Index
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Introduction
Today we want to take you to the magical city of Verona, Italy. Especially around the time of Valentine's Day, Verona is regarded throughout Italy as the city of lovers, and walking through the streets of the city you can catch this atmosphere. Of course, one of the main reasons why the city is considered a must-visit destination for all those who want to celebrate their love is the story of Romeo and Juliet. The two famous lovers were in fact, according to William Shakespeare's story, part of two historical families of the city of Verona, the Montagues, and the Capulets. I must admit that I am not too much of a fan of these kinds of events, such as Valentine's Day, as I find them simply a publicity stunt to get people to spend money. But since neither of us had ever been to Verona, we decided to spend a few days in Veneto between Lake Garda and Verona itself the weekend before Valentine's Day, to enjoy the atmosphere but not the throngs of tourists. By the way, if you missed the previous post on the beautiful village of Borghetto sul Mincio, I leave you the link here.
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Parking and Breakfast
Before leaving for Verona, we obviously did some research on what to see and especially what is key in these towns, where to park. Among the most recommended car parks, especially online, is one on the outskirts of the city just before Porta Palio (the car park is named after the gate itself) with a hundred or so free spaces. I leave the link below:
The other recommended car park is the one at the stadium, which has around 5,000 free parking spaces, and on days when there are no matches, it can be a good option. The only problem is that from this part of the city to get to the center is quite a walk, roughly half an hour. Being lazy, @lezra and I decided to go for the first option. The only problem was that having arrived in town not very early, we found the car park completely full. Luckily for us, as we turned back a bit and headed for the stadium car park just after crossing one of the tributaries of the Adige, Verona's main river, we noticed that there were many uncharged car parks in the city streets, and probably even be the day we went on a weekday many of them were empty. So we were able to park our car there and get to the center comfortably, how lucky we were!
Obviously, when on holiday, the day cannot but start with a good breakfast, so we selected via Google one of the pastry shops in the center of Verona that was not too far from our car park, with the best reviews. Obviously, again due to the problem mentioned earlier, having left late we arrived at this pastry shop at around 11 am and so most of the pastries and cakes had already been eaten by other clients, but luckily for us, there were still two excellent cream and chocolate pastries left and a few small cakes which we enjoyed very much. Breakfast was excellent and the place is very nice, so I recommend it. I leave you the link below:
With a full stomach, we finally started our tour of Verona. The city isn't very big so I recommend you get around on foot, there is no need to take public transport or taxis and above all, I advise against driving around, also because many of the streets in the center are restricted traffic zones.
really loved these masks for the Carnevale
Me and @lezra, in order to get around the whole city, even passing by the same place more than once, finished around 5 pm.
Scroll to see the pictures of Piazza delle Erbe
Scroll to see some street art in the walls of the city
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Arena di Verona and Juliet's house
The first stop, from where we had stopped for breakfast, was the Arena di Verona. Obviously, for those who have been to Rome, the Arena is very reminiscent of the Colosseum, and thanks to constant restoration since the 500s it has come down to us in excellent condition.
I was very impressed because being a fan of the Colosseum to see a slightly smaller but still so well-preserved replica of it was very exciting for me. We decided not to go inside, also because the Arena is usually the venue for concerts and musical events, so we said to ourselves that the next time we go to Verona it will probably be to see one of these concerts and therefore we will also see the Arena from inside.
Moving on from the arena, the next point of interest is Juliet's house. Juliet's house is a very important tourist attraction, as many lovers decide to visit it in the days leading up to Valentine's Day (and beyond). Given the proximity of the feast, the entrance to the courtyard of the house was free and for the entrance inside the house, there was a sort of promotion in which by buying a single ticket you could enter in two, an initiative that I found nice. In the courtyard, there is a statue of Juliet, with whom you can take a photo. many people then decide to take this photo with a hand touching one of the two marks of the girl, as this is said to bring good luck. From the courtyard then of course you can see the balcony from which the beautiful Juliet looked out to greet her beloved. From the courtyard, you can then enter Juliet's house, which is spread over three floors, but I will cover this and the tomb of Juliet in another post, to not put too much stuff here.
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Castel San Pietro
From Juliet's house, the next point of interest could be the castle of San Pietro, which stands on a hill from which it is possible to admire the whole city and which can be reached via the Ponte di Pietra, a famous tourist spot, especially for lovers who meet there at sunset to take photos or to kiss under the warm light of the sun. Since it was still early, however, instead of crossing directly and going to the castle, we decided to go around the river and visit the Maggiore castle first.
The castle is truly imposing, at its side is a very rare honorary and monumental arch of private use in Roman architecture. Searching on the internet I read that it was built around the middle of the 1st century to celebrate the gens Gavia, an ancient Roman family of plebeian origin
We decided not to go inside the castle, as visiting it alone would have taken us practically the whole day, so we decided to go ahead and cross the bridge next to the castle to get to the other side. The bridge left me quite surprised, I found it very interesting, with intriguing architecture and from which it is possible to take some excellent photos of the city and the part that runs on both sides of the river.
Arriving on the other side, you could begin to catch a glimpse of St Peter's Castle from afar.
This for me was at least for me, the most beautiful spot in the city.
Arriving at the foot of the castle there are two ways up, one is the classic stairs, and the other is the cable car. As we are young (more or less), we decided to go up using the stairs.
The view from the castle of the city is marvelous, so I highly recommend going there, even if only to take pictures.
The only problem I found, which was quite annoying for me, was the presence of these trees which prevented in some parts from being able to take pictures of the entire city.
Although thinking back on it, they actually make a bit of a frame for the photo and therefore allow you to take pictures of some parts of Verona in an original way.
As it was practically two o'clock in the afternoon and we had begun to feel the first pangs of hunger, we decided to go down to the castle and found an excellent focaccia at its foot.
From there we visited the city's cathedral, which is impressive, especially when seen from across the river.
Later that day we did a quick tour back to Castel San Pietro to enjoy the sunset.
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Conclusion
Verona is a beautiful city, and if you want to spend a romantic weekend with your partner or simply want to visit and enjoy the beauty of a historic Italian city, I highly recommend it, perhaps adding a visit to some of the towns near Lake Garda to your visit to Verona, such as Borghetto sul Mincio or Peschiera or Desenzano del Garda.
Farewell image and text separators, created by me with Canva