Fair Verona, best known to most English-speakers as the site of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, has come a long way since the days when the Houses of Montague and Capulet fought in its streets. (OK, maybe the Bard embellished the history a bit, but a real-life Capello family did live here long ago.) Currently home to a thriving population of over 260,000 people, Verona is one of the liveliest and most economically important cities in the Veneto region. Its ability to reconcile this modernity with its storied history through the preservation of numerous historic buildings and architecturally significant works from the Middle Ages has earned it a designation as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Though its outskirts are filled with the types of buildings you might find in any mid-size European city, the centro holds a remarkable number of Roman buildings still in use today. In a setting like this, it's easy to drift into the romance of Shakespeare's famous tragedy. Equipped with a decent map and a good sense of adventure, any traveler can navigate this somewhat diffuse city and, in the process, quickly come to understand why Verona is regarded as one of the most historically significant locales in all of Europe and how it might have inspired one of the world's most famous love stories.
Verona is a sprawling city with over 700,000 people in its greater metropolitan area, but the good news for visitors is that it's actually fairly manageable. Getting around requires a fair amount of biking ...more
Verona has a small international airport, Aeroporto Valerio Catullo (VRN) (Valerio Catullo☎ 045 80 95 666 www.aeroportoverona.it). If you're coming straight here from within Europe, it makes a good option ...more
Verona is one of the most difficult places in Italy to find budget accommodations. Often the city's visitors are older opera aficionados, so most hotels cater to a wealthier clientele. All the hotels listed ...more
Verona is one of the Veneto's top culinary cities and is famous above all else for its excellent wines. While visitors to Verona expect great vino, many are also surprised by the number of fantastic cafes ...more
Verona is full of Roman and Romanesque buildings that are among the most beautiful, historic, and architecturally significant in northern Italy. Most are concentrated around the historic centro and are ...more
Verona acquits itself surprisingly well for a quiet town mainly famous for an Elizabethan tragedy—several bars and clubs stay packed well into the night, even on weekdays. The nightlife tends to ...more
Verona is famous for its performance arts scene, with phenomenal drama, dance, and, most of all, opera. The best acts take place primarily in the city's two main venues, the Arena di Verona and Teatro ...more
Verona has some interesting smaller stores in unexpected and inconspicuous locations, but Via Mazzini is clearly the most important shopping spot. This street is populated by a diverse array of stores ...more
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For 52 years, we have published the world’s favorite budget travel guides, written entirely by students and updated every year. With pen and notebook in hand and a few changes of underwear stuffed in our backpacks, we spend months roaming the globe in search of travel bargains.
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