Murano Magic: Transformative Private Glassblowing Artistry

To begin with, our tour guide Allegra was fantastic--friendly, informative, and flexible. Through a fault entirely of our own we had to end the tour early, and Allegra went above and beyond to get us back from Murano early, and I am extremely appreciative of her efforts in that regard. I don't blame her in the slightest for our low opinion of the tour. With that said, while the glassblowing demo was very fun and cool, it lasted not even 10 minutes. Afterwards we were immediately thrown into a high-pressure sales environment for the associated shop. I LOATHE this aspect of some guided tours, preying on social politeness to stick to a store you might not otherwise enter, presumably because the tour company is getting some kind of kickback from the merchant. I think they assume if you're willing to shell out for a private tour, you're more likely to be willing to spend thousands of Euros in what seemed like the most expensive glass shop in Venice/Murano. It's possible the rest of the tour would have been better, given as I indicated we ended early due to our own reasons, but I cannot in good faith recommend paying this much for a tour that then just pressures you with 'free' prosecco and a personal salesman to buy extremely expensive glass pieces, when instead we could have been actually touring the island with the our guide. Next time we'll just take the public water bus and explore Murano on our own.

My husband and I took part in a private tour of Murano Island and a glass making demonstration. The only reason we booked a private tour was due to the times and availability of other tours. We were met at the tour office by our guide who turned out to be a sales representative at the factory store. The demonstration was very interesting. But we felt like we were set up to get the big sales push. After the demonstration we were taken through the store and then left on our own to wander around. Had to wait almost 30 minutes for a water taxi to bring us back to the mainland. Very disappointed.

Great experience. Letizia is great and the islands are beautiful. I recommend getting some fried cod and calamari at Bar Proditti Tipici.

We had a really lovely tour. The tour guide was very informative giving us a lot of information during the boat. The time on the islands was just right.

Too many people for venues. Too little time on Murano. Didn’t have time to look around - only time to visit shop. Rude skipper of boat

Letizia was a great guide and gave us so much information on the boat rides! Absolutely fab day had by all - thank you 😃😃😃😃

Guide was great. Tour itself seemed too large. Murano glass blowing demonstration was neat to watch but it took 20 minutes or more. He did the same discussion in 3 languages so it took time then once it was over we were ushered onto a gallery with very expensive pieces to buy. I would say skip the gallery and just go walking, explore a little on your own, just be back in time to catch the boat. In Burano, we went for a "lace demonstration" and the group size was so large and the shop too small you couldn't see anything. The people ahead of us said that she held up a piece of lace and said a few words and that was it. You have just a little bit of time on each island after the "scheduled demonstrations" and it's all very touristy . The islands themselves were great to see. Lots of charm. If you are truly interested in exploring maybe setting up something on your own. If you want to get just a quick experience on each island then this is for you.

We had a fabulous time in this trip. Our guided tour was amazing & fabulous English, Allegra was amazing & answered all our questions

More of a sales gimmick than an experience. You basically see a master artisan create a single piece in about 15 minutes and then are moved into the sales showroom. Murano is basically a series of shops with glassware. It would have been better to have simply taken a water taxi there to walk around.

Allegra was super! She shared with us the most important and interesting news to know about Venice and the islands ( Murano, Torcello, Burano). She was very well prepared and knew how to involve and entertain the group.