Has anyone been to opera in Verona

I haven't gone but I had a long conversation with other tourists about Verona and they said it was a great experience, even though they were not particularly opera-lovers. That put it on my list!

Yes I've been and I'm sure many of the frequent contributors to this Italy's forum have as well. The 'Aida' is a classic Opera that is best seen at the Arena of Verona.

I don't remember the names of the restaurants I've been there. I usually ask local friends and I recommend you ask locally once you are there. There are also plenty in front of the Arena in the Piazza (called Piazza Bra')

Well, I went to the Opera in Verona in 1963, when I was a high school exchange student in Trento, about an hour away, and my host family took me. The memories are a little vague at this point, but I remember it as a spectacular experience, with everyone in the audience lighting candles at one point, quite something. It's bringing a big smile to my face right now, as I think back. I was also in Verona a year ago, loved it, but that was outside of Opera season, but I did visit the Arena with the Verona Card, not sure if that is the exact name, but it's a great deal to visit many sites in a 24 or 48 hour period. Verona is a great city for walking, generally flat, with wide open marble pedestrian streets and piazzas, a great mix of modern lifestyle in an ancient city. I've heard that hotels and inns fill up, with higher prices, during Opera season. I stayed in a great, small B&B called Arte Nel Centro, on a commercial avenue mid-way between the train station and Piazza Bra, which facilitated arrival and departure by train, and day trips, as well as access to "downtown" and the various tourist sites. It had a few large, very modern and comfortable rooms, a great breakfast, reasonable prices, located in an office/apartment building with an elevator.

Yes, it's fabulous! Do it! It's not expensive (you can buy tickets online), you sit in an amazingly well preserved Roman amphitheater and the acoustics are great. It's a wonderful memory. I've done it once and am going again in July!

judge,

I haven't "actually" been to the Opera in Verona, but did watch a dress rehearsal of Aida in the Amphitheater last time I was there. It was a wonderful experience, given the magnificent setting. I believe I stayed at Hotel Europa, and I found the hotel to be very comfortable with good service. It was close to Piazza Bra so in a good location and close to the Amphitheatre. For travel in Verona during Opera season, getting a hotel booking early would be prudent.

There are lots of restaurants surrounding Piazza Bra, and they seemed to be a bit "busy" for my liking. The hotel staff recommended a couple of out-of-the-way places, but I can't remember the details.

We saw Aida (or part of it anyway) in the arena in 2010 and it was a wonderful experience. The setting is beautiful and the crowd lots of fun. Yes, they lit candles when the overture started--like going to a rock concert. We bought tickets online and sat in the stone seats which are a bargain. It was nice to see the whole arena from there. They rent or sell cushions if you want, but we skipped that as we knew we would not last the whole opera---it was our first night in Europe so could not stay up that late.

We stayed in La Finestra sul'Arena which is listed as a B and B but you get an apartment. It is just off Piazza Bra, looking down on that main pedestrian street. I chose it because we were four people, and also they did not increase prices on opera nights as mots hotels do.

We had a very pleasant dinner the next night at Osteria Il Bertoldo. The room is lovely and the owner is very welcoming--- he even tried to teach a bit of Italian to our daughters. I would happily go back there again. It is not in the tourist center, but an easy walk from there.

http://www.tripadvisor.ca/Restaurant_Review-g187871-d1639946-Reviews-Osteria_Il_Bertoldo-Verona_Province_of_Verona_Veneto.html

I'm another who went to Aida in Verona and loved the experience. There are two kinds of seats, actually, maybe three. First, there are unreserved. These are quite reasonable in price. You need to arrive about an hour early to get the best choices. Second, there are reserved seats which, like the unreserved, are on the stone tiers. They are numbered, so you will get the place you paid for. You can rent cushions at the Arena (4 euros?) to ease the hardness. Finally, there are reserved seats on the ground level, real chairs and very expensive. We popped for reserved on the tiers. In retrospect, I think we'd have been fine with unreserved. It was early June, so not the height of tourist season; and I think I remember some empty places.
We stayed at Hotel Europa and liked it very much.

We also saw Aida. Be prepared: it is 4 hours start-to-finish due to intermissions and set changes. It was fascinating, though! Even my reluctant-opera-goer-husband enjoyed it, although he balked at the four hours. The supernumeraries, the torches, the candles to honor Verdi, the drama of the arena: Wow!

It is also fun to see the props and sets for the other operas lined up outside of the arena during their "off" days.

Had reserved stone seats and our landlady at B&B Panorama (recommend!) loaned us cushions, thank God!

