Access VeronaPink stone, a green river, two thousand years deep.
The Adige bending round Verona's old centre, the Ponte Pietra and the Duomo's bell tower, seen from Castel San Pietro
VERONA · VENETO

The Romans built the Arena. Verona still fills it on summer nights.

A city in a bend of the Adige: a Roman amphitheater that stages opera, the old forum as a market square, the Scaliger lords' tombs and castle, and the house the city made Juliet's.

Jocelyn Erskine-Kellie from London, UK, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0

Read the city

What Verona is

Verona is a city of about 255,000 people in the Veneto, in north-east Italy, built inside a tight loop of the river Adige. The old center fills the inside of the bend and is small enough to walk from end to end; Veronetta and the hill of Castel San Pietro face it across the water, and the choice between the two banks is most of where to stay. Trains arrive at Porta Nuova, south of the old walls, and the airport bus runs there too (getting here). The center has been a limited-traffic zone since 1997, so you get around it on foot.

What you walk past

The Romans made the town a colony in 89 BC, and Roman Verona is still underfoot: the Arena, finished around AD 30; the forum, now Piazza delle Erbe; the Porta Borsari gate and the Ponte Pietra. The della Scala lords ruled in the 13th and 14th centuries — Cangrande I gave Dante shelter — and left their tombs and their castle. Venice took the city in 1405 and Austria held it until 1866. In April 1945 retreating German troops blew up the Ponte Pietra and the castle bridge; both were rebuilt, the Ponte Pietra between 1957 and 1959 with stones lifted out of the river.

What it is known for

For opera in the Arena, every summer since 1913 — see the opera season and what is worth booking ahead. For Juliet's House, a medieval inn the city bought in 1905 and gave a balcony in the 1930s. For pandoro and risotto with Amarone (eating and drinking), and for a UNESCO listing of the whole city in 2000. Begin with the sights, pick a season and an itinerary, and keep a day for the day trips to Lake Garda, Vicenza and Padua.

Schematic of Verona: the Adige loops round the old centreold city wallsAdigeVeronettaPorta Nuova station, south1The Arena2Piazza Bra3Piazza delle Erbe4Piazza dei Signori5Torre dei Lamberti6The Scaliger Tombs7Juliet's House8Porta Borsari9Palazzo Maffei10Sant'Anastasia11The Duomo12Ponte Pietra13The Roman Theatre14Castel San Pietro15Giardino Giusti16Castelvecchio17San Zeno Maggiore
  1. The Arena
  2. Piazza Bra
  3. Piazza delle Erbe
  4. Piazza dei Signori
  5. Torre dei Lamberti
  6. The Scaliger Tombs
  7. Juliet's House
  8. Porta Borsari
  9. Palazzo Maffei
  10. Sant'Anastasia
  11. The Duomo
  12. Ponte Pietra
  13. The Roman Theatre
  14. Castel San Pietro
  15. Giardino Giusti
  16. Castelvecchio
  17. San Zeno Maggiore
Schematic, not to scale — the numbers are the sights below.

A walk through the city

Follow the river: seven stops from Piazza Bra to the castle.

Painted palazzi and café awnings along the Liston on Piazza Bra
Painted palazzi and café awnings along the Liston on Piazza BraFrDr, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Piazza Bra

The city opens at Piazza Bra, a wide square entered through the twin arches of the Portoni della Bra. Café terraces line the long pavement of the Liston on one side; on the other stands the Arena, finished around AD 30 in red and white limestone quarried in the Valpolicella hills. Of its outer ring only one tall fragment, the Ala, is left standing above the rest.

Faded frescoes and green shutters on the Case Mazzanti above the market
Faded frescoes and green shutters on the Case Mazzanti above the marketAdert, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

The old forum

North along Via Mazzini, Piazza delle Erbe sits on the site of the Roman forum and is still a market square. Its fountain, built in 1368, is crowned by a Roman statue of about AD 380 that the city calls Madonna Verona; the column with the winged lion is the mark Venice left after 1405.

The Scaliger tombs behind their iron fence, beside Santa Maria Antica
The Scaliger tombs behind their iron fence, beside Santa Maria AnticaFalk2, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

The Scaliger squares

Through an arch lies Piazza dei Signori, the square of government, with Dante in marble at its center and the 84-meter Torre dei Lamberti, begun in 1172, above it. Round the corner, outside the small church of Santa Maria Antica, stand the tombs of the della Scala lords; the horseman on Cangrande's is a copy, the original moved to Castelvecchio in 1909.

