Wine tasting in/near Verona

[Sport_Turismo_GTS]

Any suggestions for a firm to do a half-day or full-day wine tasting (Valpolicella) when we are in Verona in July?

Our agent can organise something, as can the hotel, but no doubt these have additional mark-ups, so ideally I’d like to speak directly to those actually running the trip. Don’t need it to be a private experience for just two of us - happy to be part of a small group (6-8 people), but don’t want to be part of a ,as I’ve coach party.

Cheers

[MarkJS]

I can recommend the Recchia Vineyard. Been a couple times of times and always great.

[Sport_Turismo_GTS]

MarkJS said:

I can recommend the Recchia Vineyard. Been a couple times of times and always great.

Thanks - do you book with them directly?

[The Leaper]

Sport_Turismo_GTS said:

Any suggestions for a firm to do a half-day or full-day wine tasting (Valpolicella) when we are in Verona in July?

Our agent can organise something, as can the hotel, but no doubt these have additional mark-ups, so ideally I’d like to speak directly to those actually running the trip. Don’t need it to be a private experience for just two of us - happy to be part of a small group (6-8 people), but don’t want to be part of a ,as I’ve coach party.

Cheers

I cannot make any recommendations about wine tours from Verona. I do know that there are many available.

My wife and I have been to Verona 7 times in the past 10 years or so....it's our favorite Italian city. If you need any recommendations for things to do/see, eat etc, just ask.

R.

[Sport_Turismo_GTS]

The Leaper said:

I cannot make any recommendations about wine tours from Verona. I do know that there are many available.

My wife and I have been to Verona 7 times in the past 10 years or so....it's our favorite Italian city. If you need any recommendations for things to do/see, eat etc, just ask.

R.

Please go ahead!
We will have two full days available, so I had planned a day of wine tasting, a day of sightseeing (walking tour etc) and a trip to the Opera?
Then we are off to Venice the next morning.
Could do a half day wine tasting if you’d recommend something else instead?!
We will have 3 nights for dinner, so good restaurant recommendations also welcome!
Thanks

[MarkJS]

Sport_Turismo_GTS said:

MarkJS said:

I can recommend the Recchia Vineyard. Been a couple times of times and always great.

Thanks - do you book with them directly?

Yes, I just emailed them to arrange (you should fine there email address on their website).

[raceboy]

Sport_Turismo_GTS said:

.....and a trip to the Opera?

Buy a cushion outside the Arena, they are the same but half the price and you will need one. unless you're in the posh seats

[The Leaper]

Sport_Turismo_GTS said:

Please go ahead!
We will have two full days available, so I had planned a day of wine tasting, a day of sightseeing (walking tour etc) and a trip to the Opera?
Then we are off to Venice the next morning.
Could do a half day wine tasting if you’d recommend something else instead?!
We will have 3 nights for dinner, so good restaurant recommendations also welcome!
Thanks

You have a busy schedule. Here's our personal best two restaurants for dinner in Verona:

L'Evangelista: comes in Italy's top 10 restaurants regularly, definitely a superior experience, an interesting menu, pricey, say €250-€300 or so for two.. Located up a passageway off Piazza Bra. I'd opt for an outside table despite it being in the passage. www.ristorantelevangelista.it [e-mail]

Osteria Casa Vino: very much a family run business, excellent menu, reasonably priced, say €140-€175 or so for two. Located in a side street NW of Piazza Bra, easy to locate. Opt for an inside table to get the family experience: they often argue, part of the experience maybe! www.ostariacasavino.com. [e-mail] . Note that the manager of L'Evangelista and his wife dine here regularly so that has to be a good recommendation.

I recommend that you book a table well ahead especially in the opera season. I've always used e mail, works well.

As for things to do, strolling around the Centro Storico between Piazza Bra and Piazza Erbe is enjoyable and good for shops, so I'm told! The big red bus tours (there are two routes) are also good IMO and a useful intro to Verona. They start/return to/from Piazza Bra. The Fondazione Museo Miniscalchi-Erizzo is quite nice, a bit off the beaten track. Not open on Mondays I think.

BTW, the opera sells out very quickly so book ahead from UK well before you go.

Which hotel have you decided to stay at? We always stay at Hotel San Luca. Very well located just outside Centro Storico, good for busses etc, does not look much from the outside, no restaurant but excellent continental breakfast.

HTH.

R

[The Leaper]

Sport_Turismo_GTS

BTW, I see that you are based in Cornwall. May I ask whereabouts?

Wife and I have family in Falmouth and we go there twice a year in late April and early November. Been doing this since about 1980! In recent years we stay at The Greenbank Hotel which we like a lot. Next trip is 1-5 May.

R.

[raceboy]

The Leaper said:

Which hotel have you decided to stay at? We always stay at Hotel San Luca. Very well located just outside Centro Storico, good for busses etc, does not look much from the outside, no restaurant but excellent continental breakfast.

Thought that sounded familiar, we stayed there last time, the location next to a McDonalds certainly worries at first but nice enough inside, we weren't that impressed with the breakfast, but then we like a few more 'British' options.

[Sport_Turismo_GTS]

The Leaper said:

Sport_Turismo_GTS

BTW, I see that you are based in Cornwall. May I ask whereabouts?

