In this daytime photo you can see the various seating categories in the Arena of Verona. The most expensive seats look white in the photo because they are protected during the day by heavy white plastic covers. These are the “Poltronissime” seats or first sector stalls, now subdivided into “Poltronissime GOLD” at € 208 per seat (prices as of 2019) and normal “Poltronissime” at
€ 175. (These are the Friday and Saturday prices. On other days they cost a bit less.)
The red seats are the “Poltrone” or 2nd sector stalls, which cost € 132 on Fridays and Saturdays.
The grey seats on the lower half of the steps are the “poltroncina numerata di gradinata” or numbered seats on the steps, which cost € 114 or € 91 in the middle sections (depending on how high up they are) and EUR 68 on the sides.
Numbered seats on the steps
Here’s what these grey numbered seats on the steps look like. They aren’t padded, so you might want to bring or rent a cushion, but at least they have a back rest and they are reserved.
Unreserved stone steps below the Ala
The top sections are the “Gradinata” or unreserved stone steps, which is where I sat. On Fridays and Saturdays these cost € 26 for the middle sections D and E and for the side sections C and F. The far-forward sections B and G used to cost € 12, but they are no longer listed in the 2019 price list.
Entering at gate 1 for the Poltronissime seats
The Arena regulations have this to say about the dress code: “The audience in the stalls and on the numbered seats on the steps are required to dress appropriately in the Arena.”
They don’t say what “appropriately” means. I had heard rumors that these folks down in the expensive seats (Poltronissime) would dress up very formally, like in black suits and evening gowns, but as you can see from my photo this is not true. They are mainly wearing slacks and a shirt or blouse just like the rest of us, though I guess the percentage of white shirts is greater down there.
Some of them sensibly have sweaters or shawls over their shoulders, in case it starts getting cooler around midnight.
I did see one man wearing a tuxedo or some such (not on the photo), but I expect he felt overdressed.
The ushers downstairs wear snappy blue blazers, with blue and yellow ties for the men and scarves for the woman. This is to set them off from their colleagues up in the unreserved sections who just get a blue blouse or shirt to wear, with no tie or scarf.
Note that Gate 1 is fitted out with a red carpet and fancy red curtains, which is not the case for the gates leading to the upper sectors.
Queuing for sector D
On my first evening (Aida), sector D was already quite full when I got up there at about eight o’clock, an hour before show time.
Usher in sector D
I was greeted by a young usher in a blue blouse who asked everybody how many there were who wanted to sit together. Anyone who said three or four was sent off to the left and UP, where her colleague kept holding up different numbers of fingers to tell her how many free seats he had found.
When I said ONE she grinned and said she had a great seat for me, right close by in the second row. And there was indeed a free place in the middle of that row, where an older Danish woman from the row before had thought she could lean against the stone wall because no one was sitting there.
So I found myself sitting next to a young German woman who was seeing her first opera ever. But she had done her homework — read the story and listened to the recording with Placido Domingo as Ramades.
Her boyfriend was sitting right in front of her, so he could lean his back against her legs. At each intermission they changed places, so the other could have the benefit of a backrest. (Someone at home had advised them to do this.)
Sitting close together on the stone steps
On my second evening one of the young male ushers got into a heated argument with an older Italian woman who was sitting one row behind me.
Although I have never really learned Italian and don’t normally understand it very well, in this case I was able to get the gist of the argument because they were speaking very loudly (right over my head) and because they both kept repeating themselves, which of course is very helpful for a foreign language learner.
He said (over and over) that she should move her bag to make room for one more person on the stone step next to her.
She said (over and over) that there was no need for that, because there were plenty of free seats further up.
He said (over and over) that it was still an hour before show time, and that thousands of people were still coming. (Which turned out to be true.)
She said (over and over) that one little bag wouldn’t make any difference.
He said (over and over) that he had to enforce the regulations.
She said (over and over) that he shouldn’t be so pedantic about the regulations.
He said (over and over) that it was his job to make sure everybody got a seat.
She said (over and over) that she wasn’t going to move her bag and there wasn’t anything he could do about.
And on and on, until eventually he gave up and left.
An Italian man sitting next to me felt sorry for the young usher and later struck up a conversation with him — found out that he was a student who earned 700 Euros per month (not very much) by ushering six nights a week at the Arena during the summer.
External toilet sign
Contrary to popular belief, there really are a few toilets in the Arena di Verona. But they are all at ground level, and are accessible in the evenings only to the people in the most expensive reserved seats.
If you are sitting higher up on the unreserved stone steps, your only option is to leave the Arena and go out to the temporary toilets that have been set up out on one of the adjoining streets. Depending on where you are sitting, this could be quite time consuming, so if you think this might be a problem you might try to sit in section F, which is the closest one to the external toilets.
Logically enough, you have to take your ticket with you when you go out, so you can get back in.
Entrance to the internal toilets
This photo, which I took during the daytime, shows the entrances to the toilets inside the Arena at ground level. The white signs say “Toiletta”.
Entrance to the external toilets
Here’s the entrance to the external toilets (of the Mediterranean squat-in variety) which have been set up on the street in front of Gate 59 (section F). I took this photo late at night after one of the performances, so I don’t know how full these get during the intermissions.
