Verona Wedding in June 2026 – Travel Tips, Logistics, and Local Advice Needed!

Question #1 - what cities should we see on Saturday and Sunday, the two days before the wedding that are close by Verona but are not Venice and Verona, ?

FYI: https://www.italia.it/en/italy/lake-garda-endless-emotions

Question #2 - if we take a train the day after the wedding on Wednesday, July 1st, to Naples, what is the best way to see Naples, Pompeii, Amalfi Coast from Wednesday through Sunday? (Is it possible to see all and should we see Calabria? My mom's side of the family is from Naples & Calabria.)

Stay in either Naples or Sorrento and use the trains and the ferries.

Question #4 - We had planned to go the last week of September/first week of October to avoid the heat and the tourists, but now we have no choice but to go in the summer due to the wedding. How touristy is it in July and how hot? I'm afraid it will be a lot of both!

Unfortunately you're going the worse time of year touristy crowd, cost, and hot weather wise if you don't care for those sort of travel conditions.
You can look up what the weather was like in past years to get an idea on this website:
https://www.timeanddate.com/weather/@11127999/historic?month=7&year=2024

If you want cities before the wedding, then Padua and Vicenza are close by. If you want somewhere quieter and potentially cooler to get over jet lag then Lake Garda isn't a bad idea.

The train to Naples takes anywhere from 5-6 hours, so by the time you get to your hotel, that day is pretty much shot. If you want to see some of the AC as well, I'd recommend staying in Sorrento. You can take the train from there to both Naples and the Pompeii excavation site. And it is a transportation hub for the AC.

July will be surface of the sun hot and crowds will be like Walmart on Black Friday at the main tourist places. Dress appropriately for the sun and heat. Try to schedule activities for early morning or late afternoon and stay out of the heat in the afternoons. And make sure all of your accommodations have A/C.

Maybe it goes without saying, but Sicily will be even hotter than the more northern areas.

Question 3 --- We just spent 5 nights in Palermo and wished for more, 3 nights in Catania and wished for fewer. Not because Catania is gritty or chaotic or whatever, but because Palermo just had SO many more things that we wanted to do and we didn't get to all of them.

cathedral — incredible exterior (take binoculars), roof open until 6pm

Porta Nuova

Palazzo Normanni for Friday, Saturday, or Sunday 8:30am (must go early to avoid tour groups and cruise tourists, and must include royal apartments so that means not on a weekday when the government is in session)

Palazzo Abatellis art gallery — Triumph of Death fresco, Malvagna Triptych by Jan Gossaert

Ballaro market

Vucciria market

Monreale + cloisters — half day trip, taxi around 30 euro settle in advance or take the bus, only toilet is in the museum ($$), see the cloister column capitals + bronze doors (those cloister column capitals were my favorite part!)

Piazza della Vergogna (“Shame”) = Baroque fountain

Quattro Canti intersection

Piazza Vigilena. Theatrical piazza surrounded by 4 fountains

What we didn’t have time to do:

Museo delle Maioliche Stanze al Genio 4pm to 6:30pm = 2,500 pieces, 8 rooms of tiles + other cool stuff……MUST RESERVE by phone or email

Orto Botanico….very impressive. Monster ficus trees.

Palazzo Chiaramonte Steri, cool architectural details + the food market painting

Martorana (Santa Maria dell’Ammiraglio), mosaics

Church of Santa Caterina d’Alessandria

church of San Giovanni degli Eremiti + the cloister

archeology museum is (closed Mondays)

General Palermo:
https://www.10cose.it/palermo/cosa-vedere-palermo

Question #1 : I think most people will say Padua/Padova but I much preferred Brescia to Padua. An amazing series of connected piazzas, interesting architecture, amazing Roman ruins, a castle on top of the hill and no tourism. Bologna is also a possibility being within easy reach of Verona although it is notoriously closed on Sundays which is true of much of Italy. Lake Garda is also close - the train only serves the bottom of the lake and it is very touristy but take a bus from Verona to an east side city and enjoy the lake for a couple of days.

Question #2: Salerno is real possibility balancing southern vibe with a smaller city compared to crazy Naples. Access to Naples, Pompeii, Paestum (don't sleep on Paestum) and ferries to the AC. Salerno is not Naples - it is much smaller, manageable, and walkable with only a fraction of the chaos of Naples. Whether this is a plus or a minus for you is your call. Naples is an amazing city but it is a lot.

Calabria is hard unless you forgo Naples and just do Calabria.

When you go to Naples the sfoglie at Sfogliatelle Attanasio 5 minutes from the train station is a-maz-ing. Show up - get a ticket - and wait your turn. Most of the time there is a crowd in the street either waiting or eating sfoglie warm from the oven. Just trust me on this one.

Have a great trip,
=Tod

I would rethink your options and stay in the northern part of Italy. I would not want to spend all that travel time to head south when it’s so hot and touristy

I appreciate everyone's suggestions. Not doing Southern Italy and Sicily is not an option. That was the main reason for our trip, but the location got hijacked to the north by my nieces wedding for a few days. We will probably choose 2-3 days in southern Italy and then 8 or so days in Sicily. Lots of research and planning to do!

