Verona in 1 Day: all you need to know

Touring Verona in one day seems impossible, but with the right organisation you can discover the main sites that inspired William Shakespeare, visit the Verona Arena and Piazza Bra, tour Juliet's House and its balcony, look out over the city from the Torre dei Lamberti, visit the Cathedral and the Stone Bridge, and discover the sunset from Castel San Pietro.

The Arena of Verona is an almost 2,000 year old Roman amphitheatre and one of the most visited attractions in the city. If you book a guided tour of Verona it will almost certainly be included, at least the exterior. Musical events and shows are held there every year, including the Verona Festival, which consists of a series of opera concerts that take place every year between June and August.

I suggest you start your tour at the Arena di Verona, since in the morning you'll avoid the long queues and you'll also be able to enjoy this Roman amphitheatre, the best preserved of its kind in the world, with fewer crowds. During the tour, which you can do on your own or with a guided tour, you can get to know the interior of the Arena and also learn about its history and the multiple uses it has had over the years.

The tour of the Arena of Verona will take you about 1 hour and a half and once outside I recommend you to take a short walk around Piazza Bra, which is located just outside the amphitheatre and is one of the busiest and most famous public squares in the city and also a meeting point for the best tours of Verona.

Interesting facts

• Price... Tickets to visit the interior of the Arena have an initial cost of approximately €10 per person.
• Where... Piazza Bra 1, Verona.
• How to get there... You can get there on bus lines 11, 12, 31, 32, 33 and 52 or on the Verona tourist bus.

Without a doubt, I highly recommend booking the Romeo and Juliet tour in Verona. Juliet's House is the most visited attraction because the play Romeo and Juliet is one of William Shakespeare's most famous creations. You can get there from the Arena by a 10 minute walk down the seven streets or use the bus lines 11, 13 and 52.

The Juliet's House Museum is a display of some elements related to Shakespeare's play and also a review of the history of the medieval palace, which is recorded to have existed at least since the 12th century, when it was inhabited by the Capulets, Juliet's family. However, most of the house was rebuilt in 1940 and of its original structure only the entrance door remains. The main attractions of the museum are to be found outside:

• The statue of Juliet, which according to a Veronese urban legend must be touched to attract good fortune.
• The balcony, where one of the most important dialogues of Shakespeare's play takes place.

Note that Juliet's House is always very crowded and you may have to queue to visit it or take a picture with the front of the palace. If you want to visit the museum, the best option is to buy your tickets in advance online.

Interesting facts

• Price... Tickets to the museum start at approximately €6 per person.
• Where... Piazzetta Navona, Verona.
• How to get there... You can get there on bus lines 11, 13 and 52 or on the Verona tourist bus.

Two streets away from Juliet's House is the Torre dei Lamberti, which is an 84-metre high medieval civil tower that was once considered one of the tallest buildings in the city and is now one of the panoramic points for viewing the city's skyline and doubles as a clock tower. In fact, it is one of the stops if you book the guided tour of Verona.

The Torre dei Lamberti is striking for the complexity of its construction, the materials used and the two bells at the top, one that signals fires and the time of day and the other that is used to call the people to arms to defend the city. If you visit it you can also discover the spiral staircase that takes you to the top and a lift that was added at the beginning of the 20th century.

From the Torre dei Lamberti you will be able to see a wide panoramic view of the city, including the Adige river reaches, the Castle of San Pietro, the old town, the Arena and the Cathedral. If you plan to visit Verona in summer you will also be able to see the first mountain range of the Alps.

Interesting facts

• Price... Tickets to access the belvedere have an initial cost of approximately €6 per person.
• Where... Via della Costa 1, Verona.
• How to get there... You can get there on bus lines 11, 13 and 52 or on the Verona tourist bus.

One of the best things to do in Verona is to enjoy Italian food, and so I suggest, once you have finished your visit to the Torre dei Lamberti viewpoint, that you go for lunch in Piazza delle Erbe, which is one of the central points of the city and is only two streets away. It is also one of the places to visit if you book a guided tour of Verona.

Piazza delle Erbe is one of the most famous public spaces and if you plan to visit Verona at Christmas time you will see that a giant Christmas tree is installed there every year. It is also known for being the site of some of the best restaurants. Since you won't be able to do a food tour in Verona due to lack of time , you can at least visit some of the places that are usually included in the food tours, such as:

• Ristorante Maffei.
• Billy Paletta.
• Osteria del Bugiardo.

In the Piazza delle Erbe area you will find restaurants of all kinds and menus of all prices, so you can choose the option that best suits your palate. If after lunch you also want to try the traditional Italian gelato, you can opt for two of the most famous gelaterias in the streets near Piazza delle Erbe:

• The famous Gelateria Impero.
• Amorino.

After lunch in the Piazza delle Erbe area I suggest you move towards the Adige side of the river to the Verona Cathedral, which is located six streets away from the square. You can take a 10-minute walk, take the bus line 70 or book the Verona tourist bus.

