Get your bearings with a cappuccino in Piazza delle Erbe, the original Roman forum. The market stalls and cafe terraces buzz with trade and tittle-tattle just as they did in ancient times. One of the wealthiest cities in northern Italy, Verona has invested in the preservation of past glories. Imposing Roman gateways open onto thoroughfares hemmed with Renaissance palaces. Medieval churches built from local pink-and-white stone shield delicate frescoes. And for sheer drama, no opera house in the world can compare with the towering arches and perfectly preserved terraces of the Roman Arena.
Tradition also triumphs in Veronese kitchens, where earthy specialities such as horse-meat stew are savoured with robust Veneto wines such as Valpolicella and Bardolino. But the city has a present tense, too. Contemporary bars, name-in-lights designer stores and modernist Michelin-starred eateries lend it the air of a mini-Milan.
If you’re following in the footsteps of Shakespeare’s star-cross’d lovers, the city will satisfy even the most incurable romantic – yet its roots lie in hard-headed classical reason.
Die-straight Roman streets, two amphitheatres and the Archaeological Museum make it a must for history buffs, too. Whether you’re mad for love or longing for logic, you’re guaranteed to fall head over heels for Verona.
Quick facts
£1.30 BUYS: A glass of Prosecco di Valdobbiadene (below), a tongue-tingling spumante.
£8 BUYS: A three-day Verona Card, which gives you access to museums and churches, plus free bus travel.
EAT UP: Long ago, local babies were weaned on peara (purée of bread, pepper and marrowbone). It still gets served for Sunday lunch with boiled meat.
GORE BLIMEY: Bloodthirsty feuds à la Romeo and Juliet were the stuff of life – and death – in Renaissance Verona. One family boiled up the liver of their enemy’s son and served him for dinner. GNOCCO ROCKS: Europe’s oldest carnival celebrates Verona’s love affair with the potato dumpling every February. On Gnocco Friday, the Gnocco King parades around on a donkey, brandishing a huge bit of pasta on a fork.
AGE OF ROMANCE
- Once the Roman forum, Piazza delle Erbe has witnessed centuries of history. Today, Balkan accordionists squeeze out Cole Porter classics for cafe crowds, under the gaze of palaces adorned with statues, frescoes and crenellations. Just around the corner in Piazza dei Signori, you’ll find a statue of Dante: it pays homage to the high priest of Italian romance, who found refuge in Verona during the 14th century, after his Florentine patrons condemned him to exile.
- Top stop for Veronese Valentines is Casa di Giulietta (23 Via Capello; 00 39 045 803 4303; £3). The honey-stoned 13th-century house once belonged to the Cappello family, and the similarity of their name to Capulet inspired Antonio Avena, director of Verona’s museums in the 1930s, to declare it Juliet’s house. It’s said that if you rub the breasts of the bronze Juliet statue in the courtyard you’ll be lucky in love. We say: pass on the grope, but do take a peek inside the house, which is daubed with frescoes narrating Shakespeare’s tragic tale. Also take a look up at the famous balcony: very pretty but very fake (it was added in the 1930s), and improbably high. (No wonder it all ended in tears – Juliet probably couldn’t hear a single word Romeo was saying.)
- Also from Avena’s 1066-and-all-that school of history, yet enjoying a certain allure among tourists, is Tomba di Giulietta (35 Via del Pontiere; 00 39 045 800 0361; £2). Housed in the echoing, empty crypt of the San Francesco al Corso convent, Juliet’s solitary, roughly hewn tomb of rose-pink stone is scrawled with graffiti by lovelorn Italian adolescents. (Did Jackie love Marco for always? You can only hope.) Be warned, however: a visit to these serene, pine-scented cloisters might tempt you, heaven forbid, to give up on passion altogether, and get thee to a monastery
Gear up for a romantic evening with a sunset stroll along Via Sottoriva. Once the artisans’ quarter, the butter-coloured arcades still shelter quaint watering holes – at Osteria Sottoriva (Where to Eat), for example, cashmere-clad crowds clutter up the cobbles with their mopeds, the Valpolicella tastes like velvet, and the meatballs deserve a medal.
CLASSICAL PERSPECTIVES
- The sense of space is overwhelming when you perch on the time-worn tiers of the Roman Arena (Piazza Bra; 00 39 045 800 3204; £3). The sinister black tunnels that burrow beneath the auditorium once spat out lions, tigers and gladiators. Today, Aida and Carmen come to an equally sticky end during the summer opera festival (June 20 to August 31; for concert tickets, call 00 39 045 800 5151 or visit www.arena.it). Still, the stage sets are sumptuous and the solitary quartet of arches (all that remains of the outer wall) peering over the auditorium reminds you that the place was even bigger in ancient times.
- Built in the year AD1, the ancient Roman road Corso Porta Bórsari is framed by Renaissance and medieval palaces garnished with Roman funerary inscriptions and carvings. These days, designer showrooms, such as Dolce & Gabbana, have colonised the ground floors; but don’t miss the Gorgon’s head carved on the corner of Via Valerio Catullo.
Experience a Shakespearean soliloquy under the stars at the Roman Theatre (2 Via Rigaste Redentore; 00 39 045 800 0360; £2). The summer performance festival runs between June and September – for tickets, call 00 39 045 807 7500 or visit www.veroneseestateteatrale.it. Aside from the actors strutting their stuff, there’s real drama in the spellbinding river and rooftop views beyond the stage. And perched above the theatre’s crescent of stone terraces, the Archaeological Museum (details as for theatre) delivers a fascinating glimpse into classical culture. Hunt down the mosaic that depicts a gladiatorial scrap in exquisite bloodthirsty detail.
- Presiding in striped splendour over a little piazza just outside the centre, the Basilica di San Zeno Maggiore (2 Piazza San Zeno; 00 39 045 592813; £1.70) is a showstopper. Don’t miss the Biblical scenes cast with breathtaking precision on the bronze door panels. Then pay homage to the magnificent triptych by 15th-century Renaissance master Andrea Mantegna above the altar. In marked contrast to the rosy complexions found in similar paintings in Venice, the icy cheeks of Mantegna’s Madonna and Child testify to the influence of cold-blooded German artists on Verona’s painters.
WHERE TO STAY
NO EXPENSE SPARED
Gabbia D’Oro, 4A Corso Porta Bórsari (00 39 045 800 3060, www.hotelgabbiadoro.it). On central Corso Porta Bórsari, this 18th-century palace has been perked up with pet parrots and orange trees. Bower-like beds are draped with lace curtains; oak furniture, opulent textiles, period ceramics and silverware create a to-the-manor-born charm. Doubles from £230, B&B.
Villa del Quar, 12 Via Quar (00 39 045 680 0681, www.hotelvilladelquar.it). Opera singers loll by the clover-shaped pool at this in-the-know hideaway. Surrounded by acres of vineyards, a 10-minute taxi ride from Verona, the 16th-century manor is decked out with silk-upholstered furniture and antique rugs. Most rooms gaze onto rolling vineyards. Doubles from £185, B&B.
MIDDLE OF THE ROAD
Hotel Giulietta e Romeo, 3 Vicolo Tre Marchetti (00 39 045 800 3554, www.giuliettaeromeo.com). Pastel-painted walls, pale floral sofas and swagged curtains give rooms in this romantic, Arena-handy retreat a welcome lustre. WiFi access and flat-screen TVs keep you in the modern world. Lovers should book rooms 101 or 103, with their Juliet-style balconies. Doubles from £100, B&B.