#ReThinkingVenice

Cultural travelers want people-to-people experiences. They are intellectually curious and turned on by simple day-to-day pleasures. They are tourists who want to be locals. They love history. They touch and feel. And most of all... crowds turn them off. 

Divertimento Group partners with guides born and raised on the Venice Lagoon islands to create adventures that share the Lagoon culture – with emotions and memories that few visitors to Venice have experienced!

This is far from what most visitors see on hurried trips with stops to buy souvenirs. Our cultural travelers will learn about a rich, ancient history of the Venice Lagoon and its 118 small islands connected by canals and bridges. World-famous Murano glass Maestri will meet with visitors to talk about their childhood on the island and will share stories about their children’s choices to stay (or not stay). Visitors will know them first as Muranesi (born on Murano) and then – as artists.

Murano’s artists are working hard to fight against the prevailing stereotypes and myths about the island and their craft. The story of the glass masters being sent to the island from Venice so furnaces could pose less of a threat to the city has is well-known among visitors. And the tale of the government’s death sentence (in the 1200’s) imposed on those who left Murano and shared trade secrets with foreigners continues to add to the island’s mystery and intrigue, but it is not well documented!

Our #RethinkingVenice program focuses on trip quality

There are many options that await cultural travelers whose ideas of a perfect trip to Venice are not limited to San Marco’s Square and the Doge’s Palace.

Murano is part of Divertimento Group’s #RethinkingVenice Program which encourages travel professionals to focus more on the quality of the visit to Venice. Promotion of Murano and Venice Lagoon experiences are part of the new, sustainable travel scenario.

Divertimento Group’s “Murano & Lagoon Adventure” will also be appreciated by clients visiting for the first time who want to avoid the crowds. The “right” clients will love your suggestions to sleep on the island and wake up to silence and no crowds. Staying on Murano for a few, slow-paced days can be so much more special than a hurried side-trip to the “glass island” for a few hours.

A private boat or public transport can bring them from Venice back to Murano (or other islands nearby) just in time for a quiet Bellini at sunset, where over-crowded Venice can be seen from afar – and they can then enjoy an outstanding, slow-paced seafood (of course) dinner at one of the finest local restaurants owned and operated by Murano’s new generation, a young entrepreneur who opted for a career unrelated to glass! – our favorite for lunch or dinner (www.allavecchiapescheria.com). Literally two minutes from our favorite restaurant is the chef’s family-owned hotel with rooms decorated exquisitely in old Venetian style (www.muranopalace.com/it/).

Murano is usually included as part of the 3 touristy “day-trip islands” offered on most travel agent websites and hawked at the city’s train stations and airports: Murano (for glass), Burano (colored houses and lace-making), and Torcello – known for the amazingly in-tact ancient cathedrals, but perhaps more for Ernest Hemingway’s time spent writing, hunting, and drinking there with friend, Giuseppe Cipriani, owner of Venice’s famed Harry’s Bar.

Divertimento Group Adventures can include a visit to Locanda Cipriani, enjoyed by many Hollywood stars over the years. Many photos there document their visits. Much of Torcello’s current atmosphere and Hemingway’s legacy on the island is perfectly described in a 2006 NYTimes article.

Murano is a perfect place to experience Italy like a local and…celebrate life!

Our Mission

Leading the STOP Overtourism Movement with travel professionals everywhere…