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Start the day with a cappuccino or macchiato and a cornetto (a sweet croissant) and watch the world go by from a café on or around the piazza Erbe, the buzzing heart of the city. If you want to check out Juliet’s (supposed) house without the pleasure of the company of hordes of tourists, head down via Cappello to get there early. Otherwise find your bearings by walking (or taking the lift) to the top of the Torre dei Lamberti, with excellent views down to piazza Erbe and piazza dei Signori below, and across the city. After the long climb back down you may want to rest on the steps of the Loggia del Consiglio in piazza dei Signori, Verona’s most elegant square. Check to see if there’s anything worth seeing at the Centro Internazionale di Fotografia, which is also here, off the adjoining cortile del Tribunale amongst Roman excavations. To the north of piazza dei Signori the spectacular, Gothic Scaligeri tombs can easily be appreciated from outside their 14th-century wrought iron enclosure. Also have a look inside the small but atmospheric church of Santa Maria Antica, the Scaligeri’s erstwhile chapel. Continue in this direction to explore the narrow streets of the northern end of the centro storico, especially via Sottoriva, once the centre of disreputable Verona, now a residential street with several good cafés, restaurants, bars and shops in its arches. Beyond here is the river Adige and beautiful Ponte Pietra, the city’s oldest construction. If there’s time before lunch, have a look at the Duomo, Verona’s cathedral, especially its ancient ornate facade. Some of the best little restaurants and trattorie are in this area, so pick one for a traditional Veronesi lunch of pasta or polenta - with or without the horsemeat. In the afternoon head to piazza Bra and the Arena, the spectacular Roman amphitheatre, unless you have tickets for an evening opera, in which case you might want to visit the verdant Giardino Guisti or the church of San Zeno in the city’s southwest. You should also try to include a stroll across the crenellated bridge of Castelvecchio, and, if there’s time, a visit to the museum inside the castle itself. Once the shops reopen around four, you could also stroll up the smart, shiny via Mazzini or the ancient corso Porta Borsari, stopping for a good look at the Porta itself, and perhaps for a coffee or an ice-cream somewhere along the way. After supper, if there’s no opera, you could take in some classical music or jazz at the Teatro Filarmonico, or find a bar with some live music and good wine to last long into the night.
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