Verona Things to do

Festivals and events
Verona’s biggest by far is the summer opera season. The city’s incredible 22,000-capacity Roman amphitheatre hosts a series of open-air operas with world-class performers. Tickets should be booked well in advance. A number of other festivals and events have sprung up around this. The Veneto region produces more DOC wine than any other area and the Vinitaly fair each spring attracts producers, buyers and enthusiasts from around the world. February sees the city’s carnival featuring a grand parade of masks, a regatta on the River Adige and the traditional distribution of gnocchi to mark the end of the plague in 1660. In addition to these, there are religious and cultural celebrations throughout the year in Verona and the rest of the Veneto.

Cycling/mountain biking
Cyclists are made welcome in Italy and the roads through the green hills and sleepy villages of the Veneto are a cyclist’s paradise, with plenty of interest for avid racers and sightseers alike. Lake Garda and the foothills of the Dolomites also provide some superb mountain biking. Cycling’s international governing body’s HQ is at Bardolino.

Watersports
Less than 20 miles away from Verona, Lake Garda offers a multitude of watersports including superb windsurfing, sailing and waterskiing, as well as canoeing, diving or just swimming in the clear waters.

Natural Parks
Parco Regionales don’t just protect the flora and fauna; they help maintain the local way of life. Just north of Verona lies the Parco Naturale Regionale della Lessinia, a wild area of rocky outcrops and caves with a small skiing resort at the top. The Parco RegionaleVeneto del Delta del Po is a protected area of Italy’s longest river. Visitors can explore by boat, bicycle, horseback, as well as on foot or by car. Parco Regionale dei Colli Euganei offers a chance to see artistic treasures or to enjoy wellness treatments and the thermal springs. Parco Nazionale Dolomiti Bellunesi offers incredible scenery and shepherds’ huts that are still in use. An Invito a Verona pass will give you unlimited travel and entrance to places of interest. Places to visit include the pink marble Roman amphitheatre – now the opera house, the restored Castelvecchio, the Basilica di San Zeno Maggiore, the magnificent church of San Zeno, and the Casa di Giulietta and Tomba di Giulietta (this is, of course, the town of Romeo and Juliet).