Judgekw,

We did not attend the opera in Verona as we were there at the end of September (Opera Season: Mid-June- beginning of September)
but we had a delicious meal at Osteria Il Ciottolo :http://www.osteriailciottolo.it/

We also enjoyed our stay at Palazzo Gelmi, a charming b&b very close to the Arena: http://www.palazzogelmi.it/home_page-en

Lodovica Gelmi is the owner and she was quite nice & helpful. She speaks English, French & Italian (of course!)

Have a wonderful trip!

Here is the website for Opera tickets: http://www.arena.it/arena/en/

Thanks everyone for the wonderful responses. Looking very forward to our trip!!

Thanks everyone for the wonderful responses. Looking very forward to our trip!! I do believe that planning is half the fun.

We were in Verona for the first time last month and loved it! We stayed at Hotel Milano, which was very reasonably priced and located close to the Arena. We ate at Torcolo for dinner and I highly recommend the pumpkin ravioli. (I believe this restaurant was mentioned in RS Venice book).

www.hotelmilano-vr.it/en

www.ristorantetorcolo.it/en/#/

As an opera singer myself, Verona is one of my favorite places in Italy. Going to the opera there is so very different than any place else! May I suggest you try to see more than Aida? This year I'm also seeing Tosca and Nabucco. Nabucco is a special experience. The chorus sings 'Va, pensiero' - and every year sings an encore while the audience lights their candles and (some of us) sing along. It's the 'unofficial' national anthem - sung at Verdi's death and also when Italy won the World Cup. I was singing in Assisi when they won the title - the whole town stopped cheering and started singing 'Va, pensiero.' The singers in my company all joined in with full operatic vigor!

Nobody does opera like the Italians, and no place does opera like Verona! You'll not soon forget the experience - and I promise you'll forget/forgive the hard/hot stone.

Buy cheap tickets. If you go on line you can see the seating plan. You do not want to be close to the stage - you'll miss too much of the experience of the Arena. The sound is amazing wherever you sit (no, there are NO microphones). Do get there early and bring a cushion because the stone is very hard and very hot. I usually buy a cushion at the grocery store which is at the opposite end of Piazza Bra. The ones the Arena rents are too thin for me. I like to sit near an exit on the first row below the walkway. Once the opera starts you won't be getting kicked in the back every time the person behind you shifts. Bring a snack and some water! It's a very long night (opera doesn't start until after 9pm).

I like Hotel Torcolo. I've stayed there every year (but one when I made my reservations way too late - dummy!). It is comfortable, reasonable (even with the higher opera season prices), friendly and only a block away from the Arena.

Restaurants? Sorry, I never remember to check names! I just look for crowds of loud locals. Hey, I figure if they eat there then that's where I want to eat. I certainly wouldn't eat a meal (maybe a snack or gelato) on Piazza Bra.

Enjoy Verona and the Opera!

I was lucky enough to see La Boheme at the Verona amphitheater a number of years ago and it was just fantastic! It was not expensive and I loved being amongst other serious opera fans who were just as enthusiastic as we were about the performance. You can pay more to get seats on the floor of the arena but we loved sitting on the ancient stones higher up where people have been sitting to be entertained for a few thousand years - pretty amazing when you think about it!
The performance was so good that I won't see La Boheme again because I want THAT performance to be the one that I keep in my memory!
Definitely go!

You can buy tickets from the venue at:
http://www.geticket.it/en_us/season/93-Festival-lirico-2015-opera-arena-verona-125.html

I would suggest eating at Ristorante Antica Torretta. Make sure to get the gnocchi.
www.ristoranteanticatorretta.com

These may be dumb questions but what happens when it rains? Also, what is the recommended dress code seeing that you will be outdoors? Thanks

I don't know if the performances are "rain or shine"...
I did note that people who were seated on the floor level in the premium seats were dressed quite formally. Everyone where we sat was dressed nice but quite casual. It was hot when we were there, even in the evening, so we were wearing nice summer clothes that we would wear to a friends house for a BBQ or to a concert in the park. Hope that helps!

I think the name of our hotel may actually have been the Aurora.

If it rains the opera stops and the orchestra runs for cover to protect the instruments. Find a place out of the rain and wait, when it stops the opera will pick up where it left off. One year for Tosca it stopped and started on the baritones entrance 3 times in one night. They gave up sometime around midnight just before the skies really opened up and the wind almost tore canopies off. There's supposedly a rule about refunds but I wouldn't count on getting one.

I do not know the rules for Arena, but the general rule in Italy is that once the second act or part of a performance has begun, tickets will not be refunded if it is impossible to complete the performance. If the play stops during the first act or the first intermission, tickets are to be refunded.

I think that "rain or shine" is in effect always whether stated or not... it means more or less that, if it's raining bad enough, they will cancel the show. Otherwise, if the band is playing, no refunds.

Source: Professional musician who has been many times rained upon :)