My Short Guide to Verona

"There is no world without Verona walls, 

 But purgatory, torture, hell itself." — Romeo, Act III, Scene III (Shakespeare)

Verona's Fair City

This year's April trip was to the fair city of Verona, Italy. The flight is less than two hours away from the UK, so if we take an early flight, we can be there in time for lunch. Which is what we did, and by midday, we had dumped our bags at the hotel and were already enjoying the delights of Italian food in Piazza Bra in old town Verona. Piazza Bra is the largest piazza in Verona and home to the famous Verona Arena. It is a great place to sit back and relax in one of the many restaurants and watch the world go by.

For some reason, I was expecting a smallish town, but Verona is a large city. While we stuck mainly to the old town, there are still hundreds of rambling streets to get lot in, filled with shops, cafes and history.

As we enjoyed our previous audio walking tour of Kaunas so much, we decided to book one again. I did this through one of the Facebook offers and the app was called Walking Cap. However, although it started well, we found that we kept losing connection, the directions weren’t very clear and there were long periods of time without any talking. We walked past several buildings of interest and had to look up what they were, and also struggled following the route. In the end, we gave up and did our own thing. It only cost about 6€ pp, so it was no great shakes, but it was a bit disappointing.

The colourful buildings that line the Verona streets have a sense of past glories, where sun-peeled paint adds a layer of faded elegance and yet still beautiful, and perfect for idling away a few hours. Architectural styles vary from the Roman amphitheatre to Medieval Gothic and Renaissance. Plus you'll see lots of Veronese Romanesque where red brick is layered with Limestone to create a striped effect. Several of the ancient and ornate gates to the city are still standing, ranging from Roman, Medieval and Renaissance periods, which are also worth a wander.

Shopping & Piazzas

A long pedestrianised street called Via Mazzini joins Piazza Bra with another large piazza, Piazza Erbe. Via Mazzini is a pedestrianised street paved with marble (although it should be paved with gold) and is laden with designer shops of all the big names, Armani (of course), Louis Vuitton, Prada, Dolce & Gabbana etc. It is designer heaven if you love to shop and can afford the big names. Unfortunately, we can’t, so the only thing we bought along here were a couple of gelato cones, and yes they were yum!

Via Mazzini leads on to Piazza Erbe. This square too is heaving with people in the many pavement bars and restaurants which flank the large array of market stalls that run the length of the square. These stalls are full to the brim, selling clothes, gifts, leather goods and of course fridge magnets. I purchased my magnet of choice from this very square. The market also has a couple of large stalls selling cups of chopped fruit, which is a nice idea if you need a break from pizza and pasta. The market does close in the evening, however, so if you are waiting to buy those gifts on your last night, you will be out of luck. Just remember to buy early.

There are many, many other squares leading off these main squares with quieter restaurants, such as Dante’s Piazza, where we had a nice evening meal. You just need to wander around and you will discover something around every corner.

Bridges & Balconies

Verona is situated in the loop of the River Adige, and it is a pleasant stroll along its banks. Several bridges cross the river, the oldest of which is the Roman Ponte Pietra (Stone Bridge). Probably the most picturesque of the bridges has to be Castelvecchio Bridge. Castelvecchio (old castle) was built in the 14th century and the fortified bridge, otherwise known as Ponte Scaligero, crosses the river from the castle is a segmental arched bridge. It is heavily castellated and well worth a photograph.

The other major place of interest in Verona is, of course, Juliet’s balcony whicj is of course found at Juliet's House or Casa di Giulietta. Possibly the most famous stone balcony belonging to a fictional character in the world, supposedly the inspiration for Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet. Whether or not Shakespeare ever visited Verona, is still open to discussion. A few years ago, it was free to visit the courtyard to take a picture of the famous balcony and indeed rub Juliet’s bosom, the purpose of which is to bring you love, luck or ensure your return to the city.

However, when we visited, the entrance had been moved around the corner and the courtyard containing the statue and the balcony were out of bounds to everyone other than those exiting Juliet’s house. Whether this is for environmental reasons, or financial reasons, or just because Juliet has had enough of being touched up, we don’t know, but you can no longer get a good view unless you pay to visit the house. When we were there, the queues were massive, so we passed on that one and just took a long-distance photo of the balcony through the exit archway. I understand that the price for entry to the house is 12€ pp.

Arena & Churches

Verona Arena is hard to miss. It stands in the middle of Piazza Bra and is an impressive Roman amphitheatre. It is well preserved, due to many years of restoration projects (indeed, there was building work going on while we were there), and is still a venue for operas, ballets and concerts. Alas, there were no shows on while we were there, but we did pay to go in and have a look around. It’s not as huge as the Colosseum in Rome, and only part of it is open to public viewing, but it is still worth a visit. At the time we were there, it cost 12€ to get in.

