Verona Home base for 10 Weeks

That sounds like a dream! If you’re coffee people, be sure to check out Caffe Borsari in Verona. It is fabulous. Verona has an opera festival during that time in their arena, I recommend that, too!

Hello marilee.williford, I have a friend with a place in Verona so I've spent a fair amount of time there.

What neighborhood are you in? San Zeno and Veronetta are cool smaller neighborhoods on either side of downtown. They don't offer much for the tourist but since you'll be there longer they are interesting areas to check out for services, parks and restaurants.

Verona is a great walking town - the center is nearly traffic free and buildings with faded murals and painted details lurk in unlikely corners. There are cafes with outdoor seating everywhere in Verona whenever you decide to want to sit and/or spritz. It sounds like you'll be there for opera season if you want to see an opera in the Roman Arena.

The Roman Theater - across the river in the Veronetta which is worth exploring - includes the Archeological Museum which is small but also gives you access to the rambling remains of old religious sites there. 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. They have a limited wine selection but all the ones I tried were great. 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". Nearby Osteria del Bugiardo is a slightly more serous place about wine. If you want a wine store this is the one famously featured in RS video: Oreste Cantina Dal Zovo.

If you need a good men's barber The Original Barber Shop Verona Porta Leoni. I've gotten both straight razor shaves and haircuts there.

Day trips from Verona by train at under an hour include Vicenza, Padua/ova, Brescia (my unexpected favorite), Mantua/ova, southern Lake Garda. Slightly further are Bologna, Florence, Milan and Venice. Bus stops are well marked and system works well, but 'centro storico' is too small and twisty for buses, but is small enough to walk.

Hope that helps, have a great visit,
=Tod

Check out Lingua IT in Verona (they have a web site online) for small group cooking/ language courses if that interests you. Run by great people/ locals.

I don't know how much of the Dolomites you've seen on your earlier trips, but the rail line shoots north from Verona, making Bolzano, Bressanone, Chiusa, Merano, etc. within reasonable reach for a few-night break from Verona even if you decide not to go up into the mountains.