canal Grande, but only around the outside of the island. The two lines also make a detour to the island Giudecca. The disadvantage of these lines are long travel times, a round trip of the island Venice with 20 stops and the detour to Murano takes about 2 hours. From the bus and train station it is better to take line 3, see above. If, from the train stations you should take line 4.2. to Murano and line 4.1. back. This is much shorter than around Venice. From San Marco (St. Mark's Square etc.) it doesn't matter, both directions are about the same distance, you are almost an hour to Murano. If you want to book the cemetery island San Michele (between Venice and Murano) you have to take the lines 4.1. and 4.2., because only these lines stop there. Travel time between San Michele and Murano is about 5 minutes. The waterbus lines 4.1. and 4.2. both run at least every 20 minutes during the day.

>>> Vaporetto 4.1. und 4.2. (all information)

Line 7: This line was an express line directly from San Marco (bus stop near Piazza San Marco) to Murano. However, since Corona it has been discontinued. It is to be expected that the vaporetti of line 7 will be running again when the number of tourists in Venice increases significantly.

Line 12: This waterbus line is the "Venice Island Express". It connects Venice (only stop Fondamente Nove with Murano and then continues on to the islands of Burano, Mazzorbo and Torcello. Burano and Mazzorbo are connected by a pedestrian bridge, so you can go to one island and return from the other. This ferry line runs every 30 minutes. Every second boat (every hour) goes to Treporti and Punta Sabbioni (with bus connection to Jesolo). Currently, however, in Corona times in summer 2020, there are only a few ferries a day to the mainland. These vaporetti travel the same route back again. Attention: the water buses of line 12 stop the Murano only at the pier Faro (lighthouse). See also: Water buses to Burano.

>>> Vaporetto 12 (all info)

>>>  Our overview of all waterbus lines

Film about the 3 islands Murano, Burano and Torcello (length 10 min from Youtube)

>>> On this link you will find the tickets for the waterbuses

Linie 13: Also from Fondamente Nove in Venice to Murano (Faro) and then on to the rarely visited islands IslSant Erasmo (3 stops) and Vignole. These two islands are agriculturally characterized and are rarely visited by tourists. The water buses of the line 13 go back the same way. The vaporetti go only once per hour in both directions.

Travel times to Murano

From Santa Lucia Central Station and Bus Station: About 25 minutes to 40 minutes. The fastest is line 3.

From San Marco (St. Mark's Square) to Murano: At least 50 minutes with lines 4.1. and 4.2.

From Burano Island to Murano: About 30 minutes with line 12

>>> Website for buying vaporetto tickets

From the island of Lido to Murano

The best way is to go from the island Lido to Venice to "Fondamente Nove" and change there to Murano.

From the airport to Murano

Those who have booked a hotel on Murano may want to go directly from Marco Polo Airport to Murano. This is not possible with the normal public water buses of the municipal company ACTV. There are, however, frequent ferries of the Alilaguna company between the port of the airport and Murano. These have to be paid extra, the normal waterbus day ticket etc. is not valid here. More information about the ferries to and from Venice Airport we have summarized on this page.

Island hopping Venice with Murano

Many visitors to Venice go on an island hopping day. They then visit the island of Murano, Burano and Torcello, sometimes Mazzorbo. This can be done either alone with the waterbuses of line 12, but there is also the possibility of an organized excursion for under 20 Euro per person. From Venice you can visit the 3 islands Murano, Burano and Torcello one after the other and you have a certain time on each island. A great day trip for little money, which you can book on this link.

Short film about waterbuses Venice in general