10 Things to Do in Verona in October

Verona is at its peak season in summer and during Christmas, which is when the city is most crowded with tourists and also when its attractions, music concerts and classical opera festivals at the Arena become popular, but it also has a lot to offer in autumn and October is the best month of the season for its weather and celebrations.

Among the best things to see and do in Verona in October you can take part in the opening of the exhibitions at the Archaeological Museum of the Roman Theatre, visit the San Zeno Antiques Market on the Sundays of the month, take a Lugana wine tour and attend the Lake Garda Choir and Orchestra Festival.

The Archaeological Museum of the Roman Theatre, located on the other side of the Stone Bridge and at the foot of Castel San Pietro, is one of the most famous in the city. Its permanent exhibits include more than 600 objects inside and another 200 outside, including sculptures, mosaics, bronzes, vases, ceramics and funerary altars. It also has temporary exhibitions that open every year in October.

If you plan to visit Verona in October, you can attend the opening of the temporary exhibitions of the Archaeological Museum and also the presentation of the new items in the museum, as archaeological excavations are constantly being carried out in the city and the surrounding area and the items found are destined to enlarge the collection.

During the opening you can tour the site with the assistance of a local guide and also take part in the cocktail parties during the presentations. It is an interesting alternative to get to know one of the best museums in Verona and also one of the oldest in the city, since it has been open informally since 1857.

Interesting facts

• Price... Entrance to the museum has an initial cost of approximately 4.5 euros per person.
• Where... Regaste Redentore 2, Verona.
• How to get there... Buses 11, 12, 31, 32, 33 and 90 and the hop on-hop off tourist buses in the city.

The neighbourhood of San Zeno, named after one of the city's patron saints and also after the basilica of the same name, which is also the church where Romeo and Juliet were married, hosts on Sundays in October the informal Antiques Market, which brings together more than 50 stalls where locals buy and sell small decorative objects made of stone, wood, ceramics and other materials.

This itinerant flea market, which usually changes location with each edition but is always held near Piazza San Zeno, is one of the most famous and popular in Verona, and if you decide to visit it, you have the perfect excuse to soak up the culture of the Veronese and take part in a typical local activity.

If you go to San Zeno you can also visit the main attractions of the neighbourhood, which are the famous basilica named in William Shakespeare's play, the Gate of San Zeno and the Church of San Procolo, as well as the bars and restaurants in the area that are usually included in the best gastronomic tours of Verona.

Interesting facts

• Price... Admission to the San Zeno market is free.
• Where... Piazza San Zeno, Verona.
• How to get there... Buses 31, 32 and 33 and the hop on-hop off tourist buses in the city.

The Aquille Forti Art Gallery is the museum of the city's major works of modern art and also the nucleus of donations from private collections of paintings and sculptures spanning the great avant-gardes of the 20th century. If you are planning to visit Verona in autumn you can visit this gallery during the Contemporary Art Day, which is celebrated on October 8th every year.

In this museum you will find some of the main works of Italian modernism and representative artists of the movement such as Francisco Hayez, Pompeo Marino Molmenti, Felipe Casorati, Pinto Casarini and Guido Trentini, among other outstanding painters. You can also marvel at the views from the building towards the Plaza de las Hierbas and at the series of conferences organised to celebrate Contemporary Art Day.

During this celebration, moreover, admission to the gallery is free and you can also make the most of your visit by visiting the attractions near the museum, such as the Old Market, where if you plan to visit the city at Christmas you can discover the Santa Lucia market, one of the most traditional, and the Torre dei Lamberti, which offers one of the best open views of the city from its top.

Interesting facts

• Price... Tickets to the museum have an initial cost of approximately 4 euros per person, although during Contemporary Art Day admission is free.
• Where... Cortile Mercato Vecchio 6, Verona.
• How to get there... Buses 33, 93 and 95 and the city's hop-on-hop-off tourist buses.

One of the great attractions of the magical surrounding villages of Lake Garda is the Lugana wines, which are remarkable for their taste and colour and are consumed all over Italy, especially the whites. Lugana wine is considered an autumn wine because of its structure, and it is also the time when the vineyards present their harvests.

If you plan to visit Verona in October, you can either take a tour from Verona following the Lugana wine route or organise a tour on your own. The main wineries and vineyards are in Manerba del Garda, Torri del Benaco and Santa Maria di Lugana in Brescia. Among the highlights, I recommend a visit to Cantina Corte Anna, which is one of the most famous manufacturers and is often included in excursions.

Keep in mind that these tours are generally for adults only because alcohol is consumed and that the Lake Garda area is located about 75 kilometres from the city centre, so it may be uncomfortable to visit if you are planning a short stay. If that's the case, here's a list of things you can do to discover Verona in 3 days.

Verona is an ideal city to explore on foot, enjoy its streets and buildings and fall in love with its food, but the main drawback during the high season is the large number of tourists and during the winter the weather, which often turns unfriendly, with temperatures below freezing. If you visit Verona in October, at the beginning of autumn, you will be able to tour the city with few visitors and also in pleasant weather.

The best alternative is to hire a guided tour and if not you can organise an itinerary on your own to visit Juliet's House, the Stone Bridge, the Arena, the Castle of San Pietro, the basilicas and churches and the squares and museums which during the summer in Verona are usually crowded with visitors.

