Verona ?

It's about a 20 min walk from Verona Porta Nuova train station to Piazza Bra where the arena is. Most of the Old Town sights are west of and north of the arena, all easily walkable on a day trip, unless you're very short on time in Verona.

The Centro Storico of Verona is small and very walkable. There’s an excellent walking tour in Rick’s guidebook though I don’t know if Juliet’s balcony is included. Best to take a bus from the RR station to Piazza Bra. There’s a wonderful restaurant L’Orologio just outside Piazza Bra that serves great local food and has about 30 different wines available by the glass. If you end your tour near the Ponte Risorgimento, cross the bridge and you can catch a bus back to the station.

I was in Verona in 1994. It's the most pleasant of the 10 or so cities I've visited in Italy.

Juliet's balcony is great to see. It's located in the former palace of a Verona aristocrat named Capello. (Notice the closeness of the names "Capello" and "Capulet".) When I was in Verona 31 years ago, the palace housed a museum medieval Verona history. Nearby is a daily market worth seeing.

The Arena di Verona is the best of the three Roman amphitheaters I have seen. It hosts operas and other performances (https://www.arena.it/en/).

I arrived on the train from Venice. It's a short walk into central Verona. There was a tourist information office in the Verona train station 31 years ago.

It's perhaps a bit corny, but I was an English literature major: I stayed in the Hotel Giulietta e Romeo: https://www.giuliettaeromeo.it/en/. I had peaceful sleep, but one night I swear I heard someone typing on a typewriter.

Ditto what @Phillip said but I would opt for a taxi with as many people as you have. It will probably actually be cheaper than a bus with four people and less hassle. There is a taxi stand right outside the train station and there is another taxi stand in Piazza Erbe when you decide to come back. Train station into old town is a 10e ride and this should less than that on the way to Piazza Bra. If you get dropped off at Piazza Bra don't miss the pink and white Roman "clock" gate that still stands at the edge of the piazza.

Verona is a chic, mostly pedestrian, cafe culture like city the bend of the river centered around the old Roman core that feels smaller (to the tourist) than it's size would suggest. It has an intact Roman Arena, Theater which are still used for music with music and opera being a big part of the city's summer schedule. If you like modern art check out the small Palazzo Maffei Casa Museo which mixes ancient and modern art, a palazzo and rooftop tour all into one place overlooking piazza Erbe and is underadvertised. I think Piazza Erbe (looking past the market stands) is one of the prettiest piazzas in Italy. Verona has the 'elegant decay' feeling with faded murals on medieval buildings that the Veneto does so well.

Al Grottino - Osteria e Sbecoleria is a great hole in the wall place off Piazza Erbe for a drink and cicchetti. Cafe Monte Baldo nearby also has great cicchetti and more serious food if you want that. Right near the cafe there is Arcivio a super small, super hip cocktail bar. There is no lack of good restaurants in Verona but read the menu carefully at the older places because the cuisine can be very "traditional". There are many wine-centric resultants like Osteria del Bugiardo. Al Grottino only has a few wines but they were really good. The main wine in the Verona area is Valpolicella which comes in the grades Classico Superiore, Ripasso and Amarone increasing in quality and price. Given how cheap the wine is I wouldn't go lower than Ripasso and even Amarone seems cheap by stateside standards - 8-9e a glass.

Honestly I usually recommend skipping the Juliet's balcony thing - you can pass by on the street you can glance in and see it without bothering to go in - but it doesn't sound like you're going to be able to get out of it. If it is not the weekend it should be pretty quick but the street outside clogs with lines on the weekend.

Hope that helps,
=Tod

I am not the OP but I want to thank hiredman AKA Tod for his restaurant recommendations for Verona. We will be there in May for 2 nights, and I always appreciate firsthand restaurant recommendations.

Tod, when you say "read the menu carefully at the older places because the cuisine can be very "traditional", what do you mean by this? Is "traditional" a negative thing? And what do you mean by traditional?

I think he means traditional as in horse meat!

