Torcello Island

One of the first settlements in Venice’s northern lagoon, Torcello was once a bustling & important town, even older than Venice.

Torcello is one of the oldest inhabited islands in the Venetian lagoon. Green and rural with ancient churches and an impressive history, the island offers a place to enjoy some relaxation and time with nature if you’ve grown tired of the crowds of tourists in Venice. It is also home to the legendary Locanda Cipriani hotel.

Just a short boat ride from Burano on vaporetto line 9 which connects the two islands, although a traditional tourist destination outside Venice after Murano and Burano, the island is far less crowded and quietly peaceful.

As you leave the boat, a path alongside a canal leads to the main piazza and heart of the island, where apart from a handful of buildings along the way (including the Cipriani), the landscape is mainly fields.

Standing in the dusty piazza amongst the ancient olive trees is the famed Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta with its stunning Byzantine mosaics and the 11th century Church of Santa Fosca. There’s also an interesting ancient stone chair known as Attila’s Throne.

We bought a combined ticket for the campanile (belltower) and for the church. You are not allowed to take photos or videos in the church but the steep climb up the tower is well worth the effort – and money – for the wonderful views across the island to the outer reaches of the northern lagoon.

Still owned by the Cipriani family, the Locanda Cipriani is one of the lagoon’s most renowned restaurants created by the founder of Harry’s Bar in 1934. The often celebrity-filled restaurant and small hotel played host to writing legend Ernest Hemingway in 1948, when he wrote Across the River and Into the Trees, whilst staying at the hotel.

There are also a couple of cheaper restaurants on the island where you can eat outdoors. We ate lunch in a lovely garden at a restaurant about halfway down the canal called Osteria Al Ponte del Diavolo, where we also enjoyed our first ever Bellinis – invented in the 1930s by Giuseppe Cipriani from across the canal!

Getting There

Torcello is just a short boat ride from the island of Burano on vaporetto line 9 that runs between the two islands every half hour during the day