Venice - Opera in Verona

staggy

Looking for some advice.....

I've booked a week in Venice in July at a hotel on the Lido.
Whilst away it is our 15th Wedding annivesary and a bit of investigation reveals that there is an open air opera in Verona that is staging "Aida" on that particular evening. How romantic can you get .....I can book tickets etc online but what I'm looking for help on is transportation.

I like the idea of spending the day in Verona so getting there seems quite straightforward on the train from Venice BUT the performance starts at 9 in the evening and having checked out the train timetables (Trenitalia)there are no trains back to Venice late on (probably around midnight knowing how long these performances tend to last). I don't really want to stay in Verona having already paid for the Venice hotel.

Getting from Venice itself back to the Lido also appears ok as apparently the Vaporetto run a night service (or alternatively a more costly private water taxi).

So transport from Verona to Venice late at night....

Any help appreciated

richardw

staggy wrote: »

or alternatively a more costly private water taxi).

A hotel in Verona might be cheaper than a private water taxi.

Voyager2002

It's a long way, so if there's no train it can't be done.

Either shell out for somewhere (cheap) to stay for that night in Verona. Or plan to spend the rest of the night enjoying the bars and nightlife (not there are that many) and catch a train back in the morning.

Just for the record, I once spent a night in the youth hostel in Verona, and it was fine and cost almost nothing.

davidlizard

Can you hire a car for a day or two?

I am sure you know, but the Lido has roads and the like, so you can drive it "door to door" if you see what I mean, without needing the vaporettos. If you have a car, then you can easily spend the morning going round Lake Garda and that bit of the Alps which is well worth doing - we did Venice/Trento/Lake Garda/Verona/Venice all in one day at a relatively relaxed pace. If you are staying in Venice for a week which gives you more than enough time to see most things anyway.

We returned to Venice a couple of years back, and had the same idea but were unable to get a train back until the following day, so shelved that idea.

(We did our honeymoon in 94 by flying to Venice, then driving to Rome via Pisa, Florence, Siena and a few other places, and found much to see and do in the Venice area, including stopping off at Verona - and the Italian drivers are not that bad once you get used to them!).

Blue264

My mum saw Carmen in Verona and said it was a full day of an experience because everyone makes up a picnic basket with wine, etc, and makes a night of it. She was gutted that she missed Aida because the production has a huge gold pyramid and elephants!
I would book the cheapest little B&B you can find so that you're not fretting about getting back to your hotel.

staggy

Thanks everyone.....

Car sounds like a possible idea, it would be a shame to be that close to Lake Garda etc and not see any of it.

Did a bit of investigation into hotels/hostels in Verona but as expected prices are a bit steep (it is peak season and demand is high when then the opera is on). Only bargains were some way out of town which factors in a taxi cost too.

Cheers anyway :T

Blue264

My mum was staying at Melcesine on Lake Garda when she went to Verona so, if you're thinking along those lines. it would be a good side trip.

rob7475

Hi,

I stayed in Verona for work last year. Trypp Hotel is just outside verona and is reasonably priced. Taxi into verona was about 12 euro last year.

I hired a taxi to go from verona to venice airport which cost about 200 euros so I reckon a hotel or car hire would be cheaper (wouldn't fancy driving around verona though with all those mad italians :rotfl:)

Rob

Edit: forgot to mention - the trypp verona does a free shuttle bus into verona centre about 4 or 5 times a day.

Nenen

We stayed at the Lido two years ago and went to Verona to see Aida - it was FABULOUS! We booked it as an excursion with one of the agents in the Lido main street with a coach trip included. I seem to recall it was about £80 each (although that is a hazy memory so might be way out, but I know it was expensive). However, for that you get almost door to door delivery plus the opera ticket and no worries about travel or accomodation. It would certainly be worth investigating that option.

Make sure you take decent cushions to sit on (the stone steps are very hard on the bottom after a couple of hours)! Food and drink inside is very expensive too, so worth taking your own supplies. You get given candles to light as the sun goes down - it is a magical experience! The seating is first come, first served for the stone steps - so worth getting there as early as possible. Having said that the view from up high is fabulous, it is just a little like mountain climbing to get up and down!

elephant-astic

rob7475 wrote: »

Hi,

I stayed in Verona for work last year. Trypp Hotel is just outside verona and is reasonably priced. Taxi into verona was about 12 euro last year.

I hired a taxi to go from verona to venice airport which cost about 200 euros so I reckon a hotel or car hire would be cheaper (wouldn't fancy driving around verona though with all those mad italians :rotfl:)

Rob

Edit: forgot to mention - the trypp verona does a free shuttle bus into verona centre about 4 or 5 times a day.

Yeah, it may be a cliche but, unless you're used to it, driving in the big Italian cities can be somewhat of an eye opener! :eek:
Then again I suppose you could say that about most big cities :rolleyes:

omelette451

Voyager2002 wrote: »

Either shell out for somewhere (cheap) to stay for that night in Verona. Or plan to spend the rest of the night enjoying the bars and nightlife (not there are that many) and catch a train back in the morning.

This isn't actually a bad idea: according to Deutsche Bahn there's a train back just after 4 in the morning so it would only be a few hours in a bar.

Alternatively, could you perhaps ask the hotel you're staying in if they can give you a refund for that night so you can stay in a hotel in Verona? If they think they can re-let your room that night there's no reason why they wouldn't, and if the owner has a mate who has a hotel in Verona and you agree to stay in his hotel you've more chance of success, iyswim. You may also find that hotels in Venice run excursions to Verona for the opera and if they have one for when you're there you're sorted, so I think you should definitely get in touch with them.