Verona in 4 Days: a guidebook for getting the most out of your visit

The city of Verona is strategically located in Italy. It is at a midpoint between the landscapes that define the Veneto region and the countryside of Emilia-Romagna. For that reason many of the best things to see and do in Verona involve a sightseeing tour of the city as well as its stunning surroundings.

For your convenience, I have compiled a number of plans and activities that will keep you busy over a four day trip. This is plenty of time to explore the city at your leisure and even venture out to some of the interesting destinations nearby.

The first day of your trip to Verona will always be a very special day. It is your first opportunity to explore this famous town on the meandering Adige River.

The city itself is one of Italy's tourist wonders and throughout its length you can see how there are very specific areas of the city that are distinguished from others by their architecture as well as their commercial offerings.

So on the first day of your visit to Verona I have taken it upon myself to find plans that will allow you to explore the city in a quick, practical and enjoyable way.

Take a walking tour of the centre of Verona

The centre of Verona is quite an interesting area, as it is somewhat divided into two sections. The first is the Città Antica and is the oldest area of the whole city. The second is the Cittadella and is just as touristy and urban, but is characterised by slightly more modern buildings.

So in this context a walking tour of the city centre is an excellent idea and is definitely a very appropriate investment of your time and money. If it is a guided tour it is likely that the activity will start at around 10am and ideally you can choose an alternative that is available for small groups of people.

As for the accompaniment you should know that it is always a guide specialised in the history of the city. The activity usually lasts about two hours in total and this means that by the end of the morning you will be able to participate in other tourist plans. Without a doubt, this type of tour is one of the best tours in Verona.

Afterwards you could go to the Arena of Verona

Right in the heart of the centre of Verona between the boundaries of the Città Antica and the Cittadella is the Arena of Verona.

For many it is the most important tourist attraction in the whole city and is an excellently preserved Roman amphitheatre which was designed to have a suitable capacity for 20,000 people. During the summer this site hosts the city's opera festival and throughout the year other special events may take place.

Exactly for this reason it is a great idea if you decide to visit this site as your second sightseeing activity on the first day of your visit to Verona. Ideally you should also pay for one of these guided tours, as this way you can find out all the interesting details associated with this World Heritage Site.

At the same time the surroundings of this site are full of authentic Italian restaurants. Which means that sitting down for a coffee and a break to look up information about visiting the Arena di Verona is one of the best things you can do before your visit to inform yourself, recharge your batteries and get on with the rest of your day.

Attend a gelato making class

Gelato, also known as gelato, is one of Italy' s great gastronomic treasures and, specifically, the city of Verona is one of the most outstanding when it comes to the creation of this peculiar dessert.

With that in mind, a practical class to learn how to prepare artisan gelato under Italian parameters can be an excellent entertaining activity for the first day of your visit. Especially since it can be an escape from the heat as well as an excellent learning experience to take home.

These types of plans usually take place in the afternoon and can therefore be the third activity on the itinerary. Typically the class itself lasts two hours and includes payment for the professional chef who will instruct you in this technique, as well as payment for the recipe book and all the ingredients you will need to prepare the gelato.

So this plan can be one of the best things to do in Verona during the summer because it is an indoor, air-conditioned activity that can take up the hottest part of your day.

Finish with a night tour of Verona's dark history

Some people when planning a trip also need night plans because they want to make the most of every minute and every second they have at their disposal in their new tourist destination. For this reason, for the first day of your visit to Verona I suggest you to take part in a night tour focused on the darkest and most complicated history of the past of this city.

Basically, it is a walking tour that takes place in some of the most important areas of the city, but in each of them the focus of the local guide will be to recount the most powerful and shocking events of the centuries of antiquity that this town has.

This is undoubtedly one of the best things to do in Verona at night, especially because it is a very entertaining approach to this type of tour and at the same time it is a way to familiarise yourself with the most attractive areas that the nightlife of this Italian community has to offer.

The second day of your visit to Verona is the perfect opportunity for you to further explore the city as well as its culture and identity.

Therefore, the activities I have prepared for you continue to take place within the historic centre, as well as in some of the best neighbourhoods in the surrounding area.

Start the day with a bike tour of Verona

Bicycle tours are usually an excellent tourist alternative, as they are a good way to incorporate exercise into your visit to the city. In the case of Verona they become a good plan because you will get out of the heart of the city to ride through some of the surrounding green areas, as well as the privileged neighbourhoods full of mansions over 200, 300 and even 400 years old.

This plan as such usually lasts about three hours in total and when you hire this type of tour you usually pay a fee that includes a local licensed guide, as well as the bike and the safety helmet you need to ride.

If this plan doesn't appeal to you, but you're still looking for a way to get a good morning tour of the city on your second day, then you can take one of Verona's best tour buses.

Both ways of getting around the city are very convenient because they usually have a meeting point in the city centre and after about two hours allow you to speed up the exploration that would take you several days with a conventional walking tour.

