I’ve always known that I would love Italy. The culture, the food, the lifestyle – It’s a bit of me. So when Matt and I were trying to find somewhere to go for our mini break we knew that Verona would be perfect for us.
We decided, as neither of us had been Italy before, that we would just do 5 days. I think this is a perfect amount of time for a city break as you can test the waters and if you enjoyed your time, then it will leave you wanting more. We stayed in central Verona, in a hotel called the Hotel Leon D’Oro. I must say, we could only go by trip advisor ratings so didn’t know what to expect, but it was an incredible hotel and all the staff were very friendly & over accommodating and the rooms spotless. We also ate in the hotel one night and the food was lovely, so if you didn’t fancy walking into the town centre, this was ideal.
There is so much to do in Verona, and it has great transport links to Venice and Lake Garda so we were never short on things to do. It is also really reasonably priced, considering you are looking at areas that will be strongly dominated by tourists, we ate out every day for less than €100 for the two of us. I’m also quite a fussy eater, so when I find a restaurant that I like, I run with it. It happens every place that we visit and Verona was no different. We spent most evenings eating al fresco in a little place called “Ippopotamo” the Italians are big on family, so you’ll find that most restaurants are very accommodating to all different walks of people. But above all, the food was amazing, if you go, make sure you try the Carbonara or the Margherita con aggiunta di patatine fritte (a fancy way of saying cheese pizza with curly fries- you sound like a child when ordering, but it’s so worth it)
Now onto the touristy bits, because what’s a holiday without them. We, of course, visited Juliet’s Balcony which is something that’s been on my bucket list since I watched Letter’s to Juliet – I mean, have you seen that balcony scene! – And also went for a walk around the Verona Arena; I’m not great with heights so I did expect a little more from this, as it seemed like with a sudden gust of wind it would blow over before my eyes.
My absolute favourite thing that we did, and something that wasn’t in our original plans, was to get a boat from Garda to Sirmione. It is the most beautiful place and bursting full of little gelato shops and bars looking over the lake. I would love to get married somewhere like Sirmione it’s so quaint and perfect. Apart from the €10 glass of cokes, but we can overlook that.
I would wholeheartedly recommend a trip to Italy, or do what I would like to do, and stay in Sirmione and take day trips to surrounding places.
Courtney x
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