Tour guides Italy > Verona

5 ideas for guided tours in Verona

• The Piazza dei Signori

  

  This square — not loud, not showy — holds Verona’s history in its stones. Created back in the Middle Ages, it was shaped by the Della Scala family, who ruled for over a century. Their presence still lingers in the arches, the coats of arms, the way the light settles on the façades.

  You’ll spot Loggia del Consiglio first — late 15th century, lined with marble brought from far-off places. Then Palazzo della Ragione, older, more massive, where Torre dei Lamberti rises above the rooftops, if you’re willing to climb.

  And there’s Palazzo del Podestà, with its sharp battlements and solemn portal. In the center, Dante — the poet — stands still. He stayed here once, in exile. It’s said he found peace.

• Castel Vecchio

  

  Thick red walls, built to protect and to impress. Castel Vecchio, finished in 1356, wasn’t just a fortress — it was a place to live. The Scaligeri family made it theirs.

  Now, a museum. Paintings, altarpieces, quiet rooms filled with echoes of Gothic Verona. The view from the ramparts — especially at dusk — stretches toward the river, still and wide.

  Attached to the castle, the Scaliger Bridge stretches across the Adige. Blown up during the war, rebuilt in ’51 — not restored, but reborn.

• The Verona Arena

  

  Two thousand years. And it’s still standing. The Arena of Verona — built under Augustus — held over 20,000 people once. It still does, some nights.

  Pink marble, bricks, stone — the colors shift with the light. From above, the view reaches far, the hills edging the city in soft green. But down in the ring, during an opera, it’s just voice and stone. No time left between then and now.

• The Giusti Gardens

  

  East of the old town, near the hill’s base, the Giusti Gardens wait — formal, green, quiet.

  Finished in 1570, they haven’t changed much. Paths lined with statues, trimmed hedges, fountains murmuring low. A staircase climbs to a viewpoint. Verona appears below — still, painted in rooftops and haze.

  Hidden inside, Europe’s oldest hedge maze. And there’s that tall cypress Goethe once wrote about. It hasn’t gone anywhere.

• Piazza Brà

  

  Big, open, restless — Piazza Brà holds the arena on one side, cafés on the other, and a constant shuffle of footsteps in between.

  Once a cattle market. Then fruit stalls. Now — espresso cups, camera clicks, voices from every language. Palazzo Barbieri watches from the edge, still serving as city hall.

  The boulevard that runs through it is wide, pale, always warm in the sun. A good place to begin, or to pause — depending on the day.