We are planning to go to Italy is September. We'll spend three days in Rome and then take a walking tour in Umbria and then 4 nights in Venice. Don't want to move again since we fly back from Venice but I have seen many posts that a day trip to Verona should not be missed. Wondering what exactly we shouldn't miss there and should we do a day trip there. This is our first trip to Italy.<BR><BR>Thanks<BR><BR>

Hi, Karen!<BR><BR>My wife and I stayed one nite in Verona about a month ago. It's a very nice city and you can enjoy a day trip from Venice.<BR><BR>I highly recommend seeing the Arena and climb to the top of Torre dei Lamberti in Piazza dell Erbe.<BR><BR>If you have time, you may want to check out "Juliette's balcony" on Via Cappello. We didn't find this that great.<BR><BR>What we did enjoy was a walk along the River Adige near Ponte Scaligero. This offers some very nice views.<BR><BR>Hope this is helpful to you. If you want our travelog covering northern Italy, pls email me separately as it is quite lengthy. [email protected]<BR><BR>Also, I have a travelog on Rome which we visited last year for a week.<BR><BR>Have fun in your planning.<BR><BR>Bob<BR><BR><BR><BR>

I spent 12 days in Verona 18 months ago and hope to return again next year. Verona is charming -- wonderfully likeable. In addition to the Arena, there is also the Civic Museum (fascinating artwork and sculpture), Scaligeri tombs and San Zeno and San Fermo churches. The centro historico is traffic free and the shopping is great. Best of all is the evening passegiata.

Hi Karen. All I can do is relate our recent experience. We were in Venice for seven days this April and thought we'd take a day trip to Verona since it sounds like another beautiful city. However, as it turned out we loved Venice so much that we decided to skip Verona, even for one day out of seven, figuring we'll visit it on a future trip. <BR><BR>So, I'd say just leave it open (since you're not planning on staying overnight in Verona) and see how you feel about Venice once you get there. Like us, you may not want to leave, even for a day. On the other hand, of course, you might.

Hi, I thought that San Zeno's church was one of the highlights of our visits to Verona,<BR>Karen: I understand you do not wish to move too much but if you are coming from Umbria I might make more sense to spend the first night or even the first 2 nights in Verona and then move on to Venice the next day.<BR>This way you save the time of going and coming back from one city to the other and being Venice one of the most expensive cities in Italy why pay a hotel in Venice to be out of Venice?

...sorry I meant it might make more sense....

We spent two nights in Verona on our way to Venice from Tuscany last year. In my dreams I would retire in Verona. It is a charming city, with beautiful homes, a lovely centro historico, the wonderful arena and one of the most friendliest, delightful passegiata we saw during our 3 weeks in Italy. We then drove to Venice through the Dolomites -- which was one of the highlights of our trip, and represented a fully day of visual beauty and sensory overload, ending when we took the vaporetto to our hotel in Venice at sunset. I'd suggest one night in Verona before you head for Venice. Three nights is plenty for Venice even though we enjoyed it a great deal. The crowds are simply difficult to deal with...and there are sights you simply have to see (and deal with said crowds.)

Karen, if you do decide to visit Verona may I suggest Bottega Del Vino for lunch. It is a wonderful wine bar with really delicious food and wine list that goes on for pages. The polenta with gorgonzola was superb.

Yes, yes on Verona. Make sure you stay in the Centro Storico to save time on travel.

Just to pile on a bit, we stayed in Verona one night on our way to Venice, sat in the bleachers for the first night of the opera season (bought tickets in the afternoon) and had a great time. My husband liked it better than Venice I believe.<BR><BR>What sticks out in our minds, other than the arena and the music, was the wonderful WATERMELLON. It was fabulous - tasting just like the watermellon I ate as a child in California (back in the early 50's). I'm not kidding, after our two week vacation, my sister and I still talk about it as a highlite of the trip. And I wouldn't be surprised if we went back there just for the watermellon and fruit!