Venetian glass and lace are known throughout the world. However, selecting quality products in either craft requires a shrewd eye because there's much that's tawdry and shoddily crafted. Some of the glassware hawked isn't worth the cost of shipping it home. Yet other pieces represent some of the world's finest artistic and ornamental glass. Murano is the island famous for its handmade glass. However, you can find little glass-animal souvenirs in shops all over Venice.

For lace, head out to Burano, where the latest of a long line of women put in painstaking hours to produce some of the finest lace in the world.