My photos in this post are from 2006. I revised the text in 2018.
See more posts on Verona, Italy.
See more posts on open-air performances.
I was delighted to come across your blog on Verona and the opera.
I first went to the Arena aged about 15 many years ago with my parents. We saw Aida and it was totally spectacular.
So many years later we are going to Rigoletto and Il Barbiere towards the end of July. I’m just hoping the rather expensive seats we have aren’t so far from the stage that we can’t see. They are in 1 Settore Verdi Fila 3 Posto 13 and 15 and Fila 4 Posto 59 and 61. Think we need to take seat cushions! Any advice would be most welcome. Many thanks
Thanks for your nice comment. Glad you liked my Verona posts.
I’ve stopped giving advice about seating, since they seem to be rearranging or at least renaming some of the sections every year or two. But the current names are all on their website. (And yes, I would always take cushions to the arena.)
Have a great time at Rigoletto and Barbiere.
Thanks for that and I’ve now booked the Blue section (still can’t get through on the phone but did it online). It reads as though they have backrests and they are called armchairs, so I’m going for it. Thanks again, now all I have to hope is that it doesn’t rain, having laid out the money!
I hope the weather holds for you.
Hi Don, I usually catch you over on the Word Press site but you popped up here with (almost) the answer to my query). I have been trying to find out what seats have backrests at Verona Arena as I am taking a very elderly lady with me next month and she will need some back support. I am thinking of the Blue section (Poltronissimo) which cost Euros 165 each. Would i be right in thinking these have a backrest? I have formerly only watched from the stone seats but in this case have to go elsewhere. I’ve tried ringing the arena to ask but busy, busy, busy. Many thanks, Marie
It’s been a while since I last saw an opera in Verona, and since then they have changed the names of some of the seating areas, but as far as I know the “Poltronissime” seats (now colored blue on the Arena’s website) all have upholstered backrests. Their current information is here: https://www.arena.it/en/arena-di-verona/prices-and-seating-plan
I need to see Tosca at L’Arena in my lifetime! Ciao, Cristina
I’ve stumbled across this older post of yours and am very taken with it. What a fabulous arena from which to view an opera. Although, perhaps, not the height of comfort, as that young couple demonstrated by their prior research.
Your words about dress code put me in mind of the first live ballet I saw. Decades ago. My friend and I were to see Rudolph Nurejev in Romeo & Juliet (in London). We invested a week’s wages on the ticket and special outfits. On the day, people were turning up in jeans, and Nurejev had twisted an ankle at the matinee, so a stand-in took his place. Having no spare money, and thinking I knew the story of R&J, I rejected buying a programme. Luckily at the interval the people in the seat in front left theirs behind while they went for a glass of champagne. I grabbed it and quickly boned up on what the heck was going on.
In Sydney, we have a wonderful annual event (subject to covid) where opera is performed outdoors on Sydney Harbour. Cruise ships and ferries sounding their horns add another dimension to the musical score 🙂
This post is nearly five years old and is now by far my most popular post, thanks especially to Google, which seems to display it at every opportunity.
Thanks for your comment and your story of the ballet evening in London. Most opera houses in Europe have given up on enforcing any sort of dress code, with the partial exception of La Scala in Milan, where people on the lower floor tend to be formally dressed, whereas those upstairs just come as they are.
If you like spectacular outdoor opera events, you might take a look at my Bregenz posts.
Thanks for the tip, Nemorino. You’ll see I jumped across and had a look at one of them.
Having read your comment above I’d just like to say that I was privileged some years ago to attend the Opera in the Park at Sydney. What an evening that was, something I’ll never forget. We also saw “Traviata” in the Opera House as well as a concert – and we did the tour! Wonderful city, lovely people, great food. Wish I lived there.
I enjoyed the opera at Sydney Harbour and also the Opera in the Park on two occasions. It’s so wonderful that you have weather you can (almost) rely on. I say ‘almost’ because on our last trip there we had ten days rain in January. I think that was in 2004 or so.
So lovely to hear you have visited Sydney, and for responding to my comment.
Yes, we can have some very rainy interludes. And there is nothing “gentle” about it.
But our weather bureau has just officially declared an El Nino, very warm and dry conditions over the summer. We are all on bushfire tenterhooks. And September, which is early spring, has had record high temps.
i have a question. How is the view from non numeric seats, i want to buy 3 tickets( my wife, my son (11 years old) and me). Thank you ( We are from Perú and its our first time in Italy)
The view is fine, but you are a long way from the stage and have to sit close together on bare stone steps. I sat in the non-numbered seats on all three evenings, and took all my photos from there.
Thanks for reading my blog posts on Verona. I hope you have a great visit there. Don’t forget to buy some ice cream in the breaks from those nice ice cream girls.
You are getting humourous with your writing Don😀. This is hapening over and over – a couple switching seats, moving a bag, O’ Romeo shouts from the balcony. Your content brings a smile on my face. Love you sir, cut loose and keep writing more like this.
Very interesting. This must be THE place to see Aida
Wonderful blog. I’ve only seen this arena from the outside and it was impressive