Murano Glass in Venice: Where to Buy, Prices and What to Avoid

Murano Glass in Venice: Where to Buy, Prices and What to Avoid

Almost everyone who visits Venice wants to take home a piece of Murano glass, and almost every street sells something that claims to be one. The difficulty is not finding glass. It is knowing which of it was really made on the island, what a fair price looks like, and how to get a fragile object home in one piece. This guide answers the questions travellers ask most: where to buy Murano glass in Venice, whether it is cheaper on the island, what is worth buying, and which offers to walk away from.

A word about who is writing: we are an online shop, not a boutique in Venice. We sell glass made on Murano and ship it from Italy. We have no shop window to steer you towards, so what follows is simply what we would tell a friend before a trip.

Venice or Murano: Where Should You Buy?

Murano is a group of small islands about ten minutes by vaporetto from the north shore of Venice. Glassmaking was moved there in 1291 and has never left. The furnaces are on the island; the shops are everywhere, on Murano and all over Venice.

Buying on the island has one real advantage: you are closer to the source. Several furnaces have their own showroom next to the workshop, and what you see on the shelf was made a few metres away. But Murano also has plenty of ordinary souvenir shops, and Venice has excellent galleries that represent the island's best furnaces. The address does not make the glass authentic. The seller does.

Wherever you buy, the questions are the same:

• Which furnace made this piece? A serious seller answers at once and by name.
• Does the furnace hold the Vetro Artistico® Murano trademark? It is the only mark of origin recognised by the Veneto Region.
• Will the receipt describe the piece and say that it was made in Murano?

If you have not planned the crossing yet, our guide to getting to Murano from Venice covers every vaporetto line, stop and ticket.

How Much of the Glass in Venice Is Really Murano?

Less than most visitors imagine. The president of Promovetro, the consortium of Murano glass producers, told the press in 2020 that around 70 per cent of the glass objects sold as Murano are not made on the island. Much of it is imported and sold to tourists under the island's name, often with the cautious wording "Murano style" somewhere on the label.

This is why origin matters more than the shop's postcode. In 1994 the Veneto Region created the Vetro Artistico® Murano trademark, managed by Promovetro. Licensed furnaces apply a tamper-evident sticker to their pieces. It carries the producer's code number and, on stickers issued since 2016, a QR code. You can look the producer up in the official register. Not every honest furnace is a member, so a piece without the sticker is not automatically an imitation. A piece with a genuine one, though, comes from a furnace on the island that is licensed to use the mark.

For the signs you can check with your own eyes and hands, see how to recognise authentic Murano glass.

What Does Murano Glass Cost?

Real Murano glass is made by hand, one piece at a time, by people who trained for years. The price reflects hours of work, not grams of glass. As a rough guide to what handmade pieces cost, these are the starting prices in our own catalogue:

• Jewellery (bracelets, necklaces, earrings): from about €60 to €120 a piece; sets from €125.
• Small sculptures and animals: from about €180.
• Goblets: from about €200 each.
• Bowls and centrepieces: from about €150, with most between €600 and €2,000.
• Vases: from about €270; important pieces run to several thousand.
• Table lamps: from about €1,600.
• Venetian mirrors: from about €2,100.
• Chandeliers: from about €5,400, and far more for large Rezzonico designs.

On the island you will also find honest small things, such as a pendant, a bead or a little sweet made of glass, for €15 to €40. Below that, be sceptical. A "Murano" necklace at €8 or a set of six "Murano" goblets at €40 cannot have been made by hand in Italy, whatever the sign says.

Is Murano Glass Cheaper in Murano?

Not as a rule. This is one of the most common beliefs about the island, and it is only half true.

A furnace that sells from its own showroom has no middleman, and for some pieces that shows in the price. But the same furnaces supply shops in Venice and abroad at prices set to protect their retailers, so the difference is often small. What changes the price far more is how you arrived at the shop, which brings us to the main trap.

The "Free Boat to Murano" and Other Traps

In Venice you will be offered a free water taxi to a glass factory, by a hotel porter, a tout near the station or someone on the waterfront. The boat is free. The visit is not. The taxi takes you to one showroom, the demonstration lasts a few minutes, and the sales talk lasts much longer. Travel guides have warned about this for years. The people who bring visitors are paid a commission, and it is added to the prices you are shown. The return boat is often not included if you do not buy.

The glass in these showrooms can be perfectly genuine. The problem is the price and the pressure. Our advice:

• Go by vaporetto. It takes ten minutes, and you arrive owing nobody anything.
• Watch a demonstration that you pay for. A few euros for a ticket is the honest version of the same show.
• Compare before you buy. Walk along the Fondamenta dei Vetrai and the Fondamenta Manin and look at several showrooms.
• Read what you sign. For expensive pieces shipped abroad, ask for the price, delivery terms and insurance in writing, in a language you read.
• Be wary of "today only" discounts. A piece worth buying will still be worth buying tomorrow.

What Is Worth Buying

If you want something that will travel in a suitcase, choose small and solid:

• Jewellery. Beads worked at the flame, often with gold or silver leaf inside. Light, wearable, and the easiest piece to carry. See our Murano glass jewellery for the kind of work to look for.
• Small solid sculptures. Animals, sweets, paperweights. Solid glass is far more robust than blown glass.
• A pair of goblets. The most Venetian object of all, and manageable if well packed.

For anything large or thin-walled, such as a vase, a chandelier or a mirror, do not try to carry it. Have it shipped by the seller, insured, and packed by people who do it every day.

Getting It Home: Packing, Shipping and Tax Refunds

In your luggage. Ask the shop to pack for travel, not for the walk back to the hotel. Carry glass in hand luggage when you can, in the middle of the bag, with soft clothing on every side. Keep the receipt with it.

Shipped by the seller. Before you pay, ask three things. Is the parcel insured for its full value? Who is responsible if it arrives broken? Who pays customs duties in your country? Get the answers in writing. Photograph the piece and the receipt before you leave the shop.

Tax-free shopping. Visitors who live outside the European Union can usually reclaim the Italian VAT on goods they take home in their own luggage. Since February 2024 the minimum is €70.01 on a single receipt. Ask the shop for the tax-free form when you pay, and have it validated at customs when you leave the EU. The shop will tell you which refund company it works with.

If You Would Rather Choose at Home

Not everyone wants to make a considered purchase in the last hour of a holiday, or to cross an airport carrying a vase. That is the reason our shop exists. We work with furnaces on Murano, among them Fornace Mian, registered with the Vetro Artistico® Murano trademark under number 101, and we ship from Italy with insurance. Every piece comes with a certificate of authenticity issued by us, with a reference number you can check online, and you have fourteen days to change your mind.

You can start from the full collection, or read more about how we document authenticity.

Frequently Asked Questions