Welcome to Verona – the most romantic city in Italy, a real symbol of eternal love, the city where Shakespeare located his tragedy “Romeo and Juliet”. Verona is also on the UNESCO world heritage site list, thanks to its history and architecture: during more than two thousand years, since the Roman era, numerous monuments have appeared in the city and remain till today. Verona is full of diverse masterpieces of art of high importance. It is also the heart of the opera world as it hosts one of the most important opera festivals in one of oldest amphitheatres – the Arena di Verona.The city is situated on the banks of the Adige river in the Veneto region (its capital is Venice) and has slightly over 260,000 inhabitants. The famous Lake Garda is very near to Verona, so all of these facts attract lots of tourists to visit and explore Verona, to feel its romantic atmosphere and admire its beauty.The story of Verona begins in the Neolithic era. The first settlements were around the hill of Saint Peter (where the Roman Theatre now stands). Verona began to grow, of course, in the Roman period, and several monuments from that era are conserved in the city itself or in its museums. In the Medieval period, Verona’s history was associated with the most important and powerful noble family of the Scaliger (known also as della Scala). They were Lords of Verona for more than a hundred years. It was a real golden age for the city, when significant fortresses and palaces were built, and Verona’s cultural life rose to a new level. The most celebrated member of the della Scala family was Cangrande I, a friend and patron of the Italian poet Dante Alighieri.Since the XVIth century, a new reason for world fame was brought to Verona by William Shakespeare. Three plays by this great English poet and playwright were set in Verona: “Romeo and Juliet”, “The Taming of a Shrew” and “The Two Gentlemen of Verona”. Lots of people since then have visited Verona to see Romeo and Juliet’s houses or seek the tomb of the heroine. So, today, Juliet’s house is the most popular place in Verona, always full of tourists and people with broken hearts who ask Juliet for help, leaving special messages on the walls of her courtyard.Among the most famous “tourists” in Verona in different periods were, as already mentioned, Shakespeare and Dante, and also Goethe, Lord Byron, Charles Dickens, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Stendhal, Heinrich Heine and others. And now you have a great chance to join this wonderful company and enjoy your own visit to Verona!If you arrived in Verona by train at Verona Porta Nuova station, turn right out of the station square. This is the only way to the first point of your trip - the doors of Verona - Porta Nuova.