Fair Verona: Beautiful Things To See & Do In Shakespeare's Famous Italian City Of (Starcrossed) Love

Loving Verona! **

​Italy is a country legendary for romance.  Italian men and women are widely regarded as physically beautiful, culturally elegant and passionate. The Italian countryside is photographed and celebrated by visitors from all over the world for its exquisite terrain and architecture. In film and in life, Italian food is delicious... and Italian affairs of the heart have a reputation for depth and excitement.

Verona is one Italian city well known for love, romance and culture. William Shakespeare set two successful plays in Verona, the most popular of which is (drumroll, please) "Romeo and Juliet"!

Located in the Veneto region (northeastern Italy) on the banks of the Adige river, Verona is relatively small in contrast with larger metropolitan cities like Milan and Rome. Its population is estimated to be around 250,000 people - even smaller in August when local temperatures reach 95F (35C) and most businesses have shuttered for vacation.  Even then however there is plenty to see and do in Verona.

If you decide to travel to Venice or Lake Garda, consider devoting one day to Verona.  Here are our recommendations for a romantic, fun experience!

Six Wonderful Ways To Spend A Day in Verona

1) Summer Opera Festival in Verona's Roman Arena
2) 'Traveling' Performance of Romeo & Juliet
3) Walk Thru Old Town to the Ponte Pietra 
4) Enjoy A Gelato in Piazza Delle Erbe
5) Visit Juliet's Balcony & Juliet's Tomb
6) Check Out Love Locks Along the Adige River

​**Photo Credit: @InspiredTravelPhotography (Instagram)​

Summer Opera Festival in Verona's Roman Arena
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"Aida!" Live performance at Arena di Verona, August 2018.

The Arena di Verona Summer Opera Festival is out-of-this-world cool. When else in your life will you climb up an ancient Roman amphitheater to watch a live performance sitting on marble seats that have been used for nearly 2,000 years?  Whether you're an opera fan or not, it's quite an experience!

The Arena was built in 30AD. Games and spectacles that took place there were hugely popular! People came from all over to see them. Originally the amphitheater could seat up to 30,000 spectators.  (For safety reasons, seating today is offered to only 15,000.)  

The outside of the building was originally made of white and pink limestone which must have looked spectacular! Its facade crumbled during a major earthquake 900+ years ago and those stones were later used to build other parts of Verona.  Even so, the Arena remains majestic.
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Remnants of the original outer wall, Verona Arena.

Verona's Arena has been used for opera performances ever since 1913 - except during World War I and World War II.  Each summer between June and August, four to six operas are performed. 
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As of August 2018 tickets range between 25 euro and 275 euro per person depending on how close you want to sit to the stage. Buying general admission seats gives you access to the ancient stone steps, which are not individual seats. This is the cheapest way to see the opera (you can rent cushions to give your bottom more padding). The steps honestly give you some of the best views in the arena! Candles are passed out to the audience and lit after sunset, as the opera begins.  

Our family enjoyed perfect views from the cheap seats and we were honestly comfortable perched on the marble steps on our rented cushions.  The heat of the sun soaks into the marble all day and then radiates back (like an ancient seat warmer) to the audience all night. Even at eleven pm, we were comfortable and toasty.

The acoustics of the Arena are superb. Two out of three Aventura children pronounced the opera we saw ("Aida") to be 'fantastic' and 'magical'.  "I'm loving this, Mom!" confided my eldest, age 13.

Highly recommended!
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​'Traveling' Performance of Romeo & Juliet
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Oh, the real-life romance of it all!

Think you've seen "Romeo and Juliet"? I can almost guarantee you haven't seen it like this!  Imagine watching the most famous romantic tragedy in the world performed live in the actual streets and squares of Verona where the play was originally set! 

In good weather fans of Romeo and Juliet can watch live 'traveling' performances which begin in "Juliet's courtyard" off of Via Capelli, continue on her celebrated balcony and then move with the actors through the main streets of Verona - passing through many of the most celebrated places in the heart of the old town - before ending in the Teatro Nuovo for the play's final act!  SO MUCH FUN!

This live performance has been happening since 1989 and is very popular with Italian and international audiences. 

Since 2015 (thanks to a collaboration with the King's Theatre of Portsmouth) the show has been presented in two languages - Italian and English.  The performance begins at 9pm with pre-show drinks at 8:30pm. Tickets start at 22 euro.  Make sure to ask about the family package!

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​Walk Thru Old Town to the Ponte Pietra
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Checking out the view from the Ponte Pietra.

