Verona

Verona, Shakespeare's city of Romeo and Juliet, is one of northern Italy's most beautiful and historically significant cities — a well-preserved Roman city on a bend in the Adige River, encircled by medieval walls and presided over by an extraordinarily intact 1st-century Roman amphitheatre. Its combination of Roman, medieval and Renaissance layers in an intimate, walkable city makes it one of Italy's most rewarding. The Arena di Verona, a Roman amphitheatre seating 22,000 people, is still used for extraordinary open-air opera performances in summer (the summer opera season is world-famous) — watching an operatic production in this space under the stars is genuinely unforgettable. The Piazza Bra, where the Arena stands, and the Piazza delle Erbe (the old Roman forum, still the city's market square) are beautiful and full of life. The medieval Scaligeri family tombs, elaborate Gothic funerary monuments in a small enclosure, are remarkable. Juliet's balcony (Casa di Giulietta) — a 13th-century house that may or may not have been the Capulet residence — is always crowded, but the romantic pilgrimage continues regardless. Castelvecchio, the 14th-century Scaligeri fortress on the Adige with a beautiful bridge, houses one of Veneto's finest art museums. The Giusti Garden, one of Italy's greatest Renaissance gardens, is excellent. Day trips to Lake Garda (30 minutes), Mantua and Padua are easy. The city's food (horse meat, pastissada, local Valpolicella, Amarone and Soave wines) is excellent.