Venice Burano Running Route

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Length 3.7 km (2.3 miles), terrain: flat, you're in Venice, after all!

Venice running routes:
Giardini Park route
Burano route
For more running routes, see Route List.   

Anyone who has visited Venice's northern lagoon outpost, Burano, is immediately struck by the little island's village character: the simple, colorful, two-story fishermen's homes, the quiet little lanes lining narrow canals, the wide vistas to the distant other lagoon islands.

Canal-side homes in Burano

During the daytime there are a fair amount of visitors exploring the island, but nothing compared to the main attraction areas in Venice itself. And when the tourists leave in the evening, a shroud of tranquility slips back over the island, where the locals can step out into their village world, undisturbed.

NOTE: see the Destinations Tips page for tips about spending your free time in this great town!
 
That's the best time to be in Burano: mornings or evenings when a hush lies over the little alleys and only seagulls create motion along the waterfront. If you want to explore Burano yourself, just jump on a water bus (Motonave lines 12 or 13) from Fondamente Nove.

Housepainter's ladder reflects the colorful paint used on the island

Burano isn't very big, so this route isn't big either, but it's a nice little run. It only got this long by adding a loop through the connected neighboring island of Mazzorbo. Once you know Burano a bit, you might want to add some loops through the western part of town. I avoided that in this route because the ways twist and turn due to dead-ending at the canals.

So if you want to discover one of the most charming, colorful corners of Venice, let's disembark at the Burano ferry landing.

Houses off Corte Comare

When you step off the ferry, you'll see a little wedge of a park on the right, and a lane leading straight into the island, the Viale Marcello.

Follow Viale Marcello southwards the couple of blocks until it comes to the first little canal, at the Riva Rosa restaurant.

Turn left here and run eastwards past the colorful little houses until the canal makes an abrupt turn to the left. You can keep going straight by crossing the wooden bridge, which we'll do.

Along Via Galuppi

So now continue southeastwards on the town's main street, Via Galuppi, lined by little shops and restaurants. You'll see the church, San Martino, and its leaning bell-tower at the end of the street. It's amazing that the tower is still standing at all.

At the church square, keep left and run around the left side of the church to the waterfront behind it. The church square is flanked by the town offices, the Lace Museum and some other scenic, ancient buildings, and is the main hangout for the village kids in the evenings.

Kids at the church square in the evening

Now turn right and run the short way until the next canal blocks your progress, where your turn right again and run northwest along the canal back into town. You'll go by the best restaurant in town, El Gatto Nero (great fish!).

The canal ends by running into that first canal that we ran along earlier, this time in a different spot. Keep going straight by crossing the bridge, and you'll run through a quiet little square lined by more colorful little houses, along Strada di Corte Comare.

Boats at the marina

Keep to the left side of the square and run straight past the last houses into a little green park along the water. You'll see a tiny footpath curving to the right: take that path and it soon joins a real waterfront sidewalk at a little marina full of fishing boats.

Ahead, you'll see a long wooden bridge that connects Burano with its neighboring island of Mazzorbo, off to the left. Mazzorbo is not so densely packed: it's mainly covered by gardens and orchards, creating an airy, green contrast to Burano.

Cross the bridge to Mazzorbo, then turn left to run along the tree-lined trail, running southwest.

The promenade on Mazzorbo

You'll go past some new houses and then the cemetery, where the trail turns right and winds through some houses and comes out at the island's one little canal.

To add some distance, we'll turn left here and add a little loop along the canal. Run to the furthest little bridge over the canal, cross it, and then return to the spot where we joined the canal and its little footbridge.

Now cross the bridge to get back to where you were a minute earlier, and turn left to run north along the canal (water to your left side). The neighborhood definitely has a more rural character, with big gardens lining much of the way.

Running by the bell tower

Now the trail hits the north shore of this little island, where you have to turn right and run back northeast. At the bell-tower in the northern corner of the island, there is a little park which you can cut through, if you feel like a change of scenery.

The trail turns southeast there and you run back towards the bridge to Burano.

After crossing the bridge, just keep going straight, past the triangular park to the ferry landing straight ahead. There, one of the most charming places you've ever run!