3 day trips from Verona, Italy

During our week in northern Italy in June 2025, we based ourselves in Verona - we loved the city, but we knew a week would be too long to just stay in one place. So we took the opportunity to do some day trips, and I thought I'd share our experience! I must add, this definitely isn't an #ad for GetYourGuide, although we did use them throughout all of our day trips from Verona...

Verona to Venice, Murano and Burano day trip

Our first day trip of the week was from Verona to Venice; I had been to Venice once years prior, on a cruise, and I already knew I didn't want to spend the whole day there - which turned out to be the right choice for sure. So I hopped onto GetYourGuide and booked an islands boat trip to Murano and Burano.

First things first, though - how to get from Verona to Venice! I booked us a train from Verona Porta Nuova to Venezia Santa Lucia; I used Trainline to book etickets in advance, which cost us £9.13 per person - the same on the way back, too. This was really easy, of course, and I thought the price was amazing too. The trains are huge, comfortable, and have USB charging points at the seats. We actually needed to change the time of our return train, which was quick and easy in the app and didn't cost us any extra!

Upon arrival in Venice we used the ACTV ferry to get from the station to the main tourist area; I had booked our tickets on the app in advance, and it cost us 25euros per person for a day ticket - more expensive than getting from Verona to Venice mind you. But it is what it is, and it was the quickest/easiest way to get there in the rain.

We had some time to spare and grabbed a quick bite to eat down a little side street - just focaccias to eat on the go, which weren't too expensive. We decided to try and hit most of the highlights before our tour, so found ourselves rushing up and down all the streets of Venice; we walked through St Mark's Square to see the Basilica and Doge's Palace, headed to the Bridge of Sighs and also to the Rialto Bridge. Of course we admired the Grand Canal and saw plenty of gondolas too!

Then it was time for our tour, so we headed to the meeting point to pick up our audioguides and then we all walked to our boat together. We had great seats near the front, and our lovely guide chatted to us about all the different areas we passed as we sailed to Murano, our first stop. This portion of the tour included a visit to a Murano glass factory, which was boiling but absolutely fascinating - we learned about the history of Murano glass and watched a demonstration, then you could shop for authentic pieces in the factory shop with a discount. After this, we wandered further along the waterside and stopped for a drink, had a look at the Basilica of Santa Maria e San Donato (one of the oldest churches in the Venetian lagoon) and just generally took in the peace & quiet of Murano.

Our next stop was beautiful Burano, somewhere I've wanted to visit for years. It was genuinely as pretty and colourful and magical in real life as you see in photos, with more beautifully painted houses down every tiny alley and street. Here we visited a lace shop for a quick talk and demo, and sampled some traditional bussola cookies from a nearby bakery. We then had some free time, which we spent literally just admiring all of the stunning houses and taking plenty of photos, before relaxing right at the tip of the island with an ice cold drink.

I'd highly recommend this tour; I'm sure you can visit the islands yourself, but this was great because we had the guide and the factory visits etc included. We headed straight for the train when we got back to Venice; as nice as the city is, it was wayyyy too busy and hot for us in June!

Visiting the Dolomites from Verona

Our second day trip was from Verona to the Dolomites, another tour I booked on GetYourGuide. And what a day it was... the day before our trip, we got a text to say the coach was no longer leaving from Verona so we'd have to get to the meeting point an hour early, to be taken by taxi to where the coach could get us. This happened to be a petrol station in the middle of a junction in Affi, where we waited around 20 minutes for the coach. Okay, these things happen.

Our first stop was at a small town called Ora where we could use the loo and buy pastries and coffee - it wasn't the picturesque village we'd been hoping for, and was more a chance for the driver to take a necessary stop. There was nothing to do here in our 30 minute window and not much to see either. We got back on the coach, and the tour guide pointed out every single thing we drove past, including the lake we were meant to stop at but just... didn't. I had been really looking forward to a nice walk around Soraga Lake as it looked beautiful in the photos we'd seen, but we didn't stop there in the end which was really disappointing.

