Verona City Card with Arena Priority Entrance

Verona Arena (Arena di Verona)

The Arena was built in the first century AD just outside the Roman walls of Verona, and it remains one of the best-preserved Roman amphitheatres anywhere. Its elliptical tiers of pink and white limestone once held around 30,000 spectators for gladiator games and public shows. An earthquake in 1117 brought down most of the outer ring, and only a four-arch fragment, known locally as the Ala, still stands on the Piazza Bra side. Since 1913 the Arena has also been the stage of a famous summer opera festival.

With the card you use the fast-track entrance instead of the ticket queue, walk through the vaulted corridors and climb the stone steps for views over Piazza Bra and the rooftops toward the hills. Allow 45 to 60 minutes. Verona Arena opening hours are shorter on summer opera evenings, when visits end in the afternoon, so plan the Arena early in your 24 hours.

Casa di Giulietta (Juliet's House)

Casa di Giulietta is a Gothic house on Via Cappello that belonged for centuries to the Dal Cappello family. The city bought it in 1905 and restored it in the twentieth century, adding the stone balcony that now overlooks the small courtyard with its bronze statue of Juliet. Inside, the rooms show frescoes, period furniture, ceramics and costumes, and the upper floors lead out onto the balcony itself, the most photographed spot in Verona.

The courtyard fills quickly from late morning, and the queue for the house can be long, which is where the card's fast-track entry pays off. The best time to visit Casa di Giulietta is right at opening or in the last hour before closing. A visit inside takes about 30 minutes, and the house is a five-minute stroll from Piazza delle Erbe, so it combines easily with the Lamberti Tower.

Lamberti Tower and Piazza delle Erbe

The Torre dei Lamberti rises 84 metres above Piazza delle Erbe. It was begun in 1172 and raised in the fifteenth century, when the octagonal bell chamber was added, making it the tallest tower in the city. Its two bells once called the council to meet and marked working hours. You can climb 368 steps or take the lift most of the way, then step out to a terrace with views over the bend of the Adige, the Roman bridge and the Torricelle hills.

Below lies Piazza delle Erbe, built on the site of the Roman forum, with its market stalls, painted façades and the Madonna Verona fountain. Through the arch beside the tower you reach Piazza dei Signori and the Gothic Scaliger Tombs of the della Scala lords. Lamberti Tower tickets are covered by the card, with fast-track entry; allow 45 minutes for the tower and the two squares.

Castelvecchio, the Roman Theatre and Verona's churches

Castelvecchio is the red-brick fortress the della Scala lords built between 1354 and 1356 beside the Adige, linked to the far bank by the battlemented Ponte Scaligero. Today it houses the civic museum of medieval and Renaissance art, with sculpture, paintings, weapons and walkways along the walls. On the other side of the river, the Roman Theatre from the first century BC climbs the hillside, crowned by an archaeological museum in a former monastery with fine views over the old town.

The card also opens Verona's great churches, among them the Romanesque Basilica of San Zeno with its twelfth-century bronze doors, the Gothic Sant'Anastasia and the Duomo. Castelvecchio deserves 60 to 90 minutes, the Roman Theatre about an hour, and each church 20 to 30 minutes. In one day most visitors combine the three fast-track sights with two or three of these.

Getting around Verona with the card

Unlimited rides on the urban bus lines inside Verona are part of the card, which makes it easy to link sights that are a little apart, such as San Zeno or the Roman Theatre, without tiring walks. If you are wondering how to get to the Arena from Porta Nuova railway station, several urban buses run along Corso Porta Nuova to Piazza Bra in a few minutes, or you can walk it in about 20 minutes.

The digital audio app included with the card works as a self-guided audio tour: open it at each monument to hear its story at your own pace. The 24 hours start with your first use, so if you activate the card at midday you can keep exploring until the next midday. Is the Verona Card worth it? If you plan to enter the Arena, Juliet's House and the tower and add one or two museums, it usually is, and it saves time in every queue.