One Day in Verona Without the Queues: Old Town and a Craft Studio

Verona is a city you cover on foot, and quickly: the historic centre sits inside a bend of the river Adige and in one day you cross it several times. Space is not the problem; time is, and most of it goes standing in line. Visitors with a single day walk the same route as everyone else at the same hour and spend the best part of the morning queuing under a balcony. The courtyard of Juliet’s House is the extreme case: a small yard, a narrow passage, a stream of people that never thins out in the middle of the day. This itinerary drops that queue and puts two hours in a craft studio in its place, a few minutes’ walk from the squares. You leave with something made by your own hands and give up nothing of the classic loop.

Early morning: Piazza Bra and the squares before the crowds

Being in the centre by half past eight changes the whole day. Piazza Bra at that hour is an empty drawing room: the cafés along the Liston are still setting out chairs, the Arena can be taken in whole with nobody in front of it, and if you want to go inside, opening time is when the entrance moves fastest. From there Via Mazzini leads to Piazza delle Erbe with the shutters still down, a street to pass through, not a sight to visit.

Piazza delle Erbe in the morning is the market going up and the Torre dei Lamberti with no line at the desk. Through the arch you reach Piazza dei Signori, the Scaliger tombs and Sant’Anastasia, quiet at that hour. On the way back you pass the alley to Juliet’s House: decision time. If the line has already formed, glance into the courtyard from the passage and keep walking: the calm moments are the first hour after opening and the late afternoon, once the coach groups have gone. Mid-morning, the city has better things to give you than the next two hours of waiting.

Two hours at a craft bench instead of the queue

Around eleven, when the squares fill up, you step into a craft studio and close the door behind you. A two-hour workshop is a precise format: the person running it, who on Handsome is a Maker or an Apprentice, shows you the movement, puts the material in your hands and stays with you until the piece is done. You sit at the bench, get your hands dirty and walk out with something of your own. What separates this from a course is explained in the guide to what a craft workshop is.

Not every craft fits into two hours. The ones that hold up are those where the material does not need to wait: a ring or a pendant in jewellery, a small hand-stitched leather piece, a notebook on paper, a watercolour or a small mosaic, fresh pasta if the studio is a kitchen. Ceramics on the wheel can be tried in two hours, but the piece stays behind to dry and be fired: fine if you are coming back, worth knowing if you leave tonight.

• The address: inside the old walls or just across the Adige, so you reach it on foot from the squares.
• The time slot: late morning to lunchtime, the peak of the queues, which leaves the afternoon free.
• What you take home and when: the listing says whether the piece is ready at the end; if it stays for firing, ask how you will receive it.
• The language: if you are travelling with people who do not speak Italian, check that the description is also in English.
• What to wear: few rules, the same everywhere, in what to bring and wear to a workshop.

Dates are listed on Handsome under Verona: you book and pay online, the seat is confirmed and the material is already on the bench when you arrive. Book a few days ahead: groups are kept small on purpose, so the teacher can reach you when a movement needs correcting, and on a Saturday in a tourist city the seats go. For guidance, read how to choose the right workshop.

The afternoon across the Adige

A late, light lunch in the lanes behind Piazza delle Erbe, then down to the river. Ponte Pietra is best crossed once the sun has swung over the water; on the far bank is Veronetta, the neighbourhood where Verona stops being a shop window and goes back to being lived in. From there you climb to the Roman Theatre and the terrace of Castel San Pietro, by the steps or the funicular, for the view that sums up everything you walked in the morning. If you would rather have shade, the Giardino Giusti is a few minutes away and is among the quietest places in the city.

You come back into the centre late, once the groups have left. Castelvecchio and its crenellated bridge are the right way to close: the museum can be visited without pressure, and the bridge at sunset is the one place all day where it is worth stopping just to look. Then an aperitivo in Piazza delle Erbe. With two days, spend the second on a train: Venice is close and the same logic works there, as the guide to the lagoon crafts beyond Murano shows.

The itinerary, hour by hour

1. 8:30 – Piazza Bra, the Liston and the Arena in low light with nobody in front.
2. 9:15 – Via Mazzini with the shutters down, Piazza delle Erbe as the market goes up, Torre dei Lamberti if the desk is free.
3. 10:00 – Piazza dei Signori, the Scaliger tombs, Sant’Anastasia. Past Juliet’s House: a glance, then on.
4. 11:00 – Craft studio, two hours. The squares fill up without you.
5. 1:15pm – Lunch in the lanes behind Piazza delle Erbe, where tables turn faster.
6. 2:30pm – Ponte Pietra, Veronetta, the climb to Castel San Pietro for the view.
7. 4:00pm – Giardino Giusti, or the Roman Theatre if you prefer stones to shade.
8. 5:30pm – Castelvecchio and the Scaliger bridge with the sun low.
9. 7:00pm – Aperitivo in Piazza delle Erbe, with the morning’s piece in your bag.

In a city you see in a day, the queue is the only thing that leaves you with nothing in your hands.