We reached the Dolomites area itself and the drive was really beautiful - it's a gorgeous mountain range and such a stunning part of Italy. All the chalets and greenery were just lovely. There are a lot of tight corners to get round, and our very long vehicle struggled with this; there was also a terrifying moment where a motorcyclist crashed into our coach as we rounded one particular corner, which then caused a bit of a traffic jam. Thankfully everybody was unharmed, but it was a hairy 15 minutes!

We finally arrived at Sass Pordoi, where we had the option to get the cable car to the top of the mountain; you could get a discount by booking with the group, but this was cash only (not communicated prior to the tour) and we didn't have any, so we just paid ourselves and went ahead to ride.

At the top there was so much cloud cover we couldn't see a thing; obviously this isn't anyone's fault, although I do think if we'd stopped at the lake we would have had much better timing and managed to take in some views. We had a drink and a croissant at the Rifugio Maria restaurant at the top; you could get food, although the menu they gave us only had ribs on it (?) although other members of our tour group did get different menus with a lot more options on and we heard the food was good. It was super cute in here with real chalet/ski lodge vibes.

We stayed a while to see if the clouds would shift but they didn't, so we headed down to get something to eat at Maria Ristorante (very confusing I know) which was recommended by the tour guide. Don't eat here, the food took honestly AGES to come and was both burnt and tasteless.

Our journey back to the petrol station where we'd started the day took a few hours, though we did stop again at the very pretty Ortisei - this actually is a lovely picturesque town, and we really enjoyed wandering around here with a gelato. Probably the best part of the day, honestly!

Overall we were really disappointed with this tour, which was such a shame; we paid over £100 per person, and it just didn't feel worth it at all. I had been so looking forward to this, as a mountain lover, but it didn't end up being the day we'd hoped for. I did get in touch with GetYourGuide who gave us a 50% refund, which I appreciated, but the whole thing left a bit of a sour taste for me. This was the specific tour we booked, in case you want to avoid it.

Verona to Sirmione, Lake Garda

Another place you can easily access from Verona is the beautiful Lake Garda area; we settled on Sirmione, and we decided to get the bus there. From my maps it seemed like the only place to get the bus from was the bus station which is opposite the train station, so we made our way there. I couldn't find any way to book tickets in advance, so we waited for the bus (LN026) and when it arrived went to buy our tickets from the driver - who only took cash, which we still didn't have. We ran round to the ticket office, which a man pointed out to us, and paid for our return tickets there - but then the bus left early and we missed it, which was frustrating.

Note: you can also get the train from Verona to Sirmione, which is quicker, but you will need to get a bus from Sirmione station to the town.

Not to be deterred we went and had an iced tea while we waited for the next bus, which we successfully got on. I actually slept through most of the journey, but woke up as we started to arrive at Lake Garda - the few towns we passed through were gorgeous. Unfortunately there was an issue with the buses on this day meaning we were deposited on a random road where we had to wait for a shuttle bus, with no information in English and a huge crowd of people also waiting to get to Sirmione - this was a little hiccup, but we did eventually make it to this absolutely beautiful lake town.

We stopped for a drink at a hotel right on the lake, just taking in the views and the ambience, which was a real pinch me moment. It's just a breathtaking place!

 

I had booked a lake cruise, again using GetyourGuide (they really are the best way to book tours and excursions, and 9/10 times we've had great experiences). As we arrived later than planned, I messaged the tour operator to move the booking and they were really happy to accommodate us, which was great. And the cruise itself was lovely - the captain was funny, the area is stunning, we got to learn a little bit of history about Sirmione and it was nice to be on the water on such a hot day. We paid just over £10pp for our Sirmione lake cruise and I'd highly recommend!

After our boat tour we just wandered through the streets, admiring the shops and the castle and the beautiful buildings. I also had the best gelato of my life here, which was HUGE and delicious, and despite being much busier than Verona itself it also felt really laidback here. There are restaurants galore with so many foodie options in Sirmione, and this day trip definitely cemented a desire to go back to Lake Garda and spend more time in the area.

While we didn't necessarily *do* much in Sirmione, it was a really beautiful place to visit and I'm so glad we did!

So, a mixed bag when it comes to day trips from Verona - the Venetian lagoon, the Dolomites and finally Lake Garda. I'm really glad we ticked these all off our list, despite the disastrous experience that was our Dolomites tour. I do love a day trip, and I think conquering public transport abroad is something to smile about.