Arena Di Verona

The Verona Opera Festival Has Been Running Since 1913 and the Seats Are Still Stone

Every summer since 1913, the Arena di Verona has hosted open-air opera on a scale matched by almost nowhere else in the world. Pavarotti, Callas, and Domingo have all performed here. The productions typically feature Aida, Carmen, La Traviata, and Rigoletto. Performances begin at sunset – around 9pm in July – and run three to four hours. The seats are the original Roman stone. Bring a cushion.

The Arena itself was built in the 1st century CE, survived the 1117 earthquake that destroyed much of Verona, and remains one of the best-preserved Roman amphitheatres in the world. It is not the largest – Rome’s Colosseum has it beaten – but it retains an integrity of structure that the Colosseum, which lost most of its outer wall, does not. The outer wall at Verona has four wings; three remain.

Visiting and Tickets

Daily visitor hours run approximately 8:30am to 7:30pm, extended on performance evenings. Admission is modest for a site of this significance.

For opera tickets: these sell out 4 to 8 weeks in advance. Book directly through the Arena’s official box office. Dress code is casual despite the formal entertainment. Arrive early to explore the structure before the performance.

Verona Beyond the Arena

Piazza Bra, the large square the Arena faces, has terrace cafes filling for evening aperitivo. Piazza delle Erbe (the old Roman forum, still a market square) is ten minutes’ walk into the old city – the frescoed Renaissance buildings encircling it house wine bars and gelaterie. Castelvecchio, the 14th-century fortress-turned-museum, has medieval and Renaissance art including works by Bellini and Mantegna.

Juliet’s House (Casa di Giulietta) has the famous balcony; the Shakespeare connection is literary legend rather than historical fact, but the courtyard is undeniably atmospheric and the lines are shorter in the early morning.

Food and Wine

Verona’s food culture centres on Po Valley traditions: risotto all’Amarone (with local wine), pastissada di cavallo (braised horsemeat, which is excellent), and casunziei (stuffed pasta). The Valpolicella wine region is north of the city – Amarone, Ripasso, and Valpolicella Classico are worth tasting at a family-run winery rather than a tourist shop.

Getting There

Verona Porta Nuova station (Trenitalia) has direct trains from Venice (2 hours), Milan (2.5 hours), and Bologna (2 hours). The Arena is a 15-minute walk from the station.