Wednesday morning. Vicolo Santa Cecilia is still asleep. The smell of Scaligero stone mingles with the faint scent of paper — real paper, handwritten, held by hands that somewhere in the world were trembling. On the table at the Club di Giulietta, a new week of letters begins.
What the Club di Giulietta in Verona actually does
The Club di Giulietta (Juliet Club) reads, translates and replies to every letter received addressed to "Giulietta, Verona". Thousands of letters arrive from every corner of the world. The tradition goes back to the 1930s, when Ettore Solimani, custodian of the Tomba di Giulietta, began collecting the first messages and writing back — becoming the very first "Secretary of Juliet". Today it is the Club di Giulietta that manages this correspondence, through a team of Veronese and international volunteers.
The Club was officially founded in 1972, on the initiative of Giulio Tamassia and a group of artists and intellectuals captivated by the Shakespearean legend. Commissioned by the Comune di Verona, it oversees the Posta di Giulietta, bringing the phenomenon to the remarkable scale it has reached today, with growing interest from international media.
The work is meticulous: collecting every letter, sorting them into groups and replying to each one. The archive follows strict criteria — language included — since letters arrive in Japanese, Russian, Portuguese and English. By volume, the most active countries are the USA, Russia, Japan and Brazil. Every year, the Club receives messages carrying what is often impossible to say out loud: unconfessable desires, open wounds, universal questions.
There are around 45 secretaries, all volunteers, forming an international network: a young woman from New Zealand came to Verona specifically to answer letters every day during a month-long stay. The Club offers visitors the chance to tour its headquarters, meet the secretaries and become "Juliet for a day", replying to some of the letters held in the archive.
How to avoid the crowds at Casa di Giulietta: what's new in 2026
Casa di Giulietta on Via Cappello — the starting point of every visitor's romantic pilgrimage — has changed its access rules. From 1 April 2026, entry to the Courtyard and Casa di Giulietta is exclusively through the Teatro Nuovo in Piazzetta Navona, where visitors are welcomed by multilingual staff and a dedicated exhibition on the story of the lovers immortalised by Shakespeare. After the visit, the one-way route leads out through the archway onto Via Cappello.
Ticket prices from 1 April 2026: Teatro Nuovo and Courtyard €5.00; Teatro Nuovo, Courtyard and Casa di Giulietta €12.00. Free for children under 5, people with disabilities holding a Disability Card, and VeronaCard holders. Online booking is mandatory even for those entitled to free admission, including VeronaCard holders. Tickets available exclusively at verona.midaticket.it.
A local tip: arrive by 9:30 on weekdays. Tourist numbers rise noticeably after 11:00. The courtyard in the evening — when the last light cuts across the red bricks — is an entirely different experience from the midday rush. Opening hours: Monday 14:00–19:00, Tuesday–Sunday 9:00–19:00.
How to write to Juliet (and actually receive a reply)
Anyone can write a love letter to Juliet, either by posting it or by dropping it into one of the designated letterboxes around the city. Those who prefer the digital route can send an email, or post a handwritten letter directly to: Club di Giulietta, Vicolo Santa Cecilia 9, 37121 Verona.
Thanks to the Segretarie di Giulietta, every letter is read, every one receives a reply, and all are preserved, adding to an archive made up of thousands of words and love stories. The secretaries ask in which language you would like your reply — the letters are many and come in a wide variety of languages. Don't forget to include your address: without it, the reply cannot reach you.
The annual "Cara Giulietta" award — which each February selects the most moving letters — gives a sense of what truly arrives on that table in Vicolo Santa Cecilia. Stories like Martina's, a young psychologist trying to rewrite her destiny away from a violent relationship, or Vladyslav's, writing from Ukraine because even under bombardment "daring to write about love" is an act of resistance. None of these senders expected a reply from a Shakespearean character. And yet they received one.
Can I visit the Club di Giulietta archive?
Anyone can live the experience of "Juliet for a day": visit the Club's headquarters, choose the most engaging letters, write replies and have them preserved in the Archivio di Giulietta, which is open to visits by appointment. Contact the Club directly by email or phone to arrange your visit.
When is the best time to visit to avoid the crowds?
Weekdays between 9:00 and 10:30 are the quietest. On Saturdays and Sundays, especially during high season (May–September) and around Valentine's Day, the courtyard fills up quickly. During special events, access to the Cortile di Giulietta is managed with entry from Piazzetta Navona and exit onto Via Cappello, with separate gates for visitors to the Casa and those visiting the courtyard only.
Is the VeronaCard useful for this visit?
Online booking is mandatory even for VeronaCard holders. The card covers admission, but does not replace booking at verona.midaticket.it. It is worth having if you also plan to visit the Arena, Torre dei Lamberti and the civic museums.
To stay just steps from Via Cappello and reach the Club di Giulietta on foot in just a few minutes, The Verona Stay Arena is located at Via Roma 21, in the heart of the historic centre. A comfortable base for discovering Verona at your own pace — before the crowds arrive, or after they have gone.