Viva Verona

9:59am Saturday 11th October 2008

Nigel Williams visits Verona and discovers that the city has much more to offer than just Juliet’s balcony.

"A NIGHT at the opera for the masses” was the dismissive comment of a friend when he learned we were off to Verona. Actually, he was right about the masses: up to 20,000 of us poured into the Roman amphitheatre where gladiators did battle almost 2,000 years ago.

But what a night. As the sky darkened and the moon rose, thousands in the audience lit candles which glinted and danced like fireflies.

We were in the gradinata – cheap, unreserved seats – on the stone steps high above the stage. It’s not a climb for the infirm and the acoustics may suffer at this distance, but the bird’s eye view you get makes up for it.

Streaming out with the crowds well after midnight, we found a city pulsating with life. Restaurants were taking orders, bars were packed, streets thronged.

Verona is compact, with the River Adige winding through it, making it easy to see on foot. It boasts many attractions: Roman ruins, renaissance architecture, churches with statues and frescoes, stylish shops, intriguing side streets and busy restaurants. If you love art and the ambience of an Italian city, then it’s difficult to think of anywhere better, apart perhaps than Venice, for a weekend break.

Of course, it has to be recognised that for most people Verona is inevitably linked with the doomed lovers Romeo and Juliet. You can join the thousands on the Romeo and Juliet trail. It’s probably worth visiting Juliet’s house. Stepping onto the marble balcony to be photographed – and even touching the right breast of the Juliet statue in the courtyard to earn good luck in love – is all part of the experience.

Close by is the Piazza Signori, with its statue of Dante and its palazzi built by the Scaligeri family, who ruled the city in the 13th and 14th centuries. Their gothic tombs topped with spires seem like a bizarre prop from some epic fantasy film.

A “must see” is the Castelvecchio, or old castle, by the river. Once the home of the Scaligeris, its thick walls now house an impressive art collection, including a lot of early religious paintings but also a Reubens and a portrait by Titian, as well as a collection of weapons and jewellery.

We set aside one day for a trip to Lake Garda, which is just 20 minutes away by train, past vineyards on the Venice to Milan line. You can’t expect to see much in a day of the largest of the Italian lakes, but it’s enough for a taste.

We got off at Desenzano and had lunch on the palm-lined front before catching a steamer to Sirmione, a peninsula jutting out into the southern end of the lake.

It boasts the spectacular Rocca Scaligieri castle, with a large moat and inner harbour. Climbing the walls gives a rewarding view of narrow streets, houses with shuttered windows, cafes, elegant lake-front hotels and the blue waters and surrounding mountains.

Travel Facts

■ Nigel Williams was a guest of Citalia, part of the TUI-Thomson group, which offers short breaks this autumn to Verona from £286 per person for three nights in November at the three-star Hotel Mastino from £286, with flights ex-Gatwick. Regional options include Manchester (£287) and Glasgow (£342). Citalia reservations: 0871-200-2005 or visit citalia.com