Things to do · Verona · Italy
17 best things to do in Verona
17 sights and experiences ranked for a first visit, with honest notes on time, cost and crowds.
Updated By the AMZBooking editorial team
Photo: Didier Descouens, CC BY-SA 4.0
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Quick answer
The essential sights in Verona are Arena di Verona, Opera at the Arena and Piazza delle Erbe. Of the 17 picks below, 5 are free, 5 work on a rainy day and 5 suit children. Allow about 3 days to see the highlights without rushing.
Key facts
- Top sight
- Arena di Verona
- Free sights
- 5
- Good on a rainy day
- Castelvecchio and Ponte Scaligero
- Time to see the highlights
- 3 days
At a glance
| Sight | Area | Time needed | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arena di Verona | Piazza Bra and the Arena | 1 hour | Low cost |
| Opera at the Arena | Piazza Bra and the Arena | 3–4 hours | Mid-priced |
| Piazza delle Erbe | Città Antica (Piazza delle Erbe) | 45 minutes | Free |
| Juliet's House | Città Antica (Piazza delle Erbe) | 30–45 minutes | Low cost |
| Torre dei Lamberti | Città Antica (Piazza delle Erbe) | 45 minutes | Low cost |
| Piazza dei Signori and the Scaliger Tombs | Città Antica (Piazza delle Erbe) | 45 minutes | Free |
| Castelvecchio and Ponte Scaligero | Castelvecchio | 1.5–2 hours | Low cost |
| Ponte Pietra | Veronetta | 15 minutes | Free |
| Castel San Pietro viewpoint | Veronetta | 1 hour | Free |
| Roman Theatre and Archaeological Museum | Veronetta | 1–1.5 hours | Low cost |
| Basilica of San Zeno Maggiore | San Zeno | 45 minutes | Low cost |
| Verona Cathedral | Città Antica (Piazza delle Erbe) | 45 minutes | Low cost |
| Sant'Anastasia | Città Antica (Piazza delle Erbe) | 30–45 minutes | Low cost |
| Giardino Giusti | Veronetta | 1 hour | Low cost |
| Juliet's Tomb and Fresco Museum | San Francesco al Corso | 45 minutes | Low cost |
| Porta Borsari | Città Antica (Piazza delle Erbe) | 15 minutes | Free |
| Gardaland | Castelnuovo del Garda | Full day | Expensive |
The 17 best things to do
Historic site · Piazza Bra and the Arena
1.Arena di Verona
Built around 30 AD, the Arena is one of the best-preserved Roman amphitheatres, with its pinkish limestone tiers almost intact, although most of the outer ring fell in an earthquake in 1117. Only a four-arch fragment of that outer wall, the 'Ala', survives. By day you can walk the tiers and corridors; on summer nights it becomes an open-air opera house.
Climb to the top tiers for a view over Piazza Bra and the rooftops; daytime access can be reduced on opera days while sets are prepared.
- Time needed
- 1 hour
- Cost
- Low cost
- Iconic
- History
- Kids
- Architecture
- Photo spot
Experience · Piazza Bra and the Arena
2.Opera at the Arena
The Arena di Verona Opera Festival, held since 1913, stages large-scale productions of operas such as Aida, Carmen and Nabucco on summer evenings. Audiences sit on numbered seats in the stalls or on the unreserved stone steps, and the tradition of lighting small candles on the steps at dusk is part of the experience.
On the stone steps, rent or bring a cushion, arrive early for a good spot and pack a layer; performances often end after midnight.
- Time needed
- 3–4 hours
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- Book ahead
- Book weeks ahead for weekend performances and the most popular operas; the unreserved step seats are the least expensive.
- After dark
- Couples
- Iconic
- Art
Landmark · Città Antica (Piazza delle Erbe)
3.Piazza delle Erbe
Built on the site of the Roman forum, Verona's old market square is ringed by the frescoed Mazzanti houses, the Baroque Palazzo Maffei and the Casa dei Mercanti, with the Madonna Verona fountain, crowned by a Roman statue, in the centre. Market stalls still trade by day, and the square fills with aperitivo tables in the evening.
For aperitivo, sit at one of the cafés on the square's edges and order a spritz or a glass of Soave as the light fades.
- Time needed
- 45 minutes
- Cost
- Free
- Iconic
- Free
- History
- Food
- After dark
- Photo spot
Historic site · Città Antica (Piazza delle Erbe)
4.Juliet's House
This medieval house on Via Cappello, once owned by the Dal Cappello family whose name resembles Capulet, has been promoted as Juliet's home since the 20th century, when the famous balcony was added. The courtyard, with its bronze statue of Juliet, is one of the city's most crowded spots, and the rooms inside can be visited with a ticket.
Come early or late in the day to see the courtyard without a dense crowd; writing on the walls or leaving padlocks is banned.
