Verona
The amphitheatre of around AD 30 has been in continuous use for two thousand years — jousts, bullfights, and since 1913 the largest open-air opera festival in the world, performed without amplification because a Roman ellipse does not need it. Juliet's balcony was added to a fourteenth-century house in 1936 for the benefit of visitors, and the city says so.
Why go
Opera in a Roman amphitheatre — 15,000 people, no amplification, since 1913. A complete Roman and medieval city — the arena, the theatre, the gates and the bridges all still in use. Shakespeare's marketing — a balcony with no historical claim whatsoever, and everyone goes anyway. Valpolicella and Soave — two of Italy's best wine regions begin at the city's edge.
The character
Verona sits in a bend of the Adige on the road from the Brenner Pass to the Po valley, which is why the Romans built here and why everyone since has fought over it. The arena went up around AD 30, seated thirty thousand, and — unlike the Colosseum — never stopped being used: for jousts in the Middle Ages, for bullfights, and since 10 August 1913, when Aida was staged for Verdi's centenary, for the largest open-air opera festival in the world.
That festival is the city's defining event. The acoustics of a Roman ellipse mean no amplification is needed; the audience on the stone steps brings cushions and candles, and the performance starts at nine when the heat drops. Around it, Verona is a wealthy, compact northern Italian city with a Roman street grid, medieval palazzi in pink Verona marble, and a tourist industry built on a balcony added to a fourteenth-century house in 1936 for the benefit of visitors — which the city acknowledges with a straight face and considerable profit.
Places of character
Arena di Verona — go for a performance; on non-opera days you can walk in and sit on the steps for a few euros. Teatro Romano — the other Roman theatre, on the far bank, used for Shakespeare in summer. Castelvecchio — a fourteenth-century fortress remade as a museum by Carlo Scarpa; the intervention is the reason to go. Piazza delle Erbe — the Roman forum, now a market square with frescoed façades on three sides. San Zeno Maggiore — a Romanesque basilica with bronze doors of the twelfth century and a Mantegna altarpiece. Valpolicella — twenty minutes north for Amarone in the cellars where the grapes are dried on racks.
The way to do it
Book the arena for a performance and take a cushion; the stone steps are the cheap seats and the best experience. Arrive early to walk the city before the heat. Go up to Castel San Pietro for the plan of the river bend. And give a half day to Valpolicella — the Amarone process, drying grapes for months before pressing, is worth seeing.
One perfect day
Coffee in Piazza delle Erbe as the market sets up. Castelvecchio for two hours, mostly for Scarpa's staircases and the way he hung the sculpture. Cross the Ponte Scaligero and up to Castel San Pietro for the river and the roofs. Lunch of bigoli and a glass of Valpolicella. Afternoon at San Zeno for the bronze doors, then a rest, because the evening is long. Aperitivo at eight, then the arena at nine: fifteen thousand people, candles lit as the light goes, and an orchestra with no microphones. Dinner afterwards at midnight, as everyone does.
Grand hotels
Due Torri — 1674 in a fourteenth-century palazzo by Sant'Anastasia; the city's historic address. Byblos Art Hotel — a Palladian villa outside town filled with contemporary art, for the other Verona.
When to go
Best expression: July and August for the opera festival, which is the entire reason the city is on this list. Consider: May and September, when the city is comfortable and the vineyards are working. Avoid if possible: February for the Valentine's crowds at the balcony, and midwinter fog on the plain.
The frame
Ideal stay 2 nights · Minimum 1 night · Best arrival train from Milan or Venice, 90 minutes · Airport VRN, 12 km · Walkability excellent and flat · Best without a car yes