Exploring the outer islands of Venice

There are island tours you can take if time is the enemy, the island tour detailed below visits Murano, Burano and Torcello in a half day for example. But all three islands are very easy to visit independently using the water bus services from the city of Venice.

ACTV water bus services

A vaporetto is another name for a water taxi or water bus in Venice, operated by ACTV, the public transport authority for Venice.

For the visitor there is a Travelcard product that gives unlimited rides on nearly all water bus services, (not the airport links) plus the local bus services over to the mainland. This is good value and you can buy these in durations of 1, 2, 3 and 7 days.

Venice water bus services - full details

Water bus routes 4 & 5

Water bus routes 4 and 5 circumnavigate the main island of Venice in each direction and do not go through the Grand Canal that splits the main island in two.

Route number 4 just follows the coastline all around the island, hopping across and back from the island of Murano along the way.

Route 5 follows a near identical route around the island but doesn't make the short detour to Murano Island. instead it detours over to the Venice Lido.

Water bus route 12 (outer island route)

This route is your transport to the smaller outer islands of Murano, Burano and Torcello and is well travelled by tourists.

Route 12 departs from a terminus on the north shore of Venice called Fondamente Nove.

Most visitors will have to travel to Fondamente Nove using water bus routes 4 or 5.

Boats used are mid-size and larger than the small water bus routes 4 and 5, but smaller than route 1, the route that goes down the Grand Canal. There are a minimum of two services an hour even in winter.