8 Things to Do in Verona: Sights Worth Your Time

Verona’s strongest first-visit choices bring together the Arena’s Roman stonework, the civic buildings around Piazza delle Erbe and views along the Adige. Start with the amphitheatre, the historic squares and the river, then choose an art collection, a literary landmark, a Romanesque church or a Renaissance garden according to what you enjoy.

Which sights suit your visit?

Sight	Visit allowance	Walk from Piazza Bra
Arena	About 1 hour	about 50 metres
Piazza delle Erbe and Piazza dei Signori	Around 45–60 minutes	about 800 metres to Piazza delle Erbe
Castelvecchio Museum and bridge	—	about 450 metres
Juliet’s House museum	About 30–45 minutes	about 750 metres
San Zeno Basilica	About 30–45 minutes	about 1.4 km
Ponte Pietra	About 10–15 minutes	about 1.5 km
Castel San Pietro viewpoint	About 30–45 minutes, excluding climb	about 1.9 km
Giardino Giusti	About 1 hour	about 1.5 km

Verona is worth visiting for the combination of Roman remains, civic architecture and river views within the city. Make the Arena, squares and Ponte Pietra your core choices. Pair the squares with Juliet’s House, Castelvecchio with San Zeno, and the bridge with the hilltop viewpoint.

Choose Castelvecchio’s art or San Zeno’s interior for rain, and cooler daylight for exposed squares, bridges and slopes. Juliet’s House suits an interest in Romeo and Juliet, while Giardino Giusti adds a Renaissance garden walk. If several paid sights appeal, compare Verona Card or individual tickets before deciding how to pay.

1. The Arena

The Arena rewards a daytime visit with a close look at its arches, circular galleries and rising stone seating. Choose the monument visit to explore the structure, or a separately ticketed opera performance to see it used as a theatre. The two experiences are not interchangeable.

Ordinary daytime visiting hours are Tuesday–Sunday, 09:00–19:00. Advance booking is optional, and you can buy tickets online or on site in Piazza Bra.

The floor and flat circular galleries offer step-free access, although event set-up can affect the route. Ask staff for the accessible entrance. The seating tiers require steep, uneven stone steps, and the upper tiers have no step-free route.

The Opera Festival runs in summer, generally from June to September. Advance tickets are available online, at Fondazione Arena ticket offices, through its official call centre or authorised vendors. Registration is required before purchase, and tickets are issued in the purchaser’s name. Use official or authorised channels, as unauthorised resale is prohibited.

For a performance, prepare for exposed seating with weather-appropriate layers. Daytime visitors also benefit from sun protection when exploring the open seating bowl.

2. Piazza delle Erbe and Piazza dei Signori

Piazza delle Erbe invites you to look above the market activity at its frescoed façades, then find the fountain crowned by the Madonna Verona statue. An early wander leaves room to look at the buildings before settling at a café later.

The neighbouring Piazza dei Signori shifts the emphasis to civic architecture. Look for the Dante statue and the arcaded Loggia del Consiglio, then take an exterior look at the nearby Scaliger Tombs, whose Gothic canopies rise above the street. These details make the squares more than a passage between ticketed sights.

If you want to return for a drinks-led evening, explore Verona’s bars and live music for a separate choice of areas and venues rather than another round of monument visits.

3. Castelvecchio Museum and bridge

Castelvecchio Museum gives you two reasons to turn towards the river: an art collection spanning medieval to modern work, and the architecture of the Scaliger stronghold. Inside, look at paintings and sculpture in rooms shaped by Carlo Scarpa’s museum design, which makes the way objects are displayed part of the visit.

Choose the museum for an art-focused rainy spell, but remember that the castle setting also includes outdoor areas. The fortified bridge offers a different experience, with brick battlements framing views across the Adige. You can enjoy that architectural stop without making it a substitute for the collection.

Full adult museum admission is €9. Ordinary entry does not require advance booking, and tickets are available at the ticket office or online.