The Verona Cathedral stands out for its simplicity, its Romanesque-style structure and the striking façade with its gabled roof. The interior houses Renaissance frescoes and sculptures and the altar is built from the remains of the two churches that formerly occupied the site and were demolished by an earthquake in the 11th century. It has an unfinished bell tower and between the central aisles you can make out stained glass windows of a single blue colour.

Although the Cathedral is one of the most important Catholic buildings in the city because of its investiture, it is not one of the most visited churches in Verona, as that place is occupied by the convents and chapels mentioned by Shakespeare in Romeo and Juliet. You can visit Verona Cathedral every day and also go to the religious hospices on Sundays.

Interesting facts

• Price... Admission to the Cathedral is free.
• Where... Piazza Vescovado, Verona.
• How to get there... You can get there on bus lines 70 or on the Verona tourist bus.

Very close to the Cathedral, four streets away, is the Stone Bridge, which is one of the eight Roman bridges that crossed the Adige River in antiquity and is the only one still standing today, even if it was partly rebuilt after the end of World War II. You can reach the bridge by a 10-minute walk or by bus on line 70. You can also book a bike tour of Verona.

The Stone Bridge is not only the oldest bridge in the city, but it is also one of the protagonists of Verona's skyline, which stands out for the medieval constructions and the Roman influence of its main buildings. From this bridge you can take some of the best pictures of the city and you can also photograph yourself on it.

The importance of the Stone Bridge was central in antiquity, as it linked the old part of the city with the Castle of San Pietro, which crowned the city's resistance against invaders. That is why the bridge is included in most of the guided tours that cover the history of the city, even in those that are aimed at children, so if you plan to visit Verona with children, visiting it can be an ideal option, as it is very striking.

Interesting facts

• Price... The visit to the bridge is free.
• Where... Stone Bridge, Verona.
• How to get there... You can get there on bus lines 70 or on the Verona tourist bus.

On the other side of the bridge is the Roman Theatre, which is over 2,000 years old and is one of the oldest buildings still standing with its original structure in Verona, without having been rebuilt throughout its history . The theatre, which hosts concerts and shows, also houses the Archaeological Museum

The museum is one of the stops if you book the guided tour of Verona and is an archaeological exhibition centre that includes more than 600 works on display indoors and another 200 outdoors. Among the items you can discover there are inscriptions, sculptures, mosaics, bronzes, vases, stelae and funerary altars, Etruscan urns and Greek inscriptions, as well as ceramic bowls and metal furniture.

A visit to this museum will be of interest to you if you are a history buff, although you will also be able to find curious elements to find out what life was like in the city during Roman times and how social customs changed during the successive conquests. Without a doubt, the archaeology museum is one of the best museums in Verona

Interesting facts

• Price... Entrance to the museum has an initial cost of approximately 4,5 € per person.
• Where... Regaste Redentore 2, Verona.
• How to get there... Buses 11, 12, 31, 32, 33 and 90 and Verona tourist buses.

A few metres from the Roman Theatre, high above the city, is the Castel San Pietro, one of the highest points in the metropolitan area of Verona and one of the best things to see and do in Verona during a day trip. From the lookout point you have a wide panoramic view of the city and its surroundings. To access the main viewpoint, at the top of the castle, you can use the stairs or the San Pietro funicular.

The main attractions of the city that you can see from the Castle of San Pietro are the flowery houses on the banks of the Adige River, the different colours, textures and materials of the Stone Bridge and the narrow streets of the old part of Verona, which is one of the most picturesque parts of the city.

From the height of the viewpoint, if you go up during the last shift, you can also see one of the best sunsets in Italy, so I recommend that you leave the visit to the Castle of San Pietro for the end of the tour, so that the sunset catches you watching it from the top. You can get there comfortably if you book the bus with free stops around Verona.

Interesting facts

• Price... Entrance to the castle and the viewpoint has an initial cost of approximately €10 per person.
• Where... San Pietro Castle, Verona.
• How to get there... You can get there on bus lines 21, 22, 23, 24 and 61 or on Verona's tourist buses.

Towards the end of the tour I suggest you get off the Castel San Pietro, cross the Stone Bridge and start a slow walk along the banks of the Adige. If you plan to visit Verona in January you 'll find that the cool breeze from the river will help you beat the heat and if you're visiting during the cooler season a light coat will help protect you, but it's worth starting to say goodbye to the city from the river.

If you still feel like walking around the city you can opt for a stroll through the old part of the city and if not you can head straight to Via Mazzini for dinner at one of the restaurants in the area. I recommend you choose Le Vecete or Il Bacaro dell'Arena, but you can certainly find other interesting places.

You can say goodbye to the city by going to a local bar or café for a coffee or tasting some of the local desserts, which are very tasty.