Burano
Venice's most colorful island, where lacemakers and painters have worked for centuries.
Burano is a small island in the Venetian Lagoon, about 40 minutes by vaporetto from central Venice. It's famous for two things: an extraordinary tradition of handmade lace that dates back to the 16th century, and houses painted in such vivid, saturated colors — cobalt blue, burnt orange, acid yellow, deep red — that the island looks almost cartoonishly beautiful. But it's completely real, and the colors serve a practical purpose: fishermen historically painted their homes in distinctive shades so they could identify them through the lagoon fog. Today Burano is one of the most photographed spots in the Veneto, and rightly so.
Walking around Burano is the main event. The island is tiny — you can circle it on foot in under an hour — but you won't want to rush. The canals are lined with those candy-colored facades, laundry hangs between windows, and small boats bob in the water. The central Via Baldassare Galuppi (named after the Baroque composer born here) is lined with lace shops, trattorias, and cafes. The Museo del Merletto, the island's lace museum, is worth the modest entry fee for its jaw-dropping antique pieces and demonstrations by elderly local lacemakers. Burano's signature pastry, the bussolà, a ring-shaped butter cookie, is sold in nearly every bakery and makes an excellent souvenir.
The island fills up fast in the late morning as day-trippers arrive from Venice, so the smart move is to catch an early vaporetto (line 12 from Fondamente Nove) and have the streets almost to yourself by 8 or 9am. Stay for lunch at one of the seafood restaurants along the canals — the local specialty is go, a small lagoon fish — then head back as the crowds peak. If you want to visit nearby Torcello, the haunting, largely abandoned island with a stunning Byzantine cathedral, it's a quick hop on the same vaporetto line.