I also recommend that during the tour you walk along the banks of the Adige River, which is one of the longest in Italy, to enjoy the views of the city's bridges and also of both sides of Verona, with the old town on one side and the castles and viewpoints built high above the city on the other.

Lake Garda is the largest lake in Italy and also one of the most important in the country, although it doesn't have the fame of Lake Como, located just outside Milan. During the third weekend of October every year, the Choir and Orchestra Festival is organised in Sirmione, one of the most beautiful villages in the area.

This festival brings together some of the best orchestras in northern Italy and also brings together conductors, so for many music students it is the perfect opportunity to showcase themselves and get scholarships to study at conservatories and piano and singing schools. In addition, during the festival you can also take part in meetings and lectures by musicians.

You can make the most of your tour of the town and also visit the spas, the thermal baths of Sirmione, which are among the most famous in Italy, and the Scaligero Castle, which is one of the main attractions on the shores of Lake Garda.

Interesting facts

• Price... Tickets for the 4 days of the festival start at approximately 55 euros.
• Where... Sirmione, Lake Garda.
• How to get there... By private Flixbus services.

Due to its strategic location Verona has a history of wars, occupations and invasions and in 1797 it was occupied by Napoleon's army. A year later the Austrians took the city and it wasn 't until 16 October 1866 that the city was finally taken over by Italy, making it officially part of the country.

If you travel to Verona in October you can take part in the Italian celebrations, in which the locals celebrate the end of the invasions, the uninterrupted period of peace, which was only altered by the bombings of World War II, and the definitive belonging to Italy, hence the name of the celebration.

During these celebrations you will see flags of the city in every window, you can take part in themed excursions, attend the festivities in bars, restaurants and cantinas and the best tours of Verona will focus on the history of the city and its belonging and loyalty to the Italian stronghold.

World War I was the first bloody conflict to hit Europe as a whole and Italy was part of the Allied war effort, which was the winning side. In October 1918 the Italian army launched a fierce offensive that ended in victory at the Battle of Vittorio Veneto and secured the end of the war on the front, which is why the ceasefire is commemorated every year in October.

Celebrations for the end of World War I take place all over Italy but especially in the north, as the main battle front was located in the Alpine area, so most of the Italian soldiers were originally from the northern towns and cities. Verona takes an active part in these tributes.

The celebrations commemorating the end of the First World War often coincide in Verona with the celebration of Italianness, so in October the city goes through weeks of patriotic festivities and a parade runs from the Stone Bridge to the Arena di Verona, where a field hospital once stood, to commemorate the fallen.

If you are planning to visit Verona in October and want to escape for a while from the cold or windy temperatures you can enjoy the thermal baths in and around Verona, whose natural pools, in some cases, reach 40°. Autumn is the ideal time in the city to take a thermal bath as you will find few visitors and you can usually get a discount on the entrance fees.

If you plan to visit Verona with children, you can also visit Aquardens, which is a water park with thermal waters, heated pools, children's ponds, playground, bars and restaurants. Aquardens, located on the outskirts of the city, is one of the largest thermal baths in Europe and offers an alternative for the whole family.

Note also that most of the thermal baths are located on the outskirts of the city and that it is advisable to buy an all-day pass to enjoy the pools, so it may be incompatible with a short visit. If this is your case, here is a list of alternatives so you can make the most of Verona in 2 days.

If you are willing to find attractions outside the city, one of the best plans you can make is to visit Saló, which is the most emblematic village among all those located on the shores of Lake Garda. Saló has a past linked to the Lugana wine, but it is also an important point of Italian history because it was the last point of Fascist resistance.

In October you can enjoy this town in all its splendour, with its forest painted by the autumn colours and with a pleasant temperature, although a bit windy due to its proximity to the lake, so I recommend that you bring a light coat to enjoy the attractions, among which are the duomo, the old town, the Town Hall Palace and Alto Garda Bresciano Park, which is a nature reserve.

In Garda you can also visit the picturesque Sirmione, where in October you can attend the Festival of Choirs and Orchestras, Rivoltella, Torri del Benaco, Gargnano and Toscolano Maderno, which is notable for the small alleys of its historic centre. In any case, visiting the Lake Garda area is one of the best things to do from Verona.

Autumn is usually very cold in Verona but in October you can still enjoy mild temperatures, with highs of 25°, lows of 12° and average temperatures of 18°, so you can still enjoy outdoor excursions.

What you should bear in mind is that Verona is a wet city and in October there are usually several rainy days, so I advise you to always have a waterproof coat at hand and also to check the weather before you start your excursions.

The best part about visiting Verona in October is that you'll find the city is moderately busy, so you'll be able to enjoy the good weather and most of the city's main attractions with very few visitors.

If you visit Verona in June or at Christmas time you may find that if you haven't booked in advance some tours are sold out or overcrowded, but in October you can even get into the attractions and museums by buying tickets at the last minute.

October is part of the city's low season so prices for accommodation and some excursions are substantially lower than in summer or spring, making it an ideal month to discover the city relatively cheaply.

You can also get discounts and other benefits by booking some tours online in advance.

The weather in October in Verona is mild but also rainy, so I advise you to include the following in your suitcase:

• Light coats
• Waterproof and comfortable boots
• Woollen jumpers
• Lightweight trousers
• Umbrella
• Mackintosh
• Comfortable footwear
• Warm socks
• T-shirts for hot days