Verona is the capital of the province of the same name and the biggest city of the regione Veneto. The biggest tourist attractions are the Arena, the House of Juliet, the Duomo and the San Fermo Church. Verona has about 260,000 inhabitants.
Verona City Guide
Useful tourist information
The Verona tourist office is located on the far side of the Piazza Bra, where the city walls are. They provide free maps of the city and of the Lago di Garda, public transport time tables to the various cities along the lake and lots of brochures on the main attractions. They also have two different itineraries with a kind of treasure hunt for children, which however include all the main attractions. Two birds, one stone!
Public transportation
Getting to Verona
Verona has two airports, but only one of them is important for tourists. The official name is Aeroporto Valerio Catullo, but it is generally called Verona-Villafranca Airport. There is a regular bus connection to the centre of the city and, during the summer months, also to Lake Garda.
The Verona railway station is a 20 to 30 minute walk from the centre. Especially with heavy or unwieldy luggage it is recommended to take a bus or taxi, since the road is not always equally smooth.
The Flixbus stop is in the Viale Girolamo Cardinale, right in front of the railway station.
Public transport inside Verona
The local public transportation company in Verona is called ATV. You can buy tickets on the bus, but it is cheaper to get them beforehand from a tobacco shop.
There is a funiculare to the Castel San Pietro. The ticket costs 1 Euro. The trip lasts a bit more than a minute, but the view is worth it. If you decide to walk on the way down, you will get to see some Roman ruins.
Tourist attractions Verona
The most famous tourist attraction of Verona is the Arena. This amphitheater is smaller than Rome’s celebrated Colosseum, but better preserved. During the summer months the Arena hosts opera concerts.
It is located in the Piazza Bra, together with the Piazza delle Erbe and the Piazza dei Signori the main square of the city. The Domus Nova is one of the main buildings in the Piazza dei Signori.
The Giardino Giusti is one of the most beautiful gardens of Italy. A visit to some of the rooms of the Giusti family palace is included in the ticket.
The most import churches are the Cathedral, the San Fermo Maggiore Church, the San Zeno Church and the Sant’Anastasia Church. You can get a combined ticket to visit all four.
The biggest attraction of the Santo Stefano Church is the Chapel of the Innocents with a number of baroque paintings.
The city still has an impressive quantity of ancient city walls, towers and other fortifications. Some are of Roman origin, some were built during the middle ages and even more recent periods. The remaining walls altogether have a length of around 9 kilometres.
The Castelvecchio Castle is now the seat of the civic museum of the same name.
Julia’s House (supposedly) is in the Via Capello. You can pose on the balcony there or use the free computers in the building to send some spiteful emails to enemies if all the loveliness gets a little too much for you. There are usually long lines, so it may be advisable to make reservations. Romeo’s House is a few blocks away.
Annual events
Verona in love
Verona is famous as the setting for Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet.” Every year around Valentine’s Day, a festival is organized with concerts, exhibitions, etc. In the city’s restaurants, meals are then served by candlelight. The festival is called “Verona In Love.”
Water
Verona is only a short distance from Lake Garda. As such, it is very busy in the summer. A walk along the Adige River, with numerous castles, churches and cypress trees lining its banks, is a must. The Dolomites are a perfect picturesque backdrop to enchanting Verona and the river that winds through the city.