Things to Do in Verona: Beyond Romeo and Juliet

Verona is an exceptionally well-preserved Roman and medieval city in the Veneto region, an hour west of Venice by train. Most visitors arrive expecting Romeo and Juliet and leave genuinely surprised by the city’s depth — a complete Roman amphitheatre, a series of Romanesque and Gothic churches, one of the finest medieval piazzas in Italy, and easy access to Lake Garda.

The Roman Arena

Verona’s Arena is one of the best-preserved Roman amphitheatres in the world, built in 30 AD and still used for its original purpose — open-air performances. The annual summer opera festival (July–August) fills it with 14,000 people for full-scale productions of Aida, Carmen, and Tosca. The experience of watching opera in a Roman amphitheatre at night, with candle stubs distributed to the audience, is one of Italy’s most memorable events.

Outside the opera season, the Arena is a museum (€10 entry) with excellent views from the upper tiers across the city.

Piazza delle Erbe and Piazza dei Signori

The Piazza delle Erbe sits on the site of the old Roman forum and has been a market since Roman times — still functioning as a daily market with fruit and vegetable stalls under the medieval tower fringe. The Colonna del Mercato (14th century), the Berlina (a small canopy where humiliated criminals were exhibited), and the baroque Maffei Palace at the north end surround it.

The adjacent Piazza dei Signori is the more austere civic square — the Scaligeri family’s Palazzo della Ragione (now a gallery), the Loggia del Consiglio, and the Arche Scaligere (Gothic tombs of the Scaligeri lords) just off to the east.

Castel San Pietro and the river views

A 10-minute walk up from the Roman theatre brings you to the terrace of Castel San Pietro, a 19th-century Austrian military structure on the hill above the city. The views across the river bend and the city’s Roman and medieval roofscape are the best in Verona. Go at sunset.

Juliet’s House (Casa di Giulietta)

The tourism industry has created this. The real Romeo and Juliet were a literary invention; the “Juliet’s house” is a medieval building that was given a balcony in the 1930s. Worth a look at the exterior (it’s free) but skip the museum inside. The courtyard has a Juliet statue, the right breast of which has been rubbed smooth by tourists for luck.

Basilica of San Zeno

One of the finest Romanesque churches in northern Italy (11th–12th centuries), 15 minutes walk west of the Arena. The bronze doors (1100s) with 48 panels of Biblical scenes are extraordinary. The crypt holds the sarcophagus of San Zeno, patron of Verona. Mantegna’s altarpiece in the north transept (the original in the nave is a copy; the panels were taken to Paris by Napoleon). The adjacent cloister is peaceful.

The Giusti Garden

A 16th-century formal garden on the hill above the city (east side). Grotesque sculptures, cypress rows, a maze, and views over the Adige river. One of the best-preserved Renaissance gardens in northern Italy. €10 entry.

Lake Garda day trip

Lake Garda is 30 minutes west of Verona by car or bus. The southern end — Lazise, Bardolino, Garda town, Sirmione — is accessible and worth a half day. Sirmione in particular: a castle on a spit of land projecting into the lake (the Scaligeri castle, 13th century), and at the tip of the peninsula, the Roman ruins of the Grotte di Catullo — a large 1st-century AD villa associated (loosely) with the poet Catullus, with views across the lake.

Soave and Valpolicella wine tasting

Verona sits in the middle of three of Italy’s most important wine zones. Soave (Soave DOC — dry white from Garganega grapes) is 25km east; the castle and the original medieval wine zone are worth the drive. Valpolicella (north of Verona) produces the DOC, Ripasso, and the top-tier Amarone. The Allegrini, Bertani, and Zenato estates all do visits. The Valpolicella Classico zone (Fumane, Negrar, San Pietro in Cariano) has concentrated stone villages and dramatic terraced vineyards.