Valpolicella Day Trip from Venice: Wine Tasting and Verona

An easy drive from Venice, the Valpolicella region makes for a fantastic day trip filled with scenic vineyards, rolling hills and medieval history. Meet your driver-guide at Piazzale Roma just outside of central Venice, and hop aboard an air-conditioned minivan for the approximately 1.5-hour journey west.

For your first stop, visit the town of San Giorgio and its famous medieval church. Marvel at the 8th-century canopy stone altar, which predates the outer church by almost 500 years. While you’re here, soak in beautiful views of the nearby Lake Garda and the town of Sirmione.

Continue on through the scenic countryside of olive groves and vineyards to one of the area’s renowned wineries. Take a tour of the estate and taste several distinctive amarone wines, known for their dry and slightly bitter taste that results from using dried grapes in the fermentation process. 

Head next to Verona — best known as the home of Shakespeare’s star-crossed lovers in ‘Romeo and Juliet.’ You’ll have 3 hours of leisure time to explore the city’s well-preserved historic charm and stop in at a local café for lunch (own expense). You can pay a visit to ‘Casa di Giulietta,’ which some say inspired the fictional Capulet family, and swoon at the site of Juliet’s balcony (though any historical ties here are dubious). 

Reconnect with your driver-guide at the appointed time, and then sit back and relax on the beautiful return drive to Venice.