55. Verona, Italy. Top things to do in Verona Italy. Visit the Verona Arena, Juliette's balcony, Castelvecchio, Castel San Pietro and ancient plazas.
Ciao and welcome to Episode 55 where we are telling you all about historic river city of Verona.
Now you might know Verona for a famous Balcony from a Shakespeare play or the Verona Arena which is older than the Colosseum.
We do tell you about those, but first we will give you the grand tour – as we explore all around the old city from Castelvecchio and its famous bridge, across the raging Adige river and up the funicular to Castel San Pietro for the most incredible views of the whole city. Lyle is blown away with some art all about Dante in the Castel – who knew he was such an art connoisseur?
Of course, we have drinks with a view before finding our way back down the hill to the incredible Duomo. The artwork in this church is incredible.
Juliette’s balcony
Come with us as we wander the famous Piazza Erbe and Piazza Bra and find a fabulous bar where the locals were lining up to get in – luckily we were there early and snagged a great table.
Listen to the end to hear about the live concert inside the Verona Arena we bought tickets to and the famous singer we saw (here’s a hint – they call him Italy’s Tom Jones) and what happened after we left the arena.
Enjoy episode 55 all about Verona
Shownotes and pictures below
We arrived to Verona by train. We caught a taxi to our accommodation in the old city. The apartment was in a fabulous location only 100 metres from Piazza Bra and the Verona Arena. The Piazza has many restaurants on one side, the Arena on another and many large government buildings on the other sides. There is a road that you can catch a bus or taxi on. The plaza is full of life and people eating gelato and strolling.
Another favourite plaza in town is called Piazza Erbe. This is a very pretty square with statues and fountains and the Lamberti Tower. Once again the streets are lined with lovely restaurants - and gelato shops. The famous Juliette’s balcony is only a 5 minute walk from the piazza.
We did a tourist train ride around the city to get our bearings and check all the places we wanted to see. This left from Piazza Bra and was a 45 minute ride. We saw some quirky things on our ride and then we wandered around to see some more shops around the old city.
We decided to walk to Castelvecchio and see inside the castle and walk across the ancient bridge. The castle is now a museum full of religious artworks.
Next we took the funicular up to Castel San Pietro for the most amazing views of the the whole city. You can see for miles and of course it is the best place to see the Adige River and the ancient bridges that cross it. The tower of the Duomo is a stand out feature of the landscape.
While we were at the Castel San Pietro, we went inside to see the free exhibition all about Dante’s inferno. The paintings were outstanding and tell the story of Dante imagining himself going through hell to reach “the Nation of the Blessed”.
We decided to walk back down to the river instead of taking the funicular. We stopped for some selfies on the way. There were lots of flowers, houses and views to look at all the way down.
When we reached the bottom and were back at the river it was only a short stroll to the Duomo. The basilica was even more impressive inside that it was out. It is 153m by 90m and from floor to dome is also 90m. The original church was destroyed by an earthquake in 1117. The current church dates back to the 15th century. It has a nave, and two aisles divided by tall pilasters in red Verano marble.
Exploring the streets of Verona is a fabulous way to spend time in this vibrant city. There are many pretty shops, and many upmarket fashion stores as well. Also you will see very quaint little cafes and bars and some very modern ones as well. It is a great mix of old and new and a pleasure to spend time in.
One of the highlights of our time in Verona was attending a live concert at the Verona Arena. We bought tickets to see Al Bano (who neither of us had heard of) because we thought it would be a great way to see the inside of the Arena. It was fabulous. The lights, the acoustics, the music and everyone knowing every word of the songs. The artists spoke a lot in between songs which of course we didn’t understand. We left at 11.30pm when we thought the show was finishing up. We went outside in the Piazza Bra and had a wine and all the tables were full of people singing along (as you could hear everything) and even up dancing. We went home and could still hear the music at 1.00am. It was a great party atmosphere.
Of course we enjoyed a lot of delicious food, wine, spritzes and gelato. Luckily the meal sizes aren’t too big and we are walking well over 10,000 steps most days.
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