Verona Travelers Recommend

With three days in Verona, you’ll have time to visit the main tourist attractions and also do some exploring outside the city limits. Take advantage of hop-on hop-off tours and multi-day attraction passes to make the most out of your time in the home of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Here are some ways to spend three days in Verona.

Day 1: The Essential Sights

Start your day in Verona with a morning walking tour that includes many of the top sights, such as Piazza Brà, Verona Arena, and Juliet’s House (Casa di Giulietta). You’ll be able to get the lay of the land while figuring out where you’d like to focus your energy during the rest of your trip.

In the afternoon, choose a hop-on hop-off bus tour, a bike tour, or a segway tour, and visit highlights like the Scaliger Tombs, Castelvecchio Museum, and Castel San Pietro, which offers exceptional views. (Alternatively, pick up a Verona Card, which gives unlimited access to the city’s public transit system as well as admission to top sights.) Then spend the evening taking a sunset stroll along the Adige River and across the Ponte Pietra, and head to lively Piazza delle Erbe for aperitivo. Relax and enjoy dinner in the square, or head back to the Verona Arena for an opera performance.

Day 2: Day Trip to Wine Country

Take a break from Verona’s tourist-filled streets, and spend a day exploring the region’s quiet countryside and smaller villages. The vineyards of the Valpolicella wine region, which produce some of the finest red wines in Italy, are located just outside the city. Take a wine-focused tour to sample local wines like amarone paired with regional food specialities, or explore the region by bike or Vespa.

Alternatively, you can spend the day visiting Italy’s largest lake, Lake Garda, or take a day trip to the Dolomites, a gorgeous range of jagged peaks just north of Verona. To make the most out of your day, choose a tour that combines several destinations into one trip.

Day 3: Eat Your Way Around Verona

Spend your last morning in Verona checking off any major sights you’ve missed, such as the Porta Borsari, then visit some of the city’s lesser-known attractions, like Palazzo Giardino Giusti and the Museum of Frescos at Juliet’s Tomb. Alternatively, you can spend the morning browsing in the shops on Via Mazzini or visiting one of Verona’s arts and cultural museums, such as the Archaeological Museum at the Roman Theatre.

Once you’ve hit the sights, dedicate the afternoon to sampling Verona’s delicious cuisine. Browse the markets at Piazza delle Erbe, or join a guided culinary tour and sample the city’s best pizza, pasta, pastries, and cheeses. End the day with a cooking class to learn how to make Italian specialities like gelato or pizza from scratch, or ask your culinary tour guide for suggestions for good local restaurants and toast your last evening like a local.

Having two days in Verona allows you enough time to see the main historic sights and head out into the Valpolicella wine region to sample some fine Italian wines. Here are a few ways to spend two days in Verona.

Day 1: Explore the Top City Sights

Morning: Grab a coffee and pastry in Piazza delle Erbe and head to Casa di Giulietta to see the home of one of Shakespeare's favorite heroines, Juliet, before it gets crowded. Take a Romeo and Juliet-themed walking tour or explore the city that inspired Shakespeare's romantic tragedy on your own.

Afternoon: Spend the afternoon seeing the top sights, perhaps taking advantage of Verona’s 48-hour multi-attraction pass or hop-on hop-off bus tour to save time and money. Tour the Castelvecchio Castle and Museum or visit the Roman Arena on a skip-the-line tour. Afterward, stop at an outdoor cafe to experience aperitivo, Italy’s traditional happy hour.

Night: A romantic walk along the Adige River and across the Ponte Pietra at sunset is a must. Then choose between an evening walking tour of Verona to see the city sights under a different light or join a culinary tour and sample local dishes like Bogli pasta, cured meats, and local wine.

Day 2: Wine Tastings and Cultural Highlights

Morning: Spend the morning taking in Verona’s art and cultural museums. Visit the Archaeological Museum at the Roman Theatre and view ancient Roman artifacts found in and around Verona. Other options include the Achille Forti Modern Art Gallery, Castelvecchio Museum, and Museo Civico di Storia Naturale.

