Day trip to Verona
 

We are staying in Venice for 6 nights and going to Verona for a day trip we arrive by train at 9am and leave again at 6.30pm. I know its not enough time but we all really want to visit Verona and it is all we can manage.
Must sees are the Arena, Roman Theatre, Lamberti Tower, Juliette's house, Piazza Della Erbe and Piazza Bra.
We would also like to see the Cathedral of St. Zeno, Antica Porta leoni and the Santa Maria Antica church.
I have some idea about loacations and how long to spend at each place, however not sure if there is too much here for 1 day.
We do not mind having a fairly hectic day as we are limited on time and would like to see and do as much as is reasonable.
If we do not have time for everything what would people suggest leaving out, also any suggestions for a light lunch at somewhere not too touristy would be great.

Skip Juliet's house. It is a fake, at least as far as Juliet and Shakespeare are concerned.

San Zeno is a basilica, I think, but it is absolutely Worth It, tho it is a bit away from the center. The metal doors and the frescos inside are amazing. The museum in the Castello is both an excellent museum (things you remember from Art History) and a great example of adaptive reuse of an ancient building.

You can't miss the others except for the Roman Theatre, which is across the river, down below the main part of town. Getting a taxi from the station will preserve your feet for all the walking this town demands. It is one of my favorite towns in Italy, great shops full of eye candy, Unless you feel like you have to, eating around the corner from either piazza is likely to give you better value for money than right on the squares themselves.

Locals recommended Ristorante Romeo e Julietta on the Corso San Anastasio, and we weren't disappointed. You should be aware, though that the local specialties are horse and donkey.

You will have plenty of time to see everything you listed - the two piazzas are what you will walk through. We like the Giardini Giusti, a Renaissance garden with views over the town.

The idea of a bus or taxi from the station to the centro storico is a good one, the way is not that clear. We had a pleasant lunch on the terrace of a little winebar overlooking the river very near the Ponte Pietra.

Agree with everything that's been said. My first trip to Verona was a day trip (I have subsequently been back and stayed four days, I really love Verona) - I was able to see all the highlights in a longish day.

Agree you can cover it in a day, even Juliette's house, since it's not out-of-the-way. Take a taxi from the train station to the central area.

Thank you so much for the helpful replies, its great to know we can cover the important to us, highlights and hopefully we will be able to return and do Verona justice another time.
We will take a bus or taxi to the central area and save time and avoid getting lost. Thanks too for the lunch suggestions and the warning, not sure we are ready for horse or donkey.

We stopped in Verona on our way driving from Bellagio to the Dolomites. We really only had time to eat lunch, walk through the piazzas and visit Juliet's house (we thought it fun seeing all the letters posted! Anyway, the main reason I'm writing is because we had a fabulous lunch there at Osteria Bertoldo (http://www.osteriailbertoldo.com/0. This is what I wrote about it in my trip report:

It is located just about five minutes away from the main piazza in a very quiet part of town. We walked into the restaurant and it did not appear as though anyone was there. Soon an older gentleman came out, who turned out to be the chef/owner. He and his wife had lived in Southern Italy for many years, he worked in the hotel business and she in management, but they had recently retired and moved here to be closer to their kids and open a restaurant because cooking was his passion! I am not sure why nobody else was in this fantastic restaurant but it allowed us to have their undivided attention and we enjoyed visiting and talking with them. We had an incredible meal – one of our favorites!!

First off, the bread was the best we have had in Italy. The chef said he gets it delivered daily from Campagna because he can not find any good bread in the north. He served us a complimentary amuse bouche which was a crostini with anchovies and an incredible sauce on it along with a small shot glass size prosecco. For appetizers we shared a plate of wonderful cheeses, an absolutely spectacular octopus salad (simply made with just olive oil, salt and pepper), and delicious melanzane (best of the trip!)

For our main course I had linguine with clams and pomo fresca, Stephen fettuccine with mussels, Lauren pasta with special dried anchovies and Michael pork chops with applesauce. Dessert was wonderful cannelloni and a special kind of cake with dried fruit (not pannettone) all made by his wife. We all agreed it was a great meal and a great stop on our way.

If you get a chance stroll along the river between the bridges Ponte Nuovo, which is a short distance from Juliet's balcony, and Ponte di Pietra which is close to the Duomo. Enjoy the wonderful view across the river of the St Peitro Castle with the Roman Theatre below it and the beautiful Italian cypress trees surrounding them.

I snapped a photo here on our day trip and it has become one of my all-time favorite scenes and a vivid reminder that I must some day make a return visit that will do that lovely city justice!

<3 just bookmarking as we are going to Varona this year :)

Once again Thank you for taking the time to reply and the lunch suggestion it sounds wonderful and just the sort of place we would love.
We will definately try to get a stroll along the river it sounds beautiful.
We go in just over 4 weeks and can't wait it is our first time in Italy so we are very excited.
This is also the first time I have completely done everything as we usually stay with family/frinds or book with a travel agent doing all the hard work, so keeping my fingers crossed it all goes well.
Being able to get help on sites like this is so helpful as guides whilst invaluable only tell you so much and I find people's experience to be so helpful in planning.

It is rare to find this much agreement on a place, which shows you how wonderful Verona is!