Visit the Arena di Verona by day

When is the Arena di Verona open to visitors?

From 9:00 most days, but on opera days it closes at 15:00 with last entry at 14:00. Mondays are the day to avoid.

The official hours listed on cultura.gov.it:

The festival-day rule is the one that catches people out. In 2027 there is a performance on most Thursdays to Sundays between 11 June and 11 September, plus some weekdays. One guest on an admission ticket in September 2026 wrote that the Arena "closes for guests at 15:00" and her 15:00 entry slot did not work. On top of that, the city's summer hours for Mondays are unclear, and the walking tour operators, along with the Verona Card, states that the Arena is closed on Mondays. Plan a festival-season visit for a morning from Tuesday to Sunday.

How much does it cost to visit the Arena?

€12 for adults, €9 over 65, €3 for EU citizens aged 18 to 25, free for minors and Verona Card holders.

Entry prices as quoted by Verona's licensed guides (the ticket office opens at 8:00):

Tour operators note that since 1 October 2026 entry tickets to the Arena are issued in the visitor's name, and they now ask for the full name of every guest when you book. Reduced and free entries need ID at the door. A daytime ticket is not an opera ticket and never gives access to a performance.

What will you see inside?

The arena floor, the stone tiers you can climb for the view over Piazza Bra, the corridors and arches under the seating, and in summer the opera sets being built.

Walk in through one of the ground-floor arches and the corridors lead you to the vomitoria, the passages that open onto the tiers. From the floor you get the scale of the oval: the arena itself is about 75 by 44 metres. Climb to the top of the steps for the view across the rooftops to the hills, with the Ala's arches standing above the outer wall.

From late spring to September the floor is taken over by the opera. Guests report seeing the stalls seats laid out and giant pieces of scenery in place; one wrote in September 2026 that after an event the night before "the arena was completely occupied by the stage and chairs". Some people love seeing an opera set up close. If you want the empty Roman bowl, come between October and May.

The opera story is part of the visit. The first opera here was Aida on 10 August 1913, for the centenary of Verdi's birth, and the festival has run every summer since apart from the war years. Maria Callas made her Italian debut at the Arena in 1947 and sang here until 1954. A guide will tell you how the stage, the sets and the 64 stairways are used on an opera night, which is worth knowing if you are coming back after dark.

Is a guided tour worth it?

If you want the history, yes: the Arena has almost no signage inside. If you only want the view and a photo, go alone with a ticket or the Verona Card.

The options we would consider, side by side:

Two catches. The private gladiators tour price is per group and does not include the Arena entry (€12 per adult, free for minors), so a family of four pays the guide plus two adult tickets. And the walking tour with the cable car includes the Arena only on the option you choose, and never on Mondays. Guests on the 45-minute tour like the pace; one found it "a little short at 40-45 min", which is fair.

The guided tours above list themselves as unsuitable for wheelchair users. The Arena's step-free route serves the stalls at opera time, not the tiers.

Priority entry and a licensed guide inside the Arena for 45 minutes: the gladiators, the 1117 earthquake, and how it became an opera house.

★ 4.6 · 45 minutes · from $44

Check dates → Tour details

Is the Verona Card worth it for the Arena?

Yes, if you visit three or more paid sights in a day. For the Arena alone, a €12 ticket is cheaper.

The Verona Card (24 or 48 hours) includes the Arena with priority entry, Juliet's House and balcony, the Lamberti Tower, Castelvecchio, the Roman theatre and its archaeological museum, San Zeno and the Duomo complex, and the urban ATV buses. It does not include the Aerobus to the airport, and Juliet's House needs a booked time slot. Under-18s do not need a card, as the museums are free for them.

One guest wrote: "we crammed 6 or 7 visits into one day, so the pass saved a fair bit." The pick-up booth is right by the Arena. The same Monday closures apply: Arena, Juliet's House and the balcony are shut, so start a 24-hour card on a Tuesday to Sunday.

How do you combine a day visit with an opera night?

Visit in the morning, before the 14:00 last entry, and come back through the gates two hours before the performance.

On a festival day the Arena changes hands at lunchtime: visitors out at 15:00, then stage crews and the opera audience. A good plan for an opera day:

• Morning: a guided tour, or the Arena on your own, while it is cool.
• Afternoon: rest. The night ends after midnight.
• 18:30: dinner near Piazza Bra.
• From two hours before: gates open; find yours using the seating guide.

Outside the festival, from October to May, there is no opera at the Arena at all. Opera in Verona then means the Fondazione's season at the Teatro Filarmonico, or a palace concert near Piazza Bra most evenings. Our tickets guide covers the summer festival.

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