Verona, Italy’s Veneto: Juliet’s home; Castelvecchio; Roman Theatre

History — real and fictional — is yours for the taking in Verona. Here are 10 ways to spend your time in this sublime Italian city.

Verona and the Adige River, viewed from Castel San Pietro.

01 A guided walking tour of Verona, in northeast Italy’s Veneto region, is an invaluable starting point to get context, history and local knowledge along with your bearings. We start ours in Piazza Bra by the equestrian monument­ and enjoy three fascinating hours with guide Deborah Marra. She shows us archi­tectural highlights and shares tales of power and intrigue. Along the way we stop for delicious mint coffee at Piazza delle Erbe, where a bustling little market operates daily except Sunday. The tourist vendors here among the fresh produce are a notch above the usual tatt;

walksinsideitaly.com.

Piazza Bra, a good starting place for a walking tour.

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02 Time your trip from June to September to coincide with the summer opera season, held in the glorious Arena di Verona annually since 1913, aside from during the two world wars. Paul McCartney, One Direction, Leonard Cohen and Adele are among those who’ve played here, too. If there are no shows, pay a small fee to enter and roam the amphitheatre, marvelling at another great feat of Roman engineering, built about 30AD and estimated to pre-date Rome’s Colosseum by four decades. The distinctive “wing” poking above the outer walls of the amphitheatre is the original pink-and-white marble facade; the rest was reduced to rubble in the earthquake of 1117. The amphitheatre survived and is well preserved; spot the plaque for another natural disaster, recording the height the Adige River reached in the great flood of ­September 1882;

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The Arena di Verona,built about 30AD and estimated to pre-date Rome’s Colosseum by four decades.

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03 Walking around Verona is a stroll through history. In a matter­ of metres, pass by intact examples of architecture ­spanning the Roman Empire, Romanesque, Middle Ages and Renaissance eras. (Deborah Marra points out some “new” buildings … from the 1880s.) Verona is a UNESCO World Heritage city, its listing noting: “The walls surrounding the city prevented 19th-century development such as industry and railroads within the historic city. The urban structure, as a result, shows exceptional coherence.” Highlights include the 84m-high, 1172-built Torre dei Lamberti clock tower; the original Roman city gate, Porta Borsari; and completel­y over-the-top towering monuments that are the graves of the Della Scala family, Verona’s 13th and 14th-century power­brokers, also known as the Scaligeri. Bits and pieces of recovered or looted columns­ and decorative pieces are cemented into nooks and crannies around the city. Novelty­ bonus: find the pandoro. Gargoyle versions of these famous star-shaped Christmas breads adorn the former home and bakery­ of the Melegatti family, the original makers;

whc.unesco.org.

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04 Key architectural periods are mirrored by the art inside the Castelvecchio Museum, which houses a mighty collection of medieval, Renaissance and modern art (which means up to the 18th century) in a castle­ built in 1354 by Cangrande II, one of the Della Scalas and lord of Verona. Post-World War II repairs and renovations created surprisingly modern galleries inside, displaying religious art and frescoes, sculptures, statues, armour, weaponry and archeological treas­ures. The view out to the river from the ramparts makes the museum worth entering even if you’ve had your fill of religious iconography;

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The Castelvecchio Museum, home to a mighty collection of medieval, Renaissance and modern art.

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05 Teatro Romano was built in 1BC, set into the San Pietro hillside­ above the Adige River. Only one tier of seating, some of the stage and arches remain, but we visitors from the new world are amazed that the original­ mission to recover and restore it began in 1830. Andrea Monga, a wealthy Veronese­ merchant, began by buying up and demolishing the huts that had been built over the ancient edifice. Today the rebuilt Roman Theatre is a vibrant and active theatre and archeological museum;

museoarcheologico.­comune.verona.it.

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06 Head up the steep hill from the Roman Theatre on foot or via the funicular, which reopened last year; it’s a 90-second ride for the equivalent of a few dollars return. At the top is a commanding view of Verona across the Adige River. Castel San Pietro, the grand Austrian fortress that occupies the top of the hill, is a reminder of Verona’s time in the 1800s as part of the Austrian-Hungarian empire. The medieval castle had already been destroyed by Napoleon’s army by the time the Austrians moved in, demolished the church and built barracks on the vantage point, which was first settled around 7BC;

tourism.­verona.it/en.

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Casa di Giulietta, the fictionalised house of Shakespeare’s Juliet.

07 “For never was a story of more woe than this of Juliet and her Romeo.” Thus the Prince of Verona­ closes out Shakespeare’s play. I have to be persuaded to go to Casa di Giulietta, the fictionalised house of Juliet. But my teenage daughters insist, so we enter the mad crush that’s the Veronese equivalent of viewing the Mona Lisa. Think selfie sticks and a queue to pose on “Juliet’s balcony” if you pay €6 ($9.50) to enter the house and go ­upstairs. Outside the city walls, a former Franciscan monastery houses “Juliet’s tomb” (and a big collection of frescoes). Truth is that it was created for English tourists in the 1800s; Lord Byron and Charles Dickens are among those who visited. Over the centuries, the house has been renovated and the tomb has been moved about and tricked up to look more like the tragic heroine’s crypt in the 1936 film of the classic. Few will escape a visit to Verona without at least popping into the courtyard (for which there’s no charge), but do not expect romantic solitude;

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08 It’s Italy, so sublime food is everywhere. I recommend lunch at La Taverna di Via ­Stella, around the corner from the Juliet madness, and dinner in the middle of the old town at Ristorante Vecchia. I can’t vouch for the horse or donkey (popular protein in the region) on the menu at the former, but thick spaghetti with duck is lip-smackingly good, as is a giant platter of pears poached in red wine. A savoury pear tart with cheese is my entree at Vecchia, where the enthusiastic service is in tune with the brightly painted stuccoed walls. The tart is heavenly and my main course of risotto with amarone, a rich Veronese specialty made with the prized wine, is definitely a must-try dish;

tavernadiviastella.com;

www.ristorantevecchiafontanina.com/.

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09 DeRossi bakery, established in 1947, so therefore a newcomer to this city, offers Torta Russa, touted as the traditional ­Veronese speciality and packaged so lovingly that it’s almost a shame to unwrap it. Shaped like a Cossack’s hat, the flaky pastry around almond filling goes well with tea or coffee. Souvenir hunters might fancy the packaged biscuits of Baci di Romeo e Guilietta (Romeo and Juliet kisses);

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BEST BEDS

A grande deluxe room at Verona’s Due Torri Hotel.

10 The liveried doormen at Due Torri Hotel hint at the grandeur within. It’s easy to feel like Veronese nobility in your own palazzo, only with Wi-Fi and air-conditioning on call and friendly staff who make the opulence warm rather than aloof. The 89-room, five-star Due Torri in the heart of the old town ccupies a 14th-century palace, extensively refurbished in 2013 and the only Leading Hotels of the World member property in the city. The panoramic terrace is one of the best spots for a cocktail or romantic dinner to take in sunset over the rooftops and historic landmarks. Guestrooms are furnished with Biedermeier or Empire-style antiques, some with hand-varnished parquet floors, and there’s pink marble in the bathrooms. Margaret Thatcher, Placido Domingo and Oscar-winning Italian actress Anna Magnani are among notable past guests;

www.duetorrihotels.com/

lhw.com.