The courtyard of Juliet's House, its ivy and its balcony
The courtyard of Juliet's House, its ivy and its balconyFalk2, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Juliet's courtyard

A few streets away, visitors crowd the courtyard of Juliet's House. It is a medieval tower-house first recorded in 1351 as an inn; the hat carved on its arch was later read as the badge of Shakespeare's Capulets. The city bought it in 1905 and the balcony was put together in the 1930s. The link to the play is a story Verona tells, not a record.

The Ponte Pietra's pale stone and brick arches, with the Duomo's bell tower behind
The Ponte Pietra's pale stone and brick arches, with the Duomo's bell tower behindFalk2, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Across Ponte Pietra

At the top of the loop the Ponte Pietra crosses to the far bank. The Romans finished it around 100 BC; its arches were blown up in April 1945 and rebuilt between 1957 and 1959 with stones recovered from the river, which is why the stone and brick look patched. On the other side the Roman theater is cut into the hillside.

The Adige bending round the old centre, seen from the Castel San Pietro hill
The Adige bending round the old centre, seen from the Castel San Pietro hillApXc, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

The hill

A funicular, reopened in 2017, climbs in about a minute and a half from beside the theater to Castel San Pietro. From its terrace the whole loop lies below: the river bending round the old center, the towers and domes inside it, and the hills of the Valpolicella behind.

The battlemented brick Ponte Scaligero crossing to Castelvecchio
The battlemented brick Ponte Scaligero crossing to CastelvecchioFalk2, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

West to the castle

Downstream, the Scaligers' castle, Castelvecchio, guards its own bridge, built in 1354–1356 and rebuilt after the war. From 1958 the architect Carlo Scarpa turned the castle, in phases over two decades, into the city's art museum. Further west stands San Zeno Maggiore, whose rose window of 1189 is called the Wheel of Fortune.

Three things to know first

Italy · VenetoAbout 255,000 peopleItalianEuroUNESCO World Heritage since 2000

The guide, section by section

Eleven practical questions about the city, and the journal — laid as a wall.

  1. The SightsSeventeen places, one page eachThe SightsFrom the Arena to San Zeno: what each one is, what you actually see, and how long to give it.
  2. Getting HereAir, rail, coach and carGetting HerePorta Nuova station, the airport bus from Villafranca, and why a car stops at the old center's edge.
  3. Getting AroundWalk the loopGetting AroundA center small enough to cross on foot, city buses for the rest, and the funicular up the hill.
  4. The Opera SeasonThe Arena on summer nightsThe Opera SeasonHow the Roman amphitheater became an opera house in 1913, and how an evening there works.
  1. Roman VeronaThe city under the cityRoman VeronaThe Arena, the forum, the gates, the bridge and the theater — the Roman town you still walk through.
  2. Booking AheadWhat to arrange firstBooking AheadThe few things in Verona worth fixing a date for, and the many that need nothing.
  3. When to ComeThe year in VeronaWhen to ComeOpera summers, quiet winters and Christmas in Piazza Bra, month by month.
  1. Eating & DrinkingPandoro, risotto and AmaroneEating & DrinkingThe dishes Verona calls its own and the wines from the hills around it.
  2. Where to StayThe loop, Veronetta and beyondWhere to StayEach part of the city for a night or a week, drawn on a map.
  3. ItinerariesOne day, two days, threeItinerariesRoutes by the length of your stay, planned around what closes when.
  4. Day TripsLake Garda, Vicenza, Padua, VeniceDay TripsWhere the trains and roads out of Verona lead in a day.
  1. The JournalQuestions answered at lengthThe JournalVisitor questions about Verona, answered in full, with new pieces as they are written.

All seventeen sights

Numbered as on the drawing of the loop.

The Arena and Piazza BraAt the southern edge of the old center

  1. 1The ArenaThe Arena
  2. 2Piazza BraPiazza Bra

Inside the loopThe Roman grid and the Scaliger squares

  1. 3Piazza delle ErbePiazza delle Erbe
  2. 4Piazza dei SignoriPiazza dei Signori
  3. 5Torre dei LambertiTorre dei Lamberti
  4. 6The Scaliger TombsThe Scaliger Tombs
  5. 7Juliet's HouseJuliet's House
  6. 8Porta BorsariPorta Borsari
  7. 9Palazzo MaffeiPalazzo Maffei
  8. 10Sant'AnastasiaSant'Anastasia
  9. 11The DuomoThe Duomo

Over Ponte PietraThe far bank and the hill

  1. 12Ponte PietraPonte Pietra
  2. 13The Roman TheatreThe Roman Theatre
  3. 14Castel San PietroCastel San Pietro
  4. 15Giardino GiustiGiardino Giusti

West along the AdigeThe castle and the basilica

  1. 16CastelvecchioCastelvecchio
  2. 17San Zeno MaggioreSan Zeno Maggiore

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