4. Juliet’s House

Juliet’s House (Casa di Giulietta) belongs on your list if the Romeo-and-Juliet association interests you. The courtyard lets you look up at the famous balcony, while the house adds an interior museum visit. This is a literary landmark, not evidence of a real Juliet living here.

The balcony was assembled in the twentieth century using reused medieval pieces. Seeing it with that history in mind makes the visit about how Verona has given the story a physical setting, rather than mistaking the balcony for Shakespeare’s original stage.

Enter through Teatro Nuovo in Piazzetta Navona. You can choose the Teatro Nuovo and Courtyard route or the fuller route that also includes the house. The full adult ticket for the latter costs €12. Pair your reserved visit with the nearby historic squares, which are easier to enjoy without watching the clock.

5. San Zeno Basilica

San Zeno Basilica is the church detour to choose for its Romanesque architecture, bronze doors and cloister. Pause over the doors’ narrative panels before exploring the interior, then let the cloister provide a change from the main church. Choose it for a concentrated church visit rather than collecting several interiors.

West of the central cluster, San Zeno fits naturally with Castelvecchio. Its interior offers a rain alternative, although the extra walk still takes you outdoors. Single-church adult admission costs €4, and individual visitors buy tickets at the church without advance booking.

• March–October: Sunday and religious-holiday visits run 13:00–18:30.
• November–February: Monday–Friday visits run 10:00–17:00.
• November–February: Saturdays and days before holidays run 09:30–17:30.
• November–February: Sundays and religious holidays run 13:00–17:30.

6. Ponte Pietra

Ponte Pietra is a Roman-origin bridge where the visit is simply the crossing and the pauses you choose along it. Look upstream and downstream along the Adige, then turn towards the old town to see its buildings from the river rather than from within the streets.

Stay at river level if you do not want a climb, or continue towards Castel San Pietro for the view from above. Later daylight suits the pairing, with time to enjoy the bridge before heading uphill.

7. Castel San Pietro viewpoint

From Ponte Pietra, Castel San Pietro viewpoint adds the panorama above the old town: the river’s curve, clustered roofs and the bridge you have just crossed. Come for the outdoor view rather than a castle interior. Later daylight gives you a reason to linger over the city below.

The pedestrian approach near the bridge is a steep, sustained stair climb and is not step-free. Wear shoes with grip, carry water in hot weather and take the climb at your own pace. Remaining by the river is a worthwhile alternative if steps or heat would spoil the outing.

The funicular connects Via Santo Stefano with Castel San Pietro, avoiding the uphill stair climb. The full adult return fare is €3. It runs daily from April through October, 10:00–21:00.

8. Giardino Giusti

Giardino Giusti (Giusti Garden) offers a Renaissance garden walk among cypresses, formal paths, fountains and statues. The terraces lead towards a belvedere, a raised lookout over the city. Choose it for a garden visit with a view, not as a rainy-day alternative to a museum.

The upper terraces involve steps and steep slopes, making that part unsuitable for visitors with limited mobility. In hot weather, favour the cooler part of the day. The entrance on Via Giardino Giusti makes this a separate cross-river stop.

Full adult admission costs €14, and individual visitors do not need advance booking. Summer opening hours are 09:00–19:00.

Sources & fact-checking

Checks against the sources below cover: fares and charges, services, opening hours, and closures.

• Giardino Giusti — fares and charges
• Musei Civici di Verona, Comune di Verona — service
• Musei Civici di Verona — opening hours
• Verona Tourism — service
• Azienda Gestione Edifici Comunali (AGEC) — opening hours
• Comune di Verona — Civic Museums; Fondazione Arena di Verona (Opera Festival) — opening hours
• Visitare l’Arena di Verona
• Arena Opera Festival Rules & Regulations
• Associazione Chiese Vive — fares and charges
• Chiese Vive — opening hours
• Associazione Chiese Vive — closures
• Municipality of Verona, Civic Museums — fares and charges