"You must see Ponte Pietra!" exclaimed our AirBNB hostess, "You will have the nicest view in the city!"  

Ponte Pietra is the oldest and arguably most beautiful bridge in Verona, dating all the way back to 100AD!  The arched bridge was built by Romans and has withstood nearly 2,000 years of daily travel - though 2/3 of it was bombed out during World War II and later rebuilt.  

The view from the bridge is particularly romantic looking toward the mountains above the old part of town.  

Thanks to a conveniently positioned gelateria and many local restaurants, you can make a visit to this bridge fit smoothly into any kind of plan or date!  The view is well worth the walk!

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​Enjoy A Gelato in Piazza Delle Erbe

Piazza Delle Erbe

This sweet square was Verona's forum or meeting place back in Ancient Rome.  These days it's famous for being the site of the Torre de Lamberti bell tower and the frescoed houses of the Mazzanti. There is also a cool ancient fountain dating back to the year 1368 and a white marble column topped with St. Mark's Lion (symbolizing the republic of Venice). 

A number of conveniently placed benches frame this lovely square, any one of which would be a perfect place to relax and enjoy a cup or cone of gelato while taking in the still-splendid view of the lovely though fading towers and frescoes. You and your sweetheart can relax and watch the world pass by for a few minutes or hours. 

Piazza Delle Erbe really gives travelers a glimpse of the splendor of Verona in years past!  


​Visit Juliet's Balcony & Juliet's Tomb
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Angel was excited about the tomb because she knows the story is fiction :)

My daughter and I were enchanted with the notion of visiting the homes where the fictional character of Giulietta Capuleti (aka Juliet Capulet) supposedly lived.  "La Casa di Giulietta" turns out to be a place where couples and romantics journey from all over the world simply to celebrate the idea of love.  

​Visitors enter the courtyard of the house through a hallway that's covered from top to toe in love notes and letters. Entering the courtyard you'll see the balcony where Romeo purportedly climbed up to steal a kiss from Juliet.

Throngs of tourists cluster at the base of the balcony to photograph their friends or loved ones standing up there. If you want to pay the entrance fee, you can stand on the balcony yourself.  It's higher than it looks!  That must have been some climb, Romeo!

Angel and I thought the experience looked silly and fun, so we paid the tiny fee to enter the museum and my son offered to take our photo. We knew we were basically entering a movie set but we had a great time smiling from Juliet's balcony!

There wasn't much to the actual museum: a statue, some costumes and sets from Franco Zeffererelli's movie, plus some traditional furniture and dishware.  

Most of the people waiting in line were couples waiting to smooch on the balcony while their friends took pictures.

Angel and I had a fabulous time and laughed at ourselves a lot.

Juliet's Tomb in Via Luigi da Porto felt a bit more 'real' and also a bit sadder.  On the grounds of a decent fresco museum there is a small subterranean crypt. If you descend the steps into the cold stone room you'll see an empty sarcophagus that has been, for several hundred years, a place of pilgrimage for superfans of the story of Romeo and Juliet.  For reasons lost to history this empty tomb has a reputation for being the burial place of Juliet and her love (even though they were fictional characters).

Romantics have visited this tomb for centuries, sometimes even breaking off little bits of the sarcophagus to take home, which is now guarded.  The museum even performs weddings here! 

Experiencing Juliet's tomb was honestly not as fun for us the balcony house experience, but it did feel a lot more genuine and sad... so depending on what kind of love story you're looking for - hopeful or tragic - you could visit one or both of these places to pay your respects to Juliet! 


Check Out Love Locks Along the Adige River

Great place for a romantic stroll!

A love lock is a padlock that a couple attaches to a bridge to represent their love and commitment to each other. Over the past four years our family has seen many of these locks on bridges all throughout Europe. While many people hate them because they can damage beautiful old bridges, there is something moving about seeing hundreds of love locks lining the Adige River decorated with the names and vows of lovers from all over the world.  That's a lot of hope and commitment!

It could be romantic to take a sunset stroll hand-in-hand with your own beloved alongside the Adige, enjoying the beautiful view of hills and city while checking out the myriad sweet love locks fastened securely to the river's fences and bridges. Who knows, maybe you'll be inspired to make your own declaration of love there too!

Whatever you choose to do in Verona - whether you are traveling alone or with a partner - we wish you a marvelous, romantic, fun time!
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Life is short.  Get out there and choose your own adventure! :)
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Balcony scene displayed at Juliet's Tomb, August 2018.

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