Verona With Kids
A Roman arena still in use, a river that loops around the old town, a tower with a lift to the top and a lake 15 minutes away. Verona is the easy stop between Venice and Milan that families end up wishing they had given more time.
Nicole Damiano, ASTA Verified Travel Advisor with FG Luxury Travel
Is Verona good for kids?
Yes. A Roman arena to climb, a tower with a lift, a garden maze, a castle with battlements, a funicular and a lake 15 minutes away. The old town is car free and small enough that nobody gets tired.
How many days do you need in Verona?
Two nights for the city. Three if you want Lake Garda or a night at the opera.
Can kids go to the opera at the Arena?
Yes. Families sit on the stone steps at the top with cushions and snacks. Performances start around 9 pm and run late, so it suits kids who can manage a late night.
How do you get from Verona to Lake Garda?
Regional train from Porta Nuova to Peschiera del Garda, 15 minutes, then a bus or ferry to Sirmione. Gardaland has its own shuttle from Peschiera station.
When is the best time to visit Verona?
April to June and September to October for warm days without the summer heat. June to early September for the opera festival, hotter and busier but the thing Verona does that nowhere else does.
The Small City Between The Big Ones
The Romans built the Arena here in the first century and it has never stopped being used. Opera is sung in it every summer, and you can sit on the same stone steps the Romans did. The river Adige wraps the old town in a tight loop, so almost everything sits inside a 20 minute walk, and the hills on the far bank give you the view down over all of it.
Two nights covers the Arena, the squares, the tower and the bridge. A third adds Lake Garda, which is a 15 minute train ride away and feels like a different trip.
Getting Around
On foot inside the river loop, and the center is mostly closed to cars. The funicular goes up to Castel San Pietro for the view. Trains from Porta Nuova reach Peschiera del Garda in 15 minutes, Venice and Milan in just over an hour. Bus 11, 12 or 13 links the station to the Arena if the suitcases are heavy.
Neighborhoods worth basing in
Città Antica, inside the river loop
The old town the Adige wraps around. The Arena, Piazza delle Erbe, Juliet’s House, the Lamberti tower and the restaurants all sit within 15 minutes of each other on foot. Base here for a short stay and leave the car at the hotel.
Veronetta
Across the Ponte Nuovo on the east bank, the university quarter with the Giardino Giusti, the Roman theater and the funicular up to Castel San Pietro. Cheaper, quieter at night and a 10 minute walk back over the bridge to the squares.
Borgo Trento
The residential quarter north across the river from Ponte Pietra. Leafy streets, playgrounds, apartments for a longer stay and the morning walk into town over the Roman bridge.
Due Torri Hotel
A grand old hotel on the square beside Sant’Anastasia church, in the heart of the old town, with family rooms and a rooftop terrace that looks over the roofs to the hills. The splurge inside the river loop.
Hotel Accademia
On a quiet street between Via Mazzini and Piazza delle Erbe, a few minutes on foot from the Arena. Classic rooms, family rooms on request and the whole old town at the door.
Hotel Indigo Verona Grand Hotel des Arts
On Corso Porta Nuova between the station and the Arena, with modern rooms for families and an easy walk both ways. Good value for a two night train stop.
The Three I Build Every Verona Trip Around
The Arena and the summer opera
A Roman amphitheater from the first century, older than the Colosseum and in far better shape, with 44 tiers of pink and white stone. By day you walk the arcades and climb to the top row. In summer the opera festival fills it, and the cheap seats are the unnumbered stone steps at the top. Bring cushions, go for Aida, the big spectacle, and let the kids stay up late once. Performances start around 9 pm.
Piazza delle Erbe and the Lamberti tower
The market square sits on the old Roman forum, with a fountain, frescoed houses and stalls selling fruit and souvenirs under white umbrellas. The Torre dei Lamberti rises 84 meters from one corner and there is a lift most of the way up, so small legs make it. From the top you see the river loop, the Arena and the hills. Next door, Piazza dei Signori is the quiet square with the Dante statue.