Continue the afternoon with an Italian food class

After breakfast with a good Italian coffee and having taken part in both a bike tour and a tour of Verona's sightseeing buses, the idea of taking part in an Italian cooking class is appropriate. Verona is one of the most important cities when it comes to gastronomy in this country. This is no small feat, knowing that the Italian culinary world is one of the most important in the world.

These types of classes are usually a little expensive, as the approximate price is around 100 euros per person. However, it is an activity that only takes up about three and a half hours of your afternoon and is limited to a very small group of people, which means that you will have the opportunity to learn how to prepare at least five Italian recipes while enjoying a good accompaniment of local wines.

The experience is always instructed by one of the best regional chefs. At the same time, if this idea doesn't appeal to you, you can still take part in one of Verona's best gastronomic tours. These will take you to some of the best restaurants in the tourist area of the city and will be a good opportunity to explore the authentic cuisine of Verona.

End the day with an excursion to Sirmione and Lago di Garda

A great way to end your second day in Verona would be a short trip to Lake Garda. This is one of the most important tourist destinations in the whole of northern Italy and the activity as such is a guided tour that departs from the centre of Verona and usually lasts about four hours in total.

The activity focuses on sailing the waters of this famous lake as well as the possibility of visiting one of the most beautiful villages in the area known as Sirmione. It is an excellent opportunity to enjoy the natural scenery around this town and is undoubtedly one of the best excursions from Verona at any time of the year.

The excursion is usually restricted to a limited group of people and the guide usually conducts the tour in both Italian and English. The chance to see part of the Grotte di Catullo is another interesting aspect of this plan, which also allows you to return early to the city so that you can get enough rest in your hotel to recharge your batteries for the next day.

For the third day of your trip it is appropriate that you focus on living all those experiences that you are missing to be able to say that you know Verona in all its splendour. The activities I have planned for you on this day serve this purpose.

Take a tour focused on the corners of Romeo and Juliet

The city of Verona is the setting for William Shakespeare's mythical literary work Romeo and Juliet. The events of this story take place in what is known as the Città Antica. Therefore, there is the possibility of touring the area with an approach that takes you specifically to the corners that served as inspiration for one of the best-known novels in the western world.

In this context, a tour that takes you to Juliet's house or to the balcony that is historically considered to be the setting for one of the parts of this story is an excellent idea.

You should know that this plan is one of the best things to do in Verona in October for the simple fact that the number of participants decreases considerably compared to the summer, which means you can enjoy it at your leisure.

Join a guided tour of Villa Mosconi Bertani

A couple of kilometres northwest of Verona is the Villa Mosconi Bertani. A historic mansion belonging to the Bertani family, it is a site that played a pivotal role in the birth of amarone wine, which is produced in this Italian wine region.

The property is now a major tourist destination for a company that has centuries of history in the making of this drink. In fact, for many specialists it is one of the greatest architectural and natural wonders in the surroundings of this city.

For this reason, it is an excellent idea if you decide to visit this area because you can take part in a guided tour that includes a wine tasting as well as free access to all the facilities of the Villa. You have to know that this is one of the best things to do in Verona at Christmas knowing that this particular place usually maintains a very peculiar and interesting festive atmosphere.

Experience a night poetry tour under the moonlight in Verona

Eventually, when you return to Verona, you will most likely still have enough energy left to explore the city. A night poetry tour is a great way to get to know the more sensitive and literary side of the city under the moonlight and the stars.

It is an activity that usually lasts about an hour and a half and is an excellent plan for those who are interested in understanding the cultural essence of a city that inspired one of the most important literary works of Western culture.

This type of tour usually takes place in the historic centre of the city, but focuses on places that are usually overlooked in other types of itineraries.

For the fourth day of your visit to Verona, there are still wonders to see. So I've taken it upon myself to find one last activity that might be suitable for the whole family and give you a little more insight into the beauty that characterises this corner of Italy.

Take a private excursion to the Dolomites from Verona

The Dolomites are a mountain range located in the north of the Veneto region that has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is one of the most interesting natural landscapes in the country and, therefore, an excellent way to end your visit to Verona is to take a private excursion from Verona to this beautiful tourist destination.

The experience as such usually includes the accompaniment of a professional guide, a ticket for a funicular located within this natural park as well as the possibility of having lunch at one of the stops along the way.

It is not an inexpensive experience at all, as it is designed for very small groups of people. In fact, it's one of the best things to do in Verona with kids because it takes place in private vehicles that give you the privacy you need for younger children to feel at ease with the experience.

Party local style on your way back to the city

The best way to round off your trip if you have time and still have some energy left is to party. For this, it is advisable to go to one of the bars located in the Citadella, as they are establishments with an incredible atmosphere that are located in one of the most vibrant neighbourhoods in the whole city.