The Arena di Verona is a Roman amphitheatre in the centre of the city, still in use almost two thousand years after it was built. Every summer it hosts an opera festival, with large productions performed in the open air in front of thousands of spectators. For visitors staying in Milan, an evening at the Arena is a memorable experience, but it comes with a practical problem: performances end late, often after midnight, and the last trains back to Milan leave earlier. This guide explains how to plan the evening with a private car.
How far it is
The Arena is about 157 km from central Milan, and the drive takes about two hours and seven minutes in normal traffic on the A4 motorway towards Venice. From Linate it is about an hour and three quarters. From Malpensa, count on about two hours and twenty minutes. The return at night, with less traffic, is usually a little faster.
The opera festival
The Arena's opera season runs in summer, generally from June to early September, with several operas alternating on different evenings. Performances start in the evening, once it gets dark, and with intervals they often finish around midnight or later. For the programme and exact dates of the current season, refer to the Arena's official website. Tickets range from numbered seats close to the stage to unreserved stone steps higher up.
Planning the timing
A comfortable plan is to leave Milan in the late afternoon, arrive in Verona with time for a walk and an early dinner near Piazza Bra, the large square in front of the Arena, and enter for the performance. During the performance your driver waits nearby. When the opera ends, he meets you at an agreed point and you are back in Milan around two or three in the morning.
If you would like to see more of Verona, an earlier departure leaves time for the historic centre: Piazza delle Erbe, the Roman theatre on the other side of the river and the streets around the Duomo. Verona is compact and best seen on foot.
Where the car can stop
The centre of Verona has a limited traffic zone, and on performance nights the area around Piazza Bra is very busy. Your driver drops you as close to the square as the rules allow and agrees a pick-up point with you for the end of the evening. Thousands of people leave the Arena at the same time, so a clear meeting point, shared on your phone, avoids searching in the crowd.
Combining with Lake Garda
Verona is close to the southern shore of Lake Garda. Many guests make a full day of it: a morning drive to Sirmione or Bardolino, lunch on the lake, a few hours in Verona in the afternoon and the opera in the evening. Others stay a night on the lake or in Verona and return to Milan the next day, or continue to Venice, which is a little over an hour further east.
Why a car rather than the train
The train between Milan and Verona is fast during the day. The problem is the return: after a performance that ends around midnight, there is often no convenient train back to Milan, which leaves a hotel night in Verona as the only alternative. A private car solves this. It also avoids walking with evening clothes through the station and waiting on a platform late at night.
Hourly booking
For an evening at the Arena, the formula is an hourly booking, because the car waits for you during the performance. From an afternoon departure to the return in the early morning, an evening usually lasts nine to eleven hours. Hourly rates are on our chauffeur service page; we confirm the total, including kilometres, in writing before the evening.
Choosing the vehicle
For two people, the Mercedes S-Class is the most comfortable car for the late drive home. The Mercedes E-Class is a practical alternative. Families or groups of friends up to seven travel in the Mercedes V-Class. For a larger group or a corporate evening, the Sprinter Luxury VIP carries up to eight passengers.
How to book
Send us the date of the performance, the pick-up address, the number of passengers and whether you would like to stop on Lake Garda or in Verona before the opera. We reply with a written, all-inclusive price, usually within 30 minutes.