I think you are spreading yourself too thin.

I would consider flying to Sicily from Verona and skip the Amalfi coast. You could easily spend all your remaining time there. You will save a lot of transportation time too. The Amalfi coast is far from Verona and it isn’t the easiest to maneuver.

There is coast line in Sicily too and with more time you could visit some smaller places. We spent two weeks in Sicily and did not have enough time. We went to Palermo but not Catania. We loved Palermo.

Advice.
Spend less and put the difference into your retirement accounts.

Our last trip I planned in 2016, we did Rome, Florence (with a day trip to Sienna, SanGimignano & Sienna), Cinque Terre, Verona, & Venice in 14 days. We didn't feel spread too thin and we loved every minute of it.

I think for this trip, after the few days in Verona (due to the wedding), we can do one day in Naples, a day to see the a Amalfi Coast (even just the boat along the riviera), then the rest of our time in Sicily. I am sure I could spend a month in Sicily, but that will be for our next trip!

I'm with those who are strongly. urging you to skip the tourist-clogged Amalfi Coast and spend all free time in Sicily on this trip.. If you re expecting a glorious romantic experience on the AC in June you may be very, very disappointed. The only way to do this area in high season would be to stash yourself away in a luxury hotel high on a cliff, spend the day at the pool and venture out after dark for the passegiata and dinner....

Please trust me on this; I've been to that area many times and unless you have the option of staying at the San Pietro, Santa Caterina, Caruso, etc etc........you will be sweltering at a bus stop, standing on a bus cause there are no seats, or packed with too many others on a boat ferrying you to beaches jammed with others that have the same idea. Even the "remote" gorge of Furore was filled with trash when I went to swim in September a few years ago. I'll never return to that area...when I want the coast, I'll head for Maratea, for places on the Adriatic, parts of Liguria, the Cilento, or SICILY!!

Sicily can be special even in the high season IF you do your research. I'm not taiking about Taormina which has become even more of a bus-tour scene since the White Lotus... There are so many glorious places in Sicily where you can have that once in a lifetime experience even in June.... Not so on the Amalfi Coast, sorry to say...

We decided to skip Sicily this trip (make it its own trip in 2027) and do Lake Garda the 2 days before the Verona wedding. Then we would travel south with 2 days in Florence, 2 days in Trastevere, and the rest of the time (6 or 7 days) to see Naples, Amalfi Coast & Capri.

How would you split your time between Naples & the AC?

What are the best places to see on the AC?

Is Capri a day trip from Naples, or is it recommended to stay there?

Thinking in "nights" because 2 nights gives you 1 full day, and the transition day is pretty much down the drain with any substantial sightseeing.....

So 2 nights in Lake Garda, one day.....I did the southern part in one day, would have loved more....
2 nights in Florence, 1 day
travel day
2 nights in Trastevere, only 1 day for Rome
travel day

If you truly do have a week and want to see the AC in summertime, I would stay ON THE COAST. Not even Sorrento. Someplace with a ferry dock that runs frequently because that's the only almost pleasant way to get around. If you want to go to Ravello, go EARLY on the buses. Transport will be awfully crowded and probably awful in some manner. You can hire a driver for a day as well if there are any particular towns you want to see as well.

If you are splitting your time between Naples and the AC, what are you wanting to do in Naples besides trip to Pompeii? That will decide how many nights. I like the suggestion for Salerno (I lived there, I will always go back), and it is WAY less chaotic than Naples and easy to get to Paestum and the coast, but if you are splitting the time between a coast and a city, Naples might be more convenient to do Pompeii from.

You asked about the best way to see the Amalfi Coast, and you didn't mention budget. Last year we went to the AC from Naples with a driver. It's expensive, but worth it. Last year we went to lunch in Ravello, then Pompeii. Pompeii can be a full day, as many will tell you, but we allotted 1.5 hours on our way back to Naples from AC, and we felt that was enough. But that was in late October, so not as crowded.
We also booked a driver this year in August, and it was the best. It was crowded when we got dropped off in Positano, but we got great photos, walked around, skipped the small crowded beach and then moved along. Next stop Ravello, for a glass of wine with a 180 degree view of the coast and the Med Sea. Then our driver took us inland a bit to visit a winery and we had lunch with paired wines. We stopped for limoncello and we stopped for ceramics.

There are so many places to shop/eat/take in the views, depending on your preferences.
We will return to Italy in 2026 and do it differently. I have a hotel in Naples, but have been advised that Sorrento is better for access to AC. I have a hotel in Capri, because I want to go to the blue grotto, and that isn't guaranteed every day, so I'm giving it 3 days. If you aren't set on the blue grotto, and if you don't have to be back to Naples at any particular time, I know Capri can be a day trip. I haven't been able to make that work because the past two years I have only had a day in Naples and had to be back before the ship left.