Ponte Pietra and the view from Castel San Pietro
The Roman bridge over the Adige, blown up in 1945 and rebuilt stone by stone with the originals pulled from the river. Cross it, pass the Roman theater and take the funicular, a two minute ride, to Castel San Pietro. The terrace looks back over the whole city, and late afternoon is the time. Walk down through the cypress trees instead of riding.
Family Time, Built In: Verona With Kids
Verona with kids is a Roman arena, a tower with a lift, a garden maze, a stone bridge and a lake 15 minutes away. These are the pieces that work.
The lift up the Torre dei Lamberti
An opera night on the stone steps of the Arena
Castelvecchio and walking across its bridge
A swim at Lake Garda
PARK & DOWNTIME PICK
Giardino Giusti, in Veronetta, is a 16th century garden with a hedge maze, cypress trees and a terrace above the city, and kids run it while the adults sit. Castelvecchio, the brick castle on the river, has battlements to walk and a bridge of its own to cross. The paths along the Adige below the walls are good for scooters.
Five Things To Eat In Verona
Risotto all’Amarone
Tortellini di Valeggio
Gelato
Pandoro and pastries
Monte Veronese and salamiNicole’s Perspective
Two nights that families stretch to three
When I taught the Romans, the Arena was the building I used to show kids that these places are not ruins. People still buy tickets and sit in it. Verona puts that lesson a 20 minute walk from the train station, with a tower to climb, a bridge to cross and a garden maze to lose the kids in.
I slot it between Venice and Milan for almost every northern Italy family trip I plan. Two nights for the city, and a third when the dates fall in summer so there is an opera night and a Lake Garda afternoon. It is smaller and cheaper than either neighbor, and it is the stop families tell me they wished they had given more time.
The Day Trip: Sirmione and Lake Garda
Fifteen minutes by train to Peschiera del Garda, then 25 minutes by bus or a ferry to Sirmione, a medieval town on a thin peninsula poking into the lake. A moated Scaliger castle guards the entrance, the lanes inside are car free, and at the tip are the Grotte di Catullo, the ruins of a huge Roman villa above the water. Swim off the flat stones at Jamaica Beach below the ruins, eat lunch by the harbor and ferry back. Gardaland, Italy’s big theme park, is a stop before Peschiera if that is the kind of day the kids need.
Things I Would Tell A Friend Before They Booked
How Many Days
Two nights covers the Arena, the squares, the tower and the bridge. Three adds the lake or an opera night.
The Arena, Via Mazzini and the squares on day one. The tower, Ponte Pietra and the funicular on day two.
Add the train to Peschiera and the boat to Sirmione, or an evening at the opera with a slow morning after.
Venice for three nights, Verona for two or three, Lake Garda or Lake Como, then Milan to fly home. Ten days by train with no car at all.
Verona With Kids, Answered
Is Verona good for kids?
Yes. A Roman arena to climb, a tower with a lift, a garden maze, a castle with battlements, a funicular and a lake 15 minutes away. The old town is car free and small enough that nobody gets tired.
How many days do you need in Verona?
Two nights for the city. Three if you want Lake Garda or a night at the opera.
Can kids go to the opera at the Arena?
Yes. Families sit on the stone steps at the top with cushions and snacks. Performances start around 9 pm and run late, so it suits kids who can manage a late night.
How do you get from Verona to Lake Garda?
Regional train from Porta Nuova to Peschiera del Garda, 15 minutes, then a bus or ferry to Sirmione. Gardaland has its own shuttle from Peschiera station.
When is the best time to visit Verona?
April to June and September to October for warm days without the summer heat. June to early September for the opera festival, hotter and busier but the thing Verona does that nowhere else does.
Ready To Put Verona On The Calendar
Send me your dates and your kids’ ages and I will slot Verona into your northern Italy route, pick the hotel inside the river loop and get the opera tickets before they go.
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