One July night in Verona - help!
 

We decided to make a side trip to Verona on our way from Como area to Dolomites so we could see the opera there. Will have a car and plan to arrive midday, but opera doesn't start till 9pm!! Any place to stay that includes parking? Suggestions for our afternoon and evening? Favorite restaurant? And....what do we wear to the opera? Do folks get quite dressed up?

Verona is a beautiful small city. If you read up a little, I'm sure you'll see many things that you'd like to see. For one thing, there are some beautiful bridges over the Adige river, including an ancient Roman bridge.

If you look for hotels on www.booking.com you can request a list of hotels that include parking. After you've specified you destination, put in your dates and the number of people, you'll get a list of lodgings. On the left-hand side of the page, under "Services", click "parking". You can also specify what type of structure you want, and many other things. If you want to be within walking distance of the Arena, check off "historic center of Verona", under "Points of interest".

Dress is quite casual. After all, most people are sitting on stone steps. If you've ordered the cheapest seats, they are not reserved, and you have to line up very early if you want a good seat. I would suggest getting something a little more expensive, with a reserved seat.

When I say quite casual, I don't mean sloppy. I would wear slacks and a knit top, and bring a lightweight sweater in case it gets chilly at night. I believe you can rent cushions if you're on the steps, but I'm not sure, because we had seats.

For a 9pm "curtain", you will need to find a place that serves food before 8pm, which is the typical hour people eat in summertime in Italy. Since Verona and its surrounding has outstanding red & white wines, try a google search for "enoteche Verona" or "wine bars in Verona" or "aperitivi in Verona". You should come up with a list of places that offer buffets and extensive cold plates that will seat you at 6pm or so and give you enough food to constitute a filling meal.

If you don't have reserved seats, you'll have to line up well before 9 PM unless you want to be seated in the nosebleed section. We saw people waiting in line in the late afternoon, but that might be overkill.

There are several parking garages located near the arena. Hotels such as the Grand have arrangements for parking with local garages.

You are probably best eating before the performance and there are MANY restaurants located in the immediate arena area as well as within a few minutes walking distance.

The Festival tells patrons they should be dressed appropriately but that advice is mainly directed toward folks in the orchestra seats which are locate on the floor of the arena and not on the steps.

I can tell you from personal experience of being in the Gold section for many years that the dress code, such as it is, is NOT enforced and even in those high-priced seats the variety of dress is considerable; IOW, don't sweat that.

HOWEVER, be aware that it can actually get cool at night and, even more importantly, it can sometimes rain: the performance can be delayed for up to 90 minutes due to weather. Once it BEGINS there are NO refunds if it is interrupted by weather. Be prepared with appropriate clothing for possible rain delays.

Thanks to everyone. We bought reserved seats, but not at the high end. Glad we don't have to dress up too much. Reserved a hotel with parking that is walking distance and a restaurant near the arena for 6:30, but maybe we'll go a bit earlier. Hoping in July that it won't rain, but we'll nap in case there a delay cause I think the opera may be 3 hours!!

What opera are you seeing? The one time I was in Verona (a too short overnight on the way from Venice to the Dolomites) when we visited the arena they were setting up for Aida. The sets were impressive! Please report back on the night at the opera.