Verona sits on the bends of the Adige and holds two thousand years of building together: the Roman amphitheatre, the palaces of the Scaligeri, the Romanesque of San Zeno. It has been a UNESCO site since 2000. For anyone travelling by motorhome it is above all a convenient crossroads, between the Brenner motorway and the Serenissima, and a base for Lake Garda, the Valpolicella and the Soave hills.
Sleeping
Stops and overnight stays
The centre is a limited traffic zone and parking is scarce: you leave the motorhome in one of the outlying areas and go in on foot, by bike or on the ATV city buses. Three options, from the handiest to the best equipped.
Area Sosta Camper Porta Palio
Via Gianattilio dalla Bona, 37138 Verona
a municipal area run by AMT3, lit and under video surveillance but not guarded. Filling up with water and emptying the waste tanks are included in the price, electricity there is none. On foot it is 15 to 20 minutes along the canal to Porta Palio and the centre, or the number 62 stops twenty metres from the entrance and reaches Piazza Brà in a few minutes. In high season, and on evenings when the Arena has a performance, it fills up fast: better to arrive by midday.
36 motorhome pitches
WaterGrey water
10 euros for 24 hours, 48 consecutive hours at most
street parking a short way from the Porta Palio area, with nothing laid on for motorhomes. It works as a fallback when the equipped area is full: a quiet spot, and about the same distance from the centre. Good for short daytime stops, while for the night the equipped area is the answer.
a modern site with wide pitches on grass block paving and hook-ups, toilets, hot showers included, a laundry and a dog wash for anyone travelling with a dog. Pets welcome. The bus stop is in front of the entrance and tickets are sold at reception. Veronafiere is 3.5 km away, handy for Vinitaly and Fieracavalli.
The centre is compact: from Piazza Brà the Casa di Giulietta and Piazza delle Erbe are ten minutes on foot, Ponte Pietra less than twenty
The walk along the Adige up to Castel San Pietro is worth the time, best at sunset
ATV city buses: 1.30 euros for 90 minutes, 4.00 euros for the day ticket, from tobacconists, newsagents or the Ticket Bus Verona app
Line 62 from Porta Palio to the centre; lines 21, 51 and 52 from the Fiera and campsite area
Verona Card, 27 euros for 24 hours or 32 for 48: the main museums and monuments, unlimited ATV buses and priority entry to the Arena. It activates on first use
Cycle paths from the outskirts to the centre: from the Porta Palio area one runs along the canal. Verona Bike sharing, ordinary and electric bikes, about 0.50 euros every half hour
Seeing
Sights
Five stops inside the bend of the Adige, all within walking distance except San Zeno, which lies just outside the centre. Tap a marker on the map to open its entry below.
1
Arena di Verona
Monument · paid entry · 45.43888, 10.99436
the third largest Roman amphitheatre in Italy, after the Colosseum and the Arena of Capua. Built in the first century AD, it could hold 30,000 spectators. Restoration began as early as the sixteenth century, which explains the state it is in. Inside you can climb the tiers: from the highest point you see Piazza Brà and the roofs of the city. In summer it hosts the opera festival, with Aida, Carmen and La Traviata under the stars.
a thirteenth century medieval palace a few steps from Piazza delle Erbe, which tradition assigns to the Capulets. A brick facade and the balcony everyone photographs. In the courtyard stands the bronze statue of Juliet, and the walls of the entrance passage are covered with notes and padlocks. The museum shows period costumes and the bed from Zeffirelli's 1968 film; to go up onto the balcony you need the museum ticket.
built over the ancient Roman forum, long and irregular. Around it stand the Palazzo del Comune with the Torre dei Lamberti, the frescoed Case Mazzanti, the baroque Palazzo Maffei with its statues of gods and the medieval Casa dei Mercanti; in the middle the fountain of the Madonna Verona, with a Roman statue of the first century. Every morning there are stalls of fruit, flowers, souvenirs and local produce. The Arco della Costa, the passage through to Piazza dei Signori, has a whale rib hanging from its vault.
a fortress and residence built in the fourteenth century by Cangrande II della Scala, divided between the arms courtyard and the royal quarters. Inside is the Museo Civico, medieval, Renaissance and modern art, in a layout designed by Carlo Scarpa. Beside it the Ponte Scaligero: red brick, three arches and Ghibelline battlements over the Adige, built as a way out towards the countryside. It was destroyed by the Germans in 1945 and rebuilt with the original stones recovered from the river bed.
a masterpiece of Italian Romanesque, just outside the old centre in the district of the same name, dedicated to the patron saint of the city. A facade of tufa and brick with the rose window known as the Wheel of Fortune, and bronze doors of the eleventh and twelfth centuries with 48 panels of biblical stories and scenes from the life of the saint. In the apse the Pala di San Zeno by Andrea Mantegna; in the crypt the remains of the saint, an African fisherman who became the eighth bishop of Verona. Beside it the Romanesque cloister.
the most important horse fair in Italy, at Veronafiere, now at its 128th edition: international show jumping, equestrian shows and breeds from all over the world, open to the public with a ticket. In those days the city's stopping places fill up as they do for Vinitaly.
