Why you should book a Verona food and wine tour
If it’s your first time in Verona or if you’ve been away since at least 10 years I warmly recommend a food and wine walking tour first thing when you arrive in town.
This is the smartest way to have plenty of information and help you deciding what to do in the next days/hours.
The tour starts in Piazza Bra n.28, close to the only Shakespeare’s statue you’ll see in historical centre and a few steps from the Verona’s most representing monument: the roman amphitheater best known as Arena from the Latin word “Arena” that means “Sand” in order to indicate all the sand used on the floor.
It’s really 2 tours compressed into one (so you can count on a good value for money) because you have a local professional tour guide explaining the main historical facts about the city and its monuments, ready to answer to all your questions plus 6 different food tastings and 3 more wine tastings.
In order to make the itinerary absolutely not boring for everyone, especially the very young ones, our 3 kilometers (about 2 miles) walking tour will include in total 6 different stops, some of which with toilettes available and nice chairs to rest and enjoy better the food and wine tasting.
So you will start with the typical Italian breakfast in my favorite patisserie in town because it’s always the right time for a warm and tasty espresso but even if you’re more the “tea type” this place will be not disappointing.
After a waking up coffe it’s time for a short walk along the ancient “Via Postumia”, the latin name for the ancient roman road approaching the historical centre from south. A stop for making nice pictures of Castelvecchio, the Gavi Arch and Porta Borsari and then again another pleasant food stop learning something about the Italian Confetti tradition (not paper confetti).
Time for more walking around listening to the history of the Opera Festival happening every year from June to September inside the 2.000 years old Arena.
After so much history you will be interrupted by “Aperitivo Time” in a nice local Grocery shop nearby where a cold cuts and cheese tasting will wait for you while sipping a glass of local white wine.
The pleasant walk after Aperitivo will introduce you the unmissable Juliet’s House with the ultra famous Balcony and the less known but not less beautiful Piazza Erbe, rich in bright frescoes, a neoclassic building facade and a lively market. A lot of history and urban myth are concentrated in this amazing square.
Immediately after Piazza Erbe is Piazza dei Signori (Gentlemen square) also known as Piazza Dante because of the big statue of florentine poet Dante Alighieri right in the middle. A small but fashinating square really appreciated by veronese people who use to spend here in cafes and restaurants their free time.
Time for lunch with some typically veronese fresh pasta and a nice glass of local red wine. The perfect food matching even if you’re not a big wine connoisseur. The hot meal will be served in a nice traditional restaurant managed by the same veronese family since 5 generations.
More wine tastings are waiting for you after the light lunch involving the best Valpolicella (the wine region right outside Verona centre) wines from medium to full bodied and dessert one. Olive oil tasting is also part of this amazing journey between Valpolicella and Lake Garda.
The last stop is what I like to define as “terribly romantic” because it involves the view and explanation of the Roman Theater hill, Verona’s most romantic part, plus artisanal “gelato“, is there anything more romantic than that?
While crossing the Adige river on the most ancient bridge in town we will approach a modern funicular railway from where admiring the entire historical centre under our feet.
The railway funicular trip ends after few minutes on a big panoramic terrace surrounded by cypress trees from where you can see all the beautiful monuments have been explained to you during the tour.
For all these mentioned reasons (and maybe for others more) I suggest to book this amazing 4 hours tour. It worth it! I can guarantee.
Sara Valitutto – Tour leader