OP
How many nights do you actually have in Florence?
IMO both Venice (2hr15 min) and Verona (1.5hr) are too far as day trips and both deserve more time than you are giving them
Any way you could just go to one or the other and spend at least a night?

There are so many other more doable day trips from Florence-Siena, Lucca, Pisa, Bologna, Tuscan hilltowns, etc)

ChristineH, thank you! I didn't know that "traditional" means horse meat!

Verona has a very café culture feel with outdoor dining seemingly everywhere you turn. I would avoid places in the big piazzas unless you want to have a spritz and "make the scene". Piazza Bra near the designer shopping and the arena is much more upscale than Piazza Erbe with the food and souvenir stands. The much less touristy and historically more signifiant Piazza dei Signori is blocks away from Piazza Erbe.

There are a whole string of more serious dinner restaurants along Via Sottoriva near the river east of Piazza Erbe under the porticos along that street. Trattoria al Bersagliere is a Michelin guide noted restaurant and listed as one of the favorites of the collaborators on Rick's food of Italy book. I have not managed to make it over there but it is on my list.

The veiled warning I made in my previous post is something I haven't mentioned because I don't want to derail discussions about food and dining but horse is still on the menus in some of Verona's very traditional eateries. I know they're not alone is this but I also know this subject has the potential to draw strong reactions. I doubt you could ever eat it by accident but I'm just putting it out there.

Edit: Ha! I should known @ChristineH knew what I was hinting at. In France the horse's head was the traditional sign of a butcher shop. I believe there is still a butcher in Verona with the horse's head sign.

Hope that helps,
=Tod

For the record I believe the Italian you want to learn is carne di cavallo. For some ungodly reason I ordered a horse meat meatball in Vicenza, not far from Verona. Thankfully it was more breading than Trigger. One and done. Safe travels and Buon Appetito

We loved the Amarone wine that is from the nearby area. There is also a unique risotto called Amarone that we enjoyed during our 3 nights stay in Verona.

@ Christine:
How many nights do you actually have in Florence? We are staying 5 nights in Florence. We have been to Florence before, and my youngest daughter is doing summer college classes there that end in midJune, which is when the rest of us will be joining her.

IMO both Venice (2hr15 min) and Verona (1.5hr) are too far as day trips and both deserve more time than you are giving them
Any way you could just go to one or the other and spend at least a night? I agree about distance for day trips (especially Venice as that will be over 4 hours on the train that day)

There are so many other more doable day trips from Florence-Siena, Lucca, Pisa, Bologna, Tuscan hilltowns, etc) We are still trying to figure out our schedule. Planning with these age groups is quite difficult, for ex: my mother likes the idea of seeing Lucca, but my two daughters don't think there is enough there to do. Hence my need for this forum. :)

I love Florence, have already spent a total of 80 days there, plan to spend another 35 soon, but I’m wondering if you wouldn’t be better off spending at least 4 nights in Verona, given the details you have shared and the people involved. Where were you planning to go after Florence?

Many interesting and less crowded daytrips in the Veneto!

...one daughter wants to see Juliet's balcony...

It's okay to see it, but it's not the real deal. It was added to the building much, much later as a tourist draw.

...one daughter wants to see Juliet's balcony...

It's okay to see it, but it's not the real deal. It was added to the building much, much later as a tourist draw.

Depending on where you stay, it might be easier to take a taxi from the train station to the hotel. It is only a 20 or 25 minute walk from the station to P. Bra. but with luggage it might be a hassle.

In addition to the arena, your mother might be interest in visiting the roman theater on the other side of the river. The castle is also an interesting place to visit as are several churches.

You should be able to google all of the above and see if any of the group are interested.

There is a webcam on Juliet’s balcony that is fun to watch —- here’s the whole post where I wrote about it: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/one-thing-to-do-when-you-are-homesick-for-italy

More direct link: https://www.skylinewebcams.com/en/webcam/italia/veneto/verona/balcone-giulietta-romeo.html