- Time needed
- 30–45 minutes
- Cost
- Low cost
- Iconic
- Couples
- Photo spot
Viewpoint · Città Antica (Piazza delle Erbe)
5.Torre dei Lamberti
Rising about 84 metres above Piazza delle Erbe, this medieval tower was begun in the 12th century and topped with an octagonal belfry in the 15th. A lift covers most of the way, with a final flight of stairs to the top, where the view takes in the Arena, the bends of the Adige and the Lessini mountains.
Go late in the afternoon for warm light over the terracotta roofs.
- Time needed
- 45 minutes
- Cost
- Low cost
- Views
- Photo spot
- History
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Historic site · Città Antica (Piazza delle Erbe)
6.Piazza dei Signori and the Scaliger Tombs
Just behind Piazza delle Erbe, the quieter Piazza dei Signori was the seat of Verona's rulers, with a statue of Dante, who was sheltered here in exile, the Renaissance Loggia del Consiglio and the Palazzo della Ragione with its outdoor Scala della Ragione staircase. Next door, the Scaliger Tombs are elaborate Gothic monuments to the della Scala lords who ruled Verona in the 13th and 14th centuries.
Look at the wrought-iron fence around the Scaliger Tombs: it is decorated with ladders, the family emblem ('scala' means ladder).
- Time needed
- 45 minutes
- Cost
- Free
- History
- Architecture
- Free
- Art
Castle · Castelvecchio
7.Castelvecchio and Ponte Scaligero
Cangrande II della Scala built this brick fortress on the Adige in the 1350s, together with the fortified Ponte Scaligero across the river. Inside, the civic museum, redesigned by the architect Carlo Scarpa from the late 1950s, shows medieval sculpture and Veronese painting, including works by Pisanello, Mantegna and Giovanni Bellini, along walkways threaded through the castle walls.
Walk across the Ponte Scaligero, rebuilt after it was blown up in 1945, for the best views of the castle's swallowtail battlements.
- Time needed
- 1.5–2 hours
- Cost
- Low cost
- History
- Art
- Rainy day
- Kids
- Architecture
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Landmark · Veronetta
8.Ponte Pietra
Verona's oldest bridge dates from the 1st century BC; its arches were blown up by retreating German troops in 1945 and rebuilt in the 1950s using stones recovered from the river. Its mix of white Roman stone and medieval brick frames views of the Adige and the cypress-covered hill of Castel San Pietro.
Cross at dusk and look back towards the cathedral's bell tower as the lights of the old town come on.
- Time needed
- 15 minutes
- Cost
- Free
- Free
- History
- Photo spot
- Couples
- After dark
Viewpoint · Veronetta
1.Castel San Pietro viewpoint
The hill above Ponte Pietra, crowned by a 19th-century Austrian barracks on the site of earlier castles, gives the classic panorama of Verona's river bend, church towers and red roofs. Reach it by steep stone steps from the riverside or by a short funicular from beside the Roman Theatre.
Come for sunset, when the old town turns gold, and walk down by the steps for changing views.
- Time needed
- 1 hour
- Cost
- Free
- Views
- Free
- Couples
- Photo spot
- Kids
Historic site · Veronetta
2.Roman Theatre and Archaeological Museum
Built into the hillside below Castel San Pietro in the 1st century BC, the Roman Theatre's restored seating still hosts summer theatre, including Shakespeare in Italian. Above it, the archaeological museum in a former convent, reached by a lift, displays Roman mosaics, bronzes and sculpture with views across the river.
Combine it with the funicular up to Castel San Pietro, which starts from the same street.
- Time needed
- 1–1.5 hours
- Cost
- Low cost
- History
- Views
- Art
Religious site · San Zeno
3.Basilica of San Zeno Maggiore
One of the finest Romanesque churches in northern Italy, San Zeno has a rose window known as the Wheel of Fortune, a porch flanked by marble reliefs and bronze doors with 48 panels of biblical scenes. Inside, Andrea Mantegna's San Zeno Altarpiece stands on the raised high altar above the crypt that holds the saint's remains, and a peaceful cloister opens off the nave.
A combined ticket covers San Zeno, Sant'Anastasia, the Duomo and San Fermo if you plan to visit several churches.
- Time needed
- 45 minutes
- Cost
- Low cost
- History
- Art
- Architecture
- Rainy day
Religious site · Città Antica (Piazza delle Erbe)
4.Verona Cathedral
The Duomo combines a Romanesque facade and porch on carved griffins with a Gothic interior, and its first chapel on the left holds Titian's Assumption of the Virgin. The complex includes the baptistery of San Giovanni in Fonte, with an octagonal font carved from a single block of marble, and excavated remains of earlier churches.
The cathedral sits in a quiet corner of the river bend; continue to Ponte Pietra, a couple of minutes away.
