Verona, Valpolicella & Lake Garda Wine
Verona is the gateway to two of Italy’s great wine countries at once: the Valpolicella hills just north, where Amarone is made from dried grapes, and Lake Garda just west, with the light reds of Bardolino and the crisp whites of Lugana and Custoza. Add Verona’s own rich table and it is one of the best food-and-wine bases in the north. This is our Verona hub. Below are the top-rated experiences, then our Valpolicella and Lake Garda pages.
Top-rated Verona, Valpolicella and Garda experiences
Verona food and wine walks
Why Verona? Because Amarone country and Lake Garda’s vineyards are each half an hour away, and the city itself eats and drinks superbly, from risotto all’Amarone to pandoro.
Formats: Valpolicella wine tours with cellar visits and Amarone tastings; Lake Garda wine tours around Bardolino and Lugana; Verona food and wine walks; combined Garda-and-Valpolicella days.
What to taste: Amarone, Ripasso, Valpolicella and sweet Recioto; Bardolino, Chiaretto rosé, Lugana and Custoza; with pastissada, risotto all’Amarone and Monte Veronese cheese.
Two wine regions, one base
Verona sits between them. North rise the Valpolicella hills, home of Amarone, the powerful dry red made from grapes dried for months before pressing; west lies Lake Garda, its warm shores growing the light red Bardolino, the pink Chiaretto, and the whites of Lugana and Custoza. Few cities let you taste such different wines on consecutive mornings, both within half an hour. See our Valpolicella and Lake Garda pages for each.
Verona’s own table
The city eats richly: pastissada de caval, a long-braised stew; risotto all’Amarone, cooked with the region’s red; bigoli, thick fresh pasta, with duck or anchovy; the mountain cheese Monte Veronese; and, at Christmas, pandoro, Verona’s golden cake. A food-and-wine walk through the centre and the Piazza delle Erbe market ties the dishes to the wines.
How to do it
Most Valpolicella and Garda experiences are half- or full-day trips with a driver so you can taste freely; the city walks need only a booking. Autumn, during and after the September–October harvest and the drying of the Amarone grapes, is the most atmospheric time. Verona also sits on the fast train between Venice and Milan, so it slots easily into a northern trip.
Frequently asked questions
What is Amarone?
Valpolicella’s flagship: a dry, powerful red made by drying the grapes (appassimento) for months to concentrate them before fermenting. Rich and age-worthy. See our Valpolicella wine tours.
Can I visit Valpolicella and Lake Garda from Verona?
Yes; both are about half an hour away, and many tours combine a Garda stop with a Valpolicella cellar and lunch in a day.
Is Verona good for food as well as wine?
Very; risotto all’Amarone, pastissada, bigoli and Monte Veronese cheese make it a serious food city in its own right.
How we choose
We list only experiences with a strong rating over a meaningful number of reviews and free cancellation where available, and we favour small-group and family-run hosts. FindEatLocal earns a commission when you book through GetYourGuide or Viator links on this page; it doesn’t change the price you pay. More about how we choose.