Wife and I have family in Falmouth and we go there twice a year in late April and early November. Been doing this since about 1980! In recent years we stay at The Greenbank Hotel which we like a lot. Next trip is 1-5 May.

R.

I’m from Charlestown, but (unfortunately) I don’t live there. However, I still visit home at least monthly - will be there this weekend.

[Sport_Turismo_GTS]

The Leaper said:

You have a busy schedule. Here's our personal best two restaurants for dinner in Verona:

L'Evangelista: comes in Italy's top 10 restaurants regularly, definitely a superior experience, an interesting menu, pricey, say €250-€300 or so for two.. Located up a passageway off Piazza Bra. I'd opt for an outside table despite it being in the passage. www.ristorantelevangelista.it [e-mail]

Osteria Casa Vino: very much a family run business, excellent menu, reasonably priced, say €140-€175 or so for two. Located in a side street NW of Piazza Bra, easy to locate. Opt for an inside table to get the family experience: they often argue, part of the experience maybe! www.ostariacasavino.com. [e-mail] . Note that the manager of L'Evangelista and his wife dine here regularly so that has to be a good recommendation.

I recommend that you book a table well ahead especially in the opera season. I've always used e mail, works well.

As for things to do, strolling around the Centro Storico between Piazza Bra and Piazza Erbe is enjoyable and good for shops, so I'm told! The big red bus tours (there are two routes) are also good IMO and a useful intro to Verona. They start/return to/from Piazza Bra. The Fondazione Museo Miniscalchi-Erizzo is quite nice, a bit off the beaten track. Not open on Mondays I think.

BTW, the opera sells out very quickly so book ahead from UK well before you go.

Which hotel have you decided to stay at? We always stay at Hotel San Luca. Very well located just outside Centro Storico, good for busses etc, does not look much from the outside, no restaurant but excellent continental breakfast.

HTH.

R

We are staying at the Hotel Due Torri for 3 nights. Do you think it’s worth having a guided tour, or just get a guide book and explore?
I will look into your restaurant recommendations.
Thanks

[The Leaper]

Sport_Turismo_GTS said:

We are staying at the Hotel Due Torri for 3 nights. Do you think it’s worth having a guided tour, or just get a guide book and explore?
I will look into your restaurant recommendations.
Thanks

Hotel looks good.

Personally, I would not take a guided tour. The Centro Storico in Verona is quite compact and easily walkable with quite a lot being pedestrianised. When in Italy I usually get a city street map from here (we have a collection of 15 or so now):

www.stanfords.co.uk

and then decide where to go etc.

R

[Sport_Turismo_GTS]

The Leaper said:

Hotel looks good.

Personally, I would not take a guided tour. The Centro Storico in Verona is quite compact and easily walkable with quite a lot being pedestrianised. When in Italy I usually get a city street map from here (we have a collection of 15 or so now):

www.stanfords.co.uk

and then decide where to go etc.

R

Thanks

[raceboy]

Those guide books look a good idea, we just seem to wander round and stumble across stuff by accident, or the better half has a better idea and I just follow her.
We tend to walk over the Ponte Scaligero and then around the outside of the river until reaching the Funicular, and up there for the views.

[shirt]

Bit late perhaps but:

https://www.lacollinadeiciliegi.it/

Our hotel booked it, we stayed in the village close by as the purpose of the visit was the restaurant there. Just the 2 of us in the tour, €45 each including extended tasting and local charcuterie/cheese.

Wonderful guide, great wine which we bought a case of and has ended up being the oh’s favourite.

[Sport_Turismo_GTS]

shirt said:

Bit late perhaps but:

https://www.lacollinadeiciliegi.it/

Our hotel booked it, we stayed in the village close by as the purpose of the visit was the restaurant there. Just the 2 of us in the tour, €45 each including extended tasting and local charcuterie/cheese.

Wonderful guide, great wine which we bought a case of and has ended up being the oh’s favourite.

Not too late! Many thanks.

[shirt]

I see on the website they are promoting their higher altitude project. The first wines from it were just available when we visited. It was a nice day and one of the geologists was on site so they took us on a mini hike to explain the soil characteristics and how that carries through into the wine.

If you go there, then I can recommend the Gazega Osteria in Romagnano for lunch.

It’s the casual arm of the (now closed) starred Ristorante la Cru which was on the same grounds within Villa Balis.

Do let us know what other gems you find. This area is a halfway point on a drive we make a few times a year from Lausanne, always good to have other options for a stay over.

[i4got]

Useful thread for me. We’re staying at the Relais Emilei in Verona for 3 days in June at the start of a three week part rail and part drive down to Puglia.

[The Leaper]

i4got said:

Useful thread for me. We’re staying at the Relais Emilei in Verona for 3 days in June at the start of a three week part rail and part drive down to Puglia.

That looks like just the kind of trip wife and I like. We are big fans of train travel in Italy, used it many times for short day trips and long journeys (eg Naples to Palermo by train, fab day), always booked beforehand from UK.

We've based ourselves in over 20 towns and cities and visited maybe another 30 in Italy in the past 25 years or so. You could assume we like it there!

R.