- Time needed
- 45 minutes
- Cost
- Low cost
- Art
- History
- Architecture
- Rainy day
Religious site · Città Antica (Piazza delle Erbe)
5.Sant'Anastasia
Verona's largest church is a Dominican Gothic basilica with a soaring brick interior, painted vaults and two holy-water stoups held up by carved hunchbacks (gobbi). Above the arch of the Pellegrini Chapel, Pisanello's fresco of Saint George and the Princess, painted in the 1430s, is a masterpiece of late Gothic painting.
Use your phone's zoom for Pisanello's fresco, which is high above the chapel arch.
- Time needed
- 30–45 minutes
- Cost
- Low cost
- Art
- History
- Architecture
- Rainy day
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Garden · Veronetta
6.Giardino Giusti
Laid out in the 16th century behind Palazzo Giusti, this Renaissance garden has an avenue of tall cypresses, geometric box hedges, statues, grottoes and a small hedge maze. Steps lead up to a belvedere with a carved stone mask and a view over the whole city.
Let children loose in the maze, then climb to the belvedere for one of the quietest views in Verona.
- Time needed
- 1 hour
- Cost
- Low cost
- Couples
- Kids
- Views
- Outdoors
- Off the beaten path
Museum · San Francesco al Corso
7.Juliet's Tomb and Fresco Museum
In the former monastery of San Francesco al Corso, a crypt holds an empty medieval sarcophagus presented as Juliet's tomb, a romantic pilgrimage spot since the 19th century. The cloister and upper rooms house the G.B. Cavalcaselle Fresco Museum, with frescoes detached from Verona's palaces and churches.
It is far quieter than Juliet's House and makes a more reflective stop for couples.
- Time needed
- 45 minutes
- Cost
- Low cost
- Couples
- Art
- Off the beaten path
- Rainy day
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Historic site · Città Antica (Piazza delle Erbe)
8.Porta Borsari
This double-arched Roman gate of the 1st century AD was the main entrance to Roman Verona on the Via Postumia, and its white limestone facade still carries an inscription of the emperor Gallienus. Corso Porta Borsari, the shopping street behind it, follows the old Roman road towards Piazza delle Erbe.
Continue beyond the gate along Corso Cavour, lined with Renaissance palazzi, on your way to Castelvecchio.
- Time needed
- 15 minutes
- Cost
- Free
- History
- Free
- Architecture
Theme park · Castelnuovo del Garda
9.Gardaland
Italy's best-known theme park stands near the southeast shore of Lake Garda, about 25 km west of Verona, with roller coasters, water rides, themed areas for small children and the adjoining Sea Life aquarium. It is close to Peschiera del Garda station, from which a free shuttle bus runs to the park in season.
Go on a weekday outside Italian school holidays to cut queue times, and buy tickets online rather than at the gate.
- Time needed
- Full day
- Cost
- Expensive
- Kids
- Active
- Outdoors
Pick by interest
| Interest | Best picks |
|---|---|
| Art and museums | Opera at the Arena, Piazza dei Signori and the Scaliger Tombs, Castelvecchio and Ponte Scaligero and Roman Theatre and Archaeological Museum |
| History | Arena di Verona, Piazza delle Erbe, Torre dei Lamberti and Piazza dei Signori and the Scaliger Tombs |
| Views | Torre dei Lamberti, Castel San Pietro viewpoint, Roman Theatre and Archaeological Museum and Giardino Giusti |
| Outdoors and nature | Giardino Giusti and Gardaland |
| Food and markets | Piazza delle Erbe |
| After dark | Opera at the Arena, Piazza delle Erbe and Ponte Pietra |
| With children | Arena di Verona, Castelvecchio and Ponte Scaligero, Castel San Pietro viewpoint and Giardino Giusti |
| On a rainy day | Castelvecchio and Ponte Scaligero, Basilica of San Zeno Maggiore, Verona Cathedral and Sant'Anastasia |
What to book ahead
- Opera at the Arena: Book weeks ahead for weekend performances and the most popular operas; the unreserved step seats are the least expensive.
Plan the rest of your trip
Questions travellers ask
+What is the number one thing to do in Verona?
Arena di Verona. Built around 30 AD, the Arena is one of the best-preserved Roman amphitheatres, with its pinkish limestone tiers almost intact, although most of the outer ring fell in an earthquake in 1117.
+What can you do for free in Verona?
Piazza delle Erbe, Piazza dei Signori and the Scaliger Tombs, Ponte Pietra, Castel San Pietro viewpoint and Porta Borsari. More free things to do.
+What is there to do in Verona when it rains?
Head indoors to Castelvecchio and Ponte Scaligero, Basilica of San Zeno Maggiore, Verona Cathedral and Sant'Anastasia.
+What is there to do in Verona at night?
Opera at the Arena, Piazza delle Erbe and Ponte Pietra are best after dark.