Venice to Verona and Back
 

We want to visit Verona for a day, while we are in Venice.
We would like to spend a day in Verona, see the opera at the Arena and return to Venice that night. (We fly home from Venice the next day.)
Only problem is- how do we get back and forth? Is there a tour group which does this type of trip or, does anyone have any other suggestions?
Thanks for any help or guidance you can offer.

I have never been lucky enough to see the opera in Verona but I have traveled to the city from Venice. You absolutely do not need any kind of tour. You can take one of the frequent daily trains from Venice Santa Lucia station and return after the opera. From the station in Verona, you can easily get a taxi to the Arena. Or walk.

jresnick17,

Here is some info on the Eurostar train from Venice to Verona one way. You can get details at www.trenitalia.com and click in the upper right corner for English. You can only find prices up to 2 months in advance.

Venice Santa Lucia to Verona Porta Nuova – ES* 2nd class – E14 and the train I will take is 1 hr 17 min. I believe Rick Steves said you should take a bus from the train station to the main tourist area.

definitely take the train. There are many trains running this route in addition to the Eurostar (which is the most expensive) - the trenitalia website will offer other options from very local trains to non-Eurostar expresses. the Venice station is Venezia Santa Lucia - the Verona station is Verona Porta Nuova

You will need to be sure what the running time of the opera is, what the train options are at that time and how you would get back to the Verona train station from the Arena at night. I dont know whether buses are running - I wouldnt be eager to walk it late at night - not because of safety but because you would be walking through some lightly populated areas, crossing main roads etc.; there is the possibility of getting a little lost as we did returning to the station in the eve last winter.

From Verona main station Porta Nouva, bus #11,12,13,14,72,73 (numbers different on Sunday) go to the Arena on Piazza Bra. It isn't really difficult to walk back to the station, takes about 15 minutes.

For visiting Verona, it's a bargain to get Verona Card at the station, about 8 Euro for one day, covers unlimited bus rides and admission to museums, churches.

Hi JR - Unfortunately you won't be able to get back to Venice that night by train. The last departure from Verona is 22.43.

The next one after that is 05.30 a.m
www.trenitalia.com

What time do you leave from Venice next day? Your only options, I think, will be to overnight in Verona - or to go by car.

Hope this helps ...

Steve

I agree with Steve. We wanted to do the same thing but found the opera performances didn't end early enough to get the last train back to Venice the same night.

...and even with a car it might be absolutely crazy to do it if you have to leave from Marco Polo next morning! Performances at the Arena are beginning, and ending of course, LATE - they won't start before 9 pm, intervals between acts are longish (opera at the Arena is kind of a popular fair, people just don't WANT to come home early!), and very often, the performance will last till 1 or 2 at night. The Verona-Venezia drive may be doable in 1.5 hours at night, but then, you'll have to come back into the center... have you ever been to Venice? That's not a quick affair, above all late night, when boats are running infrequently. Let's suppose you might be on Piazzale Roma at 2.30 am, then it depends on where your hotel is located; if you can walk to come home around 3 am, do it, but if you have to wait for the "N" vaporetto (thinking of a hotel on the Arsenale side of town, e.g.), you might very well find yourself traveling till 4 am... and flights from Marco Polo tend to depart EARLY, so you might as well start checking out when arriving at the hotel! Not a very pleasant way to end your holiday, IMO...

We were staying in Lake Garda and went to the opera in Verona. I believe the opera was over around 12:45 am and by the time we got back to our hotel in Lake Garda it was almost 2 am. Franco is right on the money. We were beat when we got back and we had to get moving at 6:30 in the morning. You are going back to Venice, which is worse in my opinion. Again, as Franco says "Not a very pleasant way to end your holiday, IMO..."