Verona, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is worldwide famous for its monuments and the legendary love story between Romeo and Juliet. Despite being relatively small, it takes several days to explore it in depth. If you have a week, you can visit both the historic center and the surrounding areas. Take your time to stroll through the city, taste traditional dishes, make some outdoor activities (such as rafting on the Adige ), visit museums. In short, the opportunities are many. Here you will find some suggestions on how to manage your time in a week and what to visit:

The historic center of Verona has an infinite number of palaces and monuments from different eras; below are listed the ones that are not to be missed:

1. The Arena of Verona
2. Juliet’s house
3. Castelvecchio
4. Castel San Pietro
5. Roman theatre
6. Stone bridge
7. Via Sottoriva
8. Borsari doors

1. Arena of Verona
You cannot visit Verona without seeing Piazza Bra, on which the Arena di Verona stands. This square is the largest in the city and it overlooks buildings from different eras, such as the Gran Guardia and Palazzo Barbieri. Here is also the Maffeian Lapidary Museum, one of the oldest lapidary museums in Europe.
On the liston, the large pink marble-paved sidewalk on the north-west side of the square, there is an infinite number of bars and restaurants where you can enjoy an aperitif or a snack throughout the day. If you want to visit the Arena on the inside, you can go to the ticket office. A full ticket costs € 10 while a reduced ticket € 7.50.
After the visit, proceed to Juliet’s house.

2. Giulietta’s home
Juliet’s house has become another symbol of Verona, after the Arena. The tragedy by Shakespeare is what made the city known as “the city of love”. The house is a reconstruction of a Venetian stately home of the time. The interiors feature inlaid benches, frescoes, fireplaces, wooden stairs, and walkways. You can also look out from the famous balcony of the legend, a reconstruction belonging to the Scaligeri era. The balcony is made with 14th-century assembled marble. The complex consists of a tower and a two-storey residential building, completely rebuilt using medieval architectural elements. Inside the house, you can visit the party room, the bedroom and the attic, all rooms are furnished to create a suggestive atmosphere. Open from Tuesday to Sunday, Juliet’s house can be visited upon purchase of a ticket. A full ticket costs € 6 while a reduced € 4.50. Schools and children aged 8 to 14 pay only € 1, while residents over 65 years of age , disabled with their companions and children up to 7 years, equipped with VeronaCard , are entitled to free entry.

3. Castelvecchio
Castelvecchio is located in the city center, a few meters from Piazza Bra. Born as a defensive fortress, nowadays it houses the Civic Museum of Verona.
On the ground floor, there is an exhibition of sculptures dating back to the period between the XII and XV centuries. Here are also exhibited Lombard jewels found in Veronese tombs as well as niches of medieval churches and various sculptures. On the first floor, you can visit the gallery of paintings, which houses works on canvas and some sculptures created by Veronese authors from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries.
You can also visit the residential part of the castle where there are 13th and 14th-century frescoes and 14th-century jewels, including gold and silver belts and a buckle of hard stones and pearls set in golden armor. In a nearby display case, you can see a sword found in the tomb of Cangrande I della Scala, of which the handle and the rest of the scabbard remain. Noteworthy is the so-called Pisanello room, which retains the largest wall decoration of the castle. On the second floor are exhibited paintings from the second half of the fifteenth century coming from the Venetian schools. Finally, in the tower of the keep, there is a collection of weapons of Lombard and German origin.
The cost of a full ticket is € 6 while a reduced ticket costs € 4.50. For children and young people aged 8 to 14, a ticket costs € 1 while residents over 65 years of age, people with disabilities and their companions, and VeronaCard holders are entitled to free access.

4. Castel San Pietro
This castle is located on top of the San Pietro hill, from which you can admire the whole city. We recommend visiting it because it offers a breathtaking view, especially at sunset.
It can be reached by car, on foot or by a funicular.

At the top of the hill, there is a nineteenth-century military barracks, built by the Austrians. In Roman times there was a temple here, in the Middle Ages a large castle and a church (the church of S. Pietro), and at the end of the fourteenth century a manor built by the Visconti. This building was blown up by Napoleonic troops before handing over the city to the Austrians. On these remains, they built the military barracks that we can see today. Unfortunately, the building can only be admired from the outside, but the view from its square is priceless, so don’t miss it!

5. Roman theatre
Coming down from the castle, at the foot of the hill, is the ancient Roman theater dating back to the 1st century BC. Each summer this theater hosts concerts and festivals.

Like all Roman theaters, it had a semicircular cavea (stepped) with steps and a stage. Between the steps and the stage, there was the piano de orchestra, which used to host the most illustrious characters of the time.During the Middle Ages, the theater was damaged by the floods of the Adige river and the earthquakes and finally buried. It was only in the nineteenth century that excavations began to recover it, thanks to Andrea Monga. Nowadays the Roman theater is the fulcrum of Veronese’s cultural lif5.

6. Ponte Pietra
A few steps from the Roman Theater you can admire Ponte Pietra, one of the most important remains of Roman Verona. It was built in the 1st century BC, it is one of the oldest and most suggestive Roman monuments in the city. It has 5 arches, of which only the 2 on the left (in white stone) are from Roman times, while the central one and the next one (in bricks), were rebuilt in 1520. The last arch dates back to medieval times, built at the behest of Alberto I Della Scala. At that same time, the defensive tower placed at one of its extremes was built. During the Second World War, the bridge was blown up by the Nazis and then entirely rebuilt with the original materials found in the river.
We recommend visiting this bridge in the evening when it is less crowded and it transforms into a very romantic and suggestive place.

7. Via Sottoriva
One of the most charming streets of Verona, it is located a few meters from the Adige river. In the past, this street was even at the level of the river, from which it was separated by an embankment. Given its proximity to the river, it was often flooded: on the walls of the houses, you can see the signs of the level reached by the water during the flood of 1882.
Nowadays this street still retains its ancient charm, thanks to the portico that extends to its left side and the residences of the thirteenth-fourteenth century that overlook the cobbled street.

8. Portoni Borsari
Porta (or Portoni) Borsari is a Roman door dating back to the first century after Christ, when it was the main city entrance. The Roman gates were equipped with large internal rooms, to house soldiers and customs officials. Originally, the building was built on three levels, with a central courtyard and double passages in the facades. Of this, there remained only the external facade in local white limestone. In the lower level, there are two round arches, framed by two half-columns with Corinthian capitals that support entablature and pediment. The upper side is made up of arched ends, some inserted in small shrines with a triangular pediment.

After visiting the main monuments of Verona we suggest getting lost in its less frequented alleys, seeing its numerous churches, and take the time to get to know the external area. You will discover wonderful places. If you are visiting during the summer, take at least one day to visit Lake Garda, the destination of excellence for many tourists from Northern Europe. This lake is the largest in Italy, it is suitable for swimming and offers many equipped beaches. Studded with small picturesque villages, immersed in a luxuriant nature, Lake Garda is suggestive and we recommend a lake view lunch or a boat trip, or just spend a day sunbathing. At the lake, you can also have a food and wine tour!
If you love wine and are fascinated by lands surrounded by greenery and vineyards, Valpolicella is the right place for you. Perfect for a trip out of town, this area just outside Verona is where the homonymous wine is made, one of the best known in Italy. It will amaze you with its ancient villages and its paths surrounded by nature.