Verona Airports & Travel

Verona is a well-connected city with its own international airport, and several other airports offering international routes within a couple of hours of the town. Verona also has good rail and bus connections with northern Italy’s other attractive tourist destinations, including Lake Garda and Venice. A fast railway line connecting Venice with Milan runs through the city.

Verona Airport

Verona Airport is called Aeroporto di Verona Valerio Catullo (named after the local Roman writer Catullus), and is located at Villafranca, 12km to the southwest of Verona. Its IATA code is VRN. Verona Airport is a busy international airport, with flights from all around Europe, including direct flights from the UK operated by British Airways, Easyjet, Jet2, and several intercontinental services. There are also many domestic Italian flights, which may be useful for travellers planning a tour.

A bus called the Aerobus connects the airport and Verona Porta Nuova railway station every 20 minutes from approximately 6am to 11pm. The journey takes fifteen minutes, and a one-way ticket costs 6. You can buy tickets in the airport from a machine, or by paying a higher fare on board the bus. Check the latest times on the ATV website (see links panel). The Aerobus ticket is valid for 90 minutes on the local ATV buses.

Another airport close by is Brescia Airport, which at the time of writing is not operating passenger flights, but was once used by Ryanair. Also known as Montichiari or Gabriele D’Annunzio Airport, Brescia Airport is located 20km from Brescia (and 52km from Verona). If passenger flights start up again, there will probably be buses running from outside the terminal to Brescia and to Verona, as there were in the past.
> Brescia Airport (archived page)

Other airports which may be useful if you are touring this part of Italy include Treviso Airport and Venice Marco Polo Airport.

Verona railway station

Verona’s main railway station, Verona Porta Nuova, is alongside the bus station, outside the centre of town. It is an unenjoyable 15-minute walk to the Arena and the historic centre, and the area immediately surrounding the station is one of the most unwelcoming to pedestrians that I’ve found in Italy, so catching a bus would probably be preferable. If you do walk into the city centre, you will have to negotiate a busy multi-lane ring road, a river, and the town’s massive old ramparts and defences, without much assistance from road signs. The first part of the route is the most confusing, so here are brief directions: As you walk out of the railway station, head to the right from the front of the station building, cross over the large road, and continue to the right until you reach a large stone gateway, the Porta Nuova. From here, turn left up the wide Corso Porta Nuova boulevard. Continue up this street until it ends by an attractive arched gateway in the historic town wall. On the other side of the archway is Piazza Brà and the town centre.

There should be a tourist information office in the railway station, within the covered station shopping mall, though this was closed during rebuilding works when I last visited. If open, this is a good place to pick up a town map – which will be invaluable – and to purchase the Verona Card for tourist sights and bus travel. Another tourist information office is inside the town walls by Piazza Brà.

Verona public transport

The centre of Verona can be toured on foot, but if you get tired or want to travel slightly longer distances, the city’s network of urban buses can be useful. Useful bus routes include the 11, 12 and 13 which connect the railway station with Piazza Brà.

Public transport in and around Verona is operated by a company called ATV – you can visit their website (see links panel) for their latest timetables and fares. Look out for good-value day or multi-day tickets if you’ll be travelling around a lot. The tourist Verona Card includes ATV travel within the town.

The main bus station is outside the railway station. ATV tickets can be bought at station news kiosks, as well as at the official ATV ticket office.

Onward travel

If you are travelling to Lake Garda from Verona Porta Nuova Station, trains to Desenzano del Garda run at irregular intervals during the day and take 20 minutes.Alternatively a direct bus runs from Verona to Garda, Riva, Malcesine and other resorts. See the Lake Garda page for more information.

ATV buses connect Verona with other towns and villages around the area, most departing from the bus station. Timetables can be found on the ATV website – note that some services also stop nearer the centre of town, on Corso Porta Nuova, for example. Larger towns are generally quicker to reach by train. Fast trains connect Verona with Vicenza, Padua and Venice to the east, and Brescia and Milan to the west. Slower trains stop at intermediate destinations.

As well as the main Venice – Milan railway line, other lines connect Verona with Bolzano – giving access to the Dolomites – Bologna and Mantova (Mantua). The Bolzano railway line and the road network provide links to the Dolomites and Alpine resorts such as Selva and Val Gardena.