Anyone planning a trip to Verona usually thinks of summer: the Arena, the opera, warm evenings on Piazza Bra. It's an understandable reflex. But those who know the city of the Scaligeri are aware that there are at least three moments in the year when Verona reveals itself in an entirely different way — and just as intensely. You just need to know where to look.
Catullus, the first Veronese to feel the longing for Verona
Carmen XXXI is not simply a poem about Sirmione. It is the account of a man returning north after months away, feeling the lake landscape as a promise kept. Gaius Valerius Catullus was born in Verona in 84 BC and spent his life divided between Rome, Bithynia and the hills of Lake Garda. He owned a house in Verona and a villa in Sirmione sul Garda, and to that villa he returned whenever Rome became too loud, too treacherous, too small for his verses.
The lesson Catullus offers those visiting Verona today is precise: the moment of return matters as much as the destination. In literature, Catullus was one of the most celebrated representatives of the poetae novi, a movement that favoured quality over quantity, with a keen attention to the feelings and emotions of everyday life. The same sensibility applies to travel: it is not the peak season that makes the experience, but the quality of attention with which you arrive.
A detail few people know: Verona's international airport is named after this great figure of Latin literature. Every time you land at the Catullo, you are already inside the city's history. Not a bad introduction.
Local tip: if you are planning an itinerary that includes Lake Garda, the so-called Grotte di Catullo in Sirmione are the remains of a large Roman villa identified — at least by Renaissance tradition — with the Veronese poet's family estate. They lie roughly 35 km from Verona city centre, reachable by ATV bus from the city.
Soave Classico and the Nativity Scene Exhibition: two frequencies that mark Verona's autumn and winter
September–October: in the hills east of Verona, less than an hour's drive away, the Soave Classico harvest is in full swing. The principal grape variety is Garganega, long established in the hilly area east of Verona, on dark, deep soils of volcanic origin rich in basaltic rock. The variety has a late ripening cycle and the harvest extends well into October, carried out entirely by hand. This means that while the Arena closes its opera season, the Soave hills glow with a shade of gold that is worth the journey.
Freshness and longevity are the defining qualities of the finest Soave Classico wines, with vineyards distributed across volcanic and calcareous soils that, in both cases, are well suited to aging. The Guida Vini d'Italia 2026 awarded the Tre Bicchieri Gambero Rosso to seven producers in the denomination, among them the Soave Classico Calvarino by Leonildo Pieropan and the Monte Carbonare by Suavia — names you can find in Verona's city-centre wine shops year-round, but which in October you can taste directly at the winery.
Then November arrives. And with November, Verona unveils what is perhaps its most underrated season. Since 1984, throughout December and January, the city hosts a grand Rassegna Internazionale del Presepio, continuously renewed each year, with works arriving from museums, collections, master nativity craftspeople and enthusiasts from every corner of the world. The exhibition entered the Guinness World Records for the breadth of its collection and the global origins of its nativity scenes.
For the 2025–2026 edition, there was a change worth knowing about: the historic exhibition was held for the first time at the Palazzo del Capitanio, as the Gran Guardia was in use for ceremonies connected to the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics. For the 39th edition, scheduled from November 2026, the Palazzo della Gran Guardia will once again host the exhibition — with dates to be confirmed on the official website presepiarenaverona.it. The full ticket price is 8 euros, with a reduced rate of 7 euros for groups, children between 6 and 12 years old, and adults over 65.
During this same period, the majority of visitor flows are concentrated between June and September for the opera festival, while November and December draw crowds to Christmas markets that in recent years have become a powerful attraction — which means prices are still reasonable in November, before the December peak. City-centre hotels in January cost between 60 and 100 euros per night for a double room, compared to 150 or 200 euros for the same room in summer. The figures are updated to April 2026 and may vary, but the seasonal gap is structural.
Reading these three signals — the poet who returns, the wine that ripens, the nativity scene that lights up — is not the romanticism of a tourist guide. It is a concrete way to plan a stay in Verona outside the summer crowds, with better prices and a more authentic city. 2026 Confcommercio Verona data confirm that the historic centre continues to draw visitors throughout the year, not only during major events or peak season.
If you are looking for an apartment in the historic centre to experience Verona at these rhythms — close to the Arena in its quiet winter state, a few steps from the lanes around Piazza Erbe — The Verona Stay has two carefully appointed apartments in the heart of the city: The Verona Stay Arena (Via Roma 21, near Piazza Bra) and The Verona Stay Ristori (near the Teatro Ristori). Book on the website and choose your season.