Hello guys,

For our second day in Verona, we went to visit the area around “Castelvecchio” (meaning “old Castle”).
We first went to see the arch named “Arco dei Gavi”, right next to “Castelvecchio”.
This very old arch is just near the river “Adige”.
If you walk toward the river, you’ll see the famous bridge “Ponte di Castelvecchio”.
This is bridge was originally built in the 14th century.
Though it was destroyed by german soldiers during WWII, it had been rebuilt (with the same bricks and stones) in 1951.

After that, we walked 150 meters towards the entrance of Castelvecchio.
When we passed the huge wall of Castelvecchio, we saw a very nice courtyard.
Castelvecchio was originally a fortress. It is now home to the “Castelvecchio Museum”.
If you have time, go inside and visit it.
It is one of the most beautiful museum of Verona.

In the courtyard of Castelvecchio, if you face the museum and go left …you’ll be able the reach the Castelvecchio Bridge.
This bridge crosses the river “Adige”.
You’ll be walking up a bit till the middle of the bridge and walking down till you reach the other side of the river.
It is a bit hard to describe it but it is a lot of fun to walk on this old brick bridge.

Since walking with a luggage, 2 backpacks and a stroller was starting to take its toll on us,
we decided the continue our visit of Verona by bus, to be able to see as much as possible for our last day.
There is a bus stop near “Castelvecchio”, just next to the Arch (“Arco dei Gavi”).

From “Arco dei Gavi”, we took the bus (line 32 or 33) to go to see the “Basilica of San Zeno”.
It took us just 5 minutes to get to “Piazza Pozza”, near the basilica.
I made a few researches on google the previous day to see pictures of this Basilica.
But I have to tell you that once we got there, “Basilica of San Zeno” exceeded all my expectations.
It was so much more beautiful than I thought it would be.
From outside, it looked nice and old but nothing really spectacular.
But once you get inside ….BANG BANG…
you’ll feel like beauty has slapped you twice on the face.
Everywhere you’ll look, it will be gorgeous.
The cloister is a work of art and the interior of the Basilic is breathtaking.
Take a good look at the gorgeous ceiling, the massive bronze doors and all the statues.

After a delightful moment at the basilica, we took a bus at “Piazza Pozza” to go to see “Ponte Pietra” (stone bridge).
Once again the bus saved our day, it would have been impossible to do that with all our luggages.
If you take the bus (line 32 or 33) untill “Lungadige S.Giorgio” (near “Ponte Pietra”), it should take about 20 minutes.

From that bridge, we walked about 100 meters towards “Teatro Romano” to take a close look at it.
This ancient roman theater is really gorgeous.
We could really feel history and imagine people being there more than 2000 years ago.

We continued on foot toward “Giardino Giusto”.
I had seen a lot of good pictures of this garden on the web and I wanted to go there to see it with my own eyes.
From the “Teotro Romano”, it took us about 15 min to get there (on foot).
We bought 2 tickets to see to the “Giusti Garden” & the “Giusti Palace”.
I must admit that I was a bit desappointed.
We paid 17 € (for 2 adults, free for little kids).
The garden was nice but it not so well maintained.
If you pay 8,50 € to see a garden, you expect to see something impeccable.
Maybe there was less maintenance during winter time. I don’t know.
All in all, it is a beautiful garden. On a sunny day, it must be wonderful to walk around and sit on one of the benches and relax.
But paying 8,5 € for to see this garden … I don’t know.
In an fairness, I must confess that the ticket also gives access to the “Giusti Palace“. We did not visit it.
Maybe, if you visit the “Giusti Garden” & the “Giusti Palace”, it will be worth the money.
We will try to go visit the Palace & the Garden once again next time we will go visit Verona.

We still had a bit less than 2 hours before taking the Train back to Monfalcone.
We decided to go once again near the “Ponte Pietra” and take a good look around.
On one side of the bridge, we could see the top of the Verona Cathedral (a.k.a “Duomo”) and its bell tower.
On the other side, we could see “Teatro Romano” and “Castel San Pietro” high up on its hill.
If you go up on that hill, at “Piazzale castel San Pietro”, you’ll have a very great view of the Verona Skyline.
Not far from “Ponte Pietra”, a funicular can also take you up to the top of the hill, near the castle.
The castle, unfortunately, is not opened to visitors.

5 P.M.
It was getting dark and very cold.
We took a bus near “Ponte Pietra” to go to the Verona central train station.
It took us about 20 minutes to get there.
Once again, taking the bus proved to be very convenient and pretty quick.
We could see bus stops almost everywhere, which made it really easy for us to get around in the city.
Just need a cell phone and internet to help you find the closest bus stop.
Verona bus network is very excellent but there was one bad mark though.
We took the bus 3 times and each time, buses’ windows were dirty.
It was difficult to see the city through the windows because they were unclean.
What a pitty !
Maybe the guys in charge of cleaning buses’ windows were just hibernating during winter …
and they were waiting for the spring to go back to work.
We’ll try to go back in Verona next summer.
We’ll definitely check out if the buses’ windows are clean or not.

Since we’re talking about public buses, I have one little piece of advice for you.
I discovered (the hard way) that the price for a bus ticket was more expensive if we buy it in the bus.
The first time we took the bus, I gave 4€ (for 2 adults) and I was expecting the bus driver to give me back 1,40€.
Indeed, I checked before on internet and I read that the cost for a bus ticket was 1,30€.
But the bus driver took my 4€ and kept on driving.
A nice african woman standing next to me in the bus heard me talking french.
She told me (in French) that I should have bought tickets at a bus stations, a tabbaconist’s shop or at newsagents.
Bus tickets are cheaper there (only 1,30€).
She also advised me to buy a daily ticket at 3,50 €  for a next time.
At the end of the day, we took the bus 3 times and therefore paid 12 €(for 2 adults) instead of 7 € (for 2 daily tickets).
Now you know what not to do if you take the bus in Verona, right ?

17h25.
We arrived at the Verona central train station.
Early enough to buy a good snack and drink something at the train station while waiting for our 18h30 train to Monfalcone.

19h15.
After a 45 minutes delay, our train finally left for Monfalcone.
It was already the end of our 2 days/1 night stay in Verona.

Now … my friends, my point is the following :
2 adults , a 2 years old bady, a luggage and 2 backpacks, a stroller, a cold and rainy weather …
and we still have been able to do ALL THAT.
Imagine how much more YOU could do and visit in 2 days, with a good weather and without little kids.
All in all, I think you will need at least 3 or 4 days to visit Verona.

When the train left Verona, I was already thinking :
-> “I want to come back in Verona and see more, more, more, …”.
That, in itself, speaks for itself!

My tips for Verona:

1/ Porta Nuova.
2/ Piazza Bra & the Arena.
3/ Piazza delle Erbe.
4/ Torre dei Lamberti & Piazza dei Signori & Pallazzo della Ragione.
5/ Juliet’s house.
6/ Arche Scaligere & Santa Maria Antica church.
7/ Ponte di Castelvecchio.
8/ Museo di Castelvecchio.
9/ Basilica di San Zeno.
10/ Ponte Pietra.
11/ Teatro Romano.
12/ Giardino Giusti & Palazzo Giusto.
13/ Cattedrale di Santa Maria Matricolare (near Ponte Pietro).
14/ Castel San Pietro (funicular available).
15/ Walk along the river “Adige”.
16/ Take the bus (don’t buy ticket in the bus).
17/ Take the train to visit Milan or Venice (less than 80 minutes).