We have returned from a week in Verona with our two kids (6 and 13) and I thought I would share our experiences.
I should note that we travel low and slow, typically spending a full week in a location where we can easily take day trips. We generally schedule on major activity each day and spend the rest of our time at cafes, people-watching and wandering. We are budget conscious, but do not allow cost to always get in the way. We love to eat, we love to shop. It is probably worth noting that we live in Vienna.
Transportation - We traveled by train from Vienna to Verona with a change in Innsbruck. I bought our tickets and seats reservations online from the OeBB website using my US credit card. I had no problems with the site design or the credit card. I have an OeBB Family Voretilscard, so we save about 50% on all of our travel. Trains were perfectly on time all the way to Verona. To return to Vienna, we traveled from Verona to Villach by train/bus and bought our tickets at the Verona train station the day before travel. While we could not use our OeBB family card, we were able to get a family discount with Trenitalia. The train from Verona to Venice was on a regional train and the journey from Venice to Villach was by OeBB bus. I would note that it was challenging to find the OeBB bus stop outside of the Mestre station, but we finally found it. The signage could be better. The bus ride was lovely as we sat in the front row of the top floor of the bus, so excellent view. We then rented a car in Villach as we spent a few days in the mountains before driving back to Vienna.
Accommodation - I had never been to Verona, but have been to Italy more times than I can count. We rented an apartment through Homeaway (same apartment was more expense on AirBNB due to additional fees) which was located in the center of the city. Location could not be more perfect. I would highly suggest when visiting Verona that visitors stay very central. We were very glad we did not have a car. Our apartment had a/c, which was an absolute for us during the summer.
Verona - We never got bored during our week and could have easily spent another week. Verona has a fascinating mix of Roman, medieval and renaissance architecture. My kids loved the Arena, the gelato and the Romeo and Juliet tour which acted out the play. We had excellent food on the recommendation of our host. I love to wake up early and walk for about an hour alone, so the highlight for me was walking along the river and then stopping in a deli where you could buy fresh eggplant parmigiana (still warm) by weight. I did this several days in a row.
Side Trips - We made two side trips. We spent one afternoon/evening in Venice, traveling by train. Bought our regional tickets just before boarding the train. We had been to Venice before, so we just wandered in search of a place for an Aperol Spritz and dinner. We also went to Lake Garda for an afternoon, including the Sea Life Aquarium. The Aquarium is a miss and was not memorable in any way. We spent the rest of the afternoon in Peschiera del Garda walking the promenade, drinking Aperol spritz and eating ice cream. We had driven the length of the eastern side of the lake in the past so were interested in some town time. We took the train to Peschiera del Garda from Verona and the aquarium had a free shuttle from the train station.
I do not use a money belt, we do not carry our passports. I use a backpack I got at Ikea for all of our stuff.