Afternoon: Take a break from the city and venture out into Valpolicella wine country. Tour a vineyard and sample traditional Italian wines such as Valpolicella Classico and Amarone. Alternatively, visit the Prosecco region and discover how the bubbly is made.

Night: For your final night in Verona, splurge on opera tickets to the Verona Arena, renowned for its acoustics. Once home to gladiator games and ancient sporting events, the Verona Arena is now the largest open-air theater in the world. The Arena is especially pretty when it's lit up at night.

The Italian city of Verona was the setting for one of the world’s great love stories: Romeo and Juliet. The true story behind Shakespeare’s young lovers was also the subject of poems and novels over the course of centuries. Today Verona is home to several Romeo and Juliet–linked landmarks. Here are a few to check out during your visit.

Juliet’s Balcony

Love notes are often stuck on the wall at Casa di Giulietta, or Juliet’s House, once the home of the Capulet family. Located in the heart of Verona’s historic center, the Gothic-style house has a stone balcony where the young couple supposedly declared their love.

Romeo’s House

The Montague home, Casa di Romeo, or Romeo’s House, is marked only by a small plaque on the wall (the castle-like building is currently privately owned). It is also located in the historic heart of Verona, known for its charming narrow streets, on Via Arche Scaligere.

Piazza dei Signori

This square in central Verona is known for its statue of Dante Alighieri—but it also may be the location where a duel between the Capulets and Montagues occurred.

Juliet’s Tomb

Famous as the place in Shakespeare’s tale where Juliet drank the poison, her tomb (Tomba di Giulietta) is located beneath a former monastery (San Francesco al Corso) that is now the Museum of Frescoes.

Cities such as Shanghai and Dubai may be known for their ultra-modern skyscrapers, Verona, in Northern Italy, boasts much older architectural attractions. The 2,000-year-old city, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, has well-preserved structures dating back as far as ancient Rome. Here are Verona’s must-see architectural highlights. 

Verona Arena

Situated in Piazza Bra, this first-century amphitheater is Italy’s third largest, second only to the Colosseum in Rome and the Amphitheater of Capua. The 30,000-capacity open-air venue is not only the city’s most notable Roman remains, but it’s also still a functioning venue that hosts a well-attended summer opera festival. 

Basilica of San Zeno Maggiore

Built between the ninth and 12th centuries, the Basilica of San Zeno Maggiore is celebrated for its Romanesque architecture. The magnificent facade features a 12th-century rose window known as the Ruota della Fortuna (Wheel of Fortune), bas-reliefs depicting biblical scenes, and doors decorated with intricate bronze panels. 

Museo di Castelvecchio

Built for the 14th-century Lord of Verona, this crenellated red-brick castle features thick defensive walls, towers, and turrets. The fortress, which suffered damage during the 19th-century Battle of Verona and World War II, was masterfully restored and redesigned by leading Italian architect Carlo Scarpa between 1958 and 1975. Today it houses a museum with artworks and historical artifacts. 

Ponte Pietra

Spanning the River Adige, this magnificent stone arch bridge has a history that dates back more than 2,000 years. The current iteration—a post–World War II reconstruction using materials from the river—is a hodgepodge, with two original Roman arches, one medieval arch, and two brick arches from the 16th century.

Juliet’s House (Casa di Giulietta)

This 14th-century Gothic-style house bears the coat of arms of the dal Cappelllo family. Literary pilgrims come to see where Juliet—the main female protagonist from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet—supposedly stood on the balcony and called out for her lover.  

Lamberti Tower (Torre dei Lamberti)

Measuring 275 feet (84 meters), this medieval watchtower is one of the few remaining tower residences built by noble families in the Middle Ages to showcase their power and wealth. Constructed between the 12th and 15th centuries, the tower still contains two historic bells, one of which was used to summon the city council, and another used to signal the end of the working day and to warn of fires. Visitors can climb to the top for views over the city.