5Feb
Carnevale Veronese, Bacanal del Gnoco
February to March, the last Friday of Carnival and the days before
one of the oldest carnivals in Italy. On Venerdì Gnocolar the parade of floats crosses the centre, led by the Papà del Gnoco, the old man dressed in red with the big fork and the gnocco. In the days before, the floats go round the districts and the province as well.
to be confirmed
11-14Apr
Vinitaly
April, usually the first or second week
the most important wine fair in Italy, founded in 1967, with more than 4,000 exhibitors at Veronafiere. At the same time Vinitaly and the City brings tastings and events into the old centre. During those days the stopping areas fill up: better to book at the campsite or arrive early.
11 Jun › 11Sep
Arena Opera Festival
June to September
the opera festival of the Arena, running since 1913, about 50 evenings a season with Aida, Carmen, La Traviata, Tosca and Nabucco. Book well ahead; the steps are stone, so bring a cushion.
This year's dates are not out yet
Mercatini di Natale
from the second half of November to late December
the wooden huts, made together with the Christkindlmarkt of Nuremberg, stand in three squares: Piazza Brà, beneath the Arena and the lit comet star, Piazza dei Signori with the courtyards nearby, and Piazza Sacco e Vanzetti at the Arsenale. More than sixty stallholders, among crafts, decorations and mulled wine. From mid November to mid January there is also the Presepi dal Mondo exhibition, more than 400 nativity scenes, whose venue changes from year to year among the Arena, the Gran Guardia and Palazzo del Capitanio. At weekends free shuttles run from the outlying car parks. From 10 to 13 December the Fiera di Santa Lucia is added.
Tocatì, Festival Internazionale dei Giochi in Strada
mid September, Friday to Sunday
traditional street games, Italian and foreign, take over the squares and pedestrian streets: lippa, ruzzola, morra, spinning tops, marbles, with tournaments and demonstrations. Free, and it goes ahead in the rain too.
Remember
Useful tips
The best times are spring, April and May, and autumn, September and October. Summer is for those who come for the opera in the Arena, December for the markets
The old centre is a limited traffic zone: do not take the motorhome into the inner streets, the checks are strict. You leave the vehicle in the areas listed and move about on foot or by bus
Lake Garda is half an hour away: Bardolino, Lazise and Peschiera have other stopping areas with a view over the water
The Valpolicella hills, home of Amarone, are a few kilometres off. Many wineries run tastings and some have space for motorhomes to stop
Before setting off again, stock up on Monte Veronese PDO, pandoro, Valpolicella wines and Garda oil. The well stocked supermarkets are in the Porta Palio area and along the main road towards the campsite
Verona · part two
and then?
What to do, what to taste, and where to go tomorrow.
Experiences from here
What we did starting from here, ordered by driving time.
1 litre of meat broth, better still from the boiled meat
80 g of butter
80 g of grated Grana Padano
plenty of black pepper
salt
Method
cut the marrow into small pieces and melt it in a pan over a low heat together with the butter, stirring slowly
when the fat has melted completely add the grated bread, stir and let it toast for a few minutes, turning it often
add the hot broth a ladle at a time, stirring without stopping as you would for a risotto, and keep going for at least two or three hours over a very low heat, topping up the broth as it is absorbed
the pearà should turn out creamy and velvety: at the end adjust the salt, grind plenty of black pepper over it, stir in the Grana Padano and mix until the cream is smooth
serve it hot beside boiled beef, tongue, cotechino and hen; it holds up well with roasts and grilled meats too
Distances and times by road, measured with OSRM on OpenStreetMap data.
Looking
Verona in photographs
6 shots from our visit. Tap one to see it large.
the old centre and the bend of the Adige at sunset, with the towers and bell towers above the roofsthe tiers of the Arena seen from above at sunset, with the roofs of the city behindthe stone balcony of the Casa di Giulietta on the brick wall, with ivy to the leftPiazza delle Erbe in the evening from above, the white market stalls, the lit Christmas tree and the Torre dei Lambertithe inside of San Zeno, the statues on the balustrade and the arches going down to the crypttwo glasses and a plate of olives and crostini on a small table, with the arches of the Arena behind