If churches and basilicas are your thing, Verona has both in abundance. One of the most famous is the Duomo Basilica and you can go in for a small fee, but we didn’t. Another thing we didn’t do but would if we went again is climb the 368 steps of the Torre di Lamberti, for another great view from the centre of town. Apparently, there is a glass lift to take you most of the way up if you don’t can’t face the lift, and costs about 8€.

We were in Verona for three and a half days and there was plenty to keep us busy. There are many things we missed out on, but that only means we have a reason to return one day.

However, one day we did take a train trip to Lake Garda, approximately 30 minutes away. If you are interested in doing the same, or want to see what we did there, see my Short Guide to Lake Garda.

Hop-On, Hop-Off

What we did spend money on was the Hop-on Hop-off bus. If you have read any of my previous Short Guides, you will know that I love a Hop-on, Hop-off bus. I love sitting on the top deck and being driven around a city with a guide in my ear telling me lots of interesting and historical facts.

In Verona there are two routes, the red route and the blue route, however the good news is, your 25€ ticket covers you for both routes, hoorah! The main ticket terminal can be conveniently found in Piazza Bra.

If I remember correctly, it is the Blue Route which takes you across the river and up some particularly weendy-windy roads to the Castel San Pietro. From here, you have the most amazing view of the city which is a great photo opportunity (if you can sneak in amongst the couples who like to stay sitting on the wall, taking a billion photos of themselves for their socials). Luckily, there is also the sunset bar up there, if you would like a beverage while admiring the view.

The bar is conveniently situated right next to the Funicular railway, if you would prefer to travel up the hill that way. We took the funicular down which cost us 2€ each for a journey that took all of 15 seconds, but still, it’s a bit of fun. Probably more worth it for the trip up!

Food, Glorious Food

Foodwise in Verona, there is so much choice, there is bound to be something for every palette. Of course, traditional pasta and pizzas cooked in true Italian style are available in most restaurants. Although, as soon as you order a drink, you are provided with a selection of bar snacks including olives, crisps and those little crispy curly things. One bar even gave us small slices of pizza. This is great but, it can rather put you off eating dinner, so bear that in mind.

Good to know

There is an option to buy a Verona Card. When carrying out my research, this cost 30€, so if you plan to visit the Arena, Juliet’s House, the tower and some of the churches, it would be worth it. I believe it also lets you ‘skip the line’ in some of the places, which would be invaluable in the height of summer when the crowds are at their peak. I believe it also covers local bus travel, but you will need to check that if you're planning to use local transport.

In short…Would I recommend a trip to Verona?

Yes, indeed I would. We had a lovely time just wandering the cobbled streets where every building tells a story. Yes, it was busy, and when we were there, there were hundreds of school children parties, but we managed to avoid them as best we could. Luckily, they were not in the bars and restaurants we frequented. There are so many places to see and eat that there is bound to be somewhere to suit you.

There is certainly plenty to do inside the city, howeve Verona's Porto Nuova Station is a great central hub for travelling all over Italy.  Which means you also have the option of a day trip to Milan or Venice or Bologna if you want to travel further afield.

So slap on some Vivaldi, pour yourself a glass of Pinot Grigio and get booking!

How we got there…

We stayed for four nights at the Firenze Hotel, situated on the main thoroughfare of Corso Porta Nuova. It is conveniently situated for the old town and the train station, both of which are approximately 10 minutes walk away. The hotel has a room to hold your luggage until your room is ready, which is handy if you arrive in the morning. We booked through booking.com.

Verona station, Porta Nuova, is a central hub for northern Italy. From here you can travel all over Italy from Milan, to Venice, to Rome. We travelled to Lake Garda for a day out and found the station easy to navigate and tickets were easy to buy from the ticket machines.

The station also has a designated Airport shuttle bus stop, where the bus runs every 20 minutes and takes about 15-20 minutes to get to the airport. There is a separate ticket machine at the bus stop and one-way tickets cost 7€. It was all very easy and much cheaper than a taxi.

We flew with Easyjet and bought our tickets online direct with them. The flight took just under two hours from Bristol Airport, UK.

Thank you for reading my Short Guide to Verona

If you are planning to visit Verona, I hope you found this useful and wish you all the best for your trip. 

If you enjoyed reading my account and would like to read about my other trips away, check out my other Short Guides, such as my Short Guide to Lake Garda, Kaunas, Naxos or Athens. For more photos of the places I talk about, follow me on Instagram at ameliashort_writer. 

And if you just like reading about faraway places, you might like to try one of my books, such as A Place in Greece, available on Amazon. Head back over to my website to find out more.

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