Verona 3-day itinerary

Start at the Arena di Verona (€10), a 1st-century Roman amphitheatre still hosting operas for 15,000 spectators. Walk the ancient stone tiers and imagine gladiators, then concerts. The arena dominates Piazza Brà, Verona's grand square with the Liston promenade, café terraces, and Palazzo Barbieri. The fact that a 2,000-year-old amphitheatre sits in a living city centre never gets old.

Walk Via Mazzini to Casa di Giulietta (€6 for museum and balcony) on Via Cappello. The 13th-century courtyard with the famous balcony is free to enter but always packed. Continue to Piazza delle Erbe, the ancient Roman forum, now a market square with frescoed palaces, the Maffei Palace, and the Lion of St Mark column. Lunch at Osteria al Duca: risotto all'Amarone (€12–14) and bigoli con sardele (thick spaghetti with sardines).

Cross the Ponte Pietra, Verona's Roman bridge with Teatro Romano and San Pietro behind. Climb to Castel San Pietro viewpoint for the panorama: terracotta rooftops, the Adige river bend, and church domes. Aperitivo is sacred in Verona. Spritz Aperol (€5–6) was popularised in the Veneto. Try Terrazza Bar al Ponte by the river, or the wine bars on Via Sottoriva for a local atmosphere.

Walk to the Basilica di San Zeno Maggiore (€3.50), Verona's finest Romanesque church with a stunning 11th-century bronze door, a Mantegna triptych altarpiece, and a serene cloister. Then to Castelvecchio (€6), a 14th-century Scaligeri fortress on the Adige, now a museum with a Bellini Madonna, Pisanello paintings, and medieval armour. The Carlo Scarpa renovation of the museum is an architecture masterpiece.

Visit the Arche Scaligere, the extraordinary Gothic canopied tombs of the Scaligeri rulers outside Santa Maria Antica church. The ironwork and carved stone are some of Italy's finest medieval art (free from outside, €1 to enter). Walk to Piazza dei Signori, Verona's elegant civic square with a Dante statue. Wine tasting at Antica Bottega del Vino on Via Scudo di Francia, one of Italy's greatest wine bars since 1890, with 2,500 bottles.

Walk Via Sottoriva, a porticoed medieval street along a canal with wine bars and osterias. Dinner at Trattoria al Pompiere on Vicolo Regina d'Ungheria, a historic trattoria with an extraordinary wine cellar (mains €14–20). Try pastissada de caval (horse meat stew, a Veronese tradition since the Battle of Verona in 489) or the Amarone-braised beef. End with a passeggiata along Via Mazzini, Verona's evening ritual.

Bus or rent a bike (20km) to the Valpolicella wine region north of Verona, the home of Amarone, Italy's most prestigious red wine. Visit a cantina for a tasting: Cantina Valpolicella Negrar (tastings from €10) or the smaller family-run Corte Sant'Alda for a personal experience. The rolling hills of vineyards, cherry orchards, and stone villages are quintessentially Italian. The wine-making process, drying grapes on straw mats (appassimento), is unique.

Visit the tiny church of San Giorgio in Valpolicella, a beautiful Romanesque church in the vineyards with pre-Christian stone carvings. For a longer day, drive or bus to Soave (30 km east), a perfectly preserved medieval walled town with a castle (€7) and the Soave white wine denomination. Lunch at a village trattoria: bigoli pasta, local salami, and a glass of straight-from-the-barrel Valpolicella (€4–6).

Back in Verona for a farewell dinner. Enoteca Segreta on Vicolo Samaritana for a wine-paired tasting menu (from €45) highlighting Veneto wines and local ingredients. Or keep it humble at Trattoria dal Gal on Via Don Segala, home-style Veronese cooking (mains €10–14) that locals have loved for decades. One last walk past the illuminated Arena, the 2,000-year-old stones glowing in the dark.