Mercato di Piazza delle Erbe
Piazza delle Erbe has been Verona's marketplace since Roman times, when it was the city's forum, and it still buzzes every morning with stalls selling local produce, herbs, flowers and street food beneath a forest of medieval towers and baroque palazzi. It is the living, fragrant heart of the city.
The market stalls and what to buy
White canvas parasols shade vendors selling Monte Veronese cheese, Soave wine, bundles of radicchio di Verona, dried mushrooms from the Lessini plateau and seasonal fruit from the Valpolicella plain. This is a working market, not a tourist set-piece, and prices reflect that.
Look for the stall selling frittelle di riso — crispy rice fritters dusted in sugar — a Veronese street snack that rarely makes it into guidebooks. The vendor near the Berlina (the marble column topped by the Lion of St Mark) usually sets up before 9 am.
The surrounding buildings deserve as much attention as the stalls. The Casa Mazzanti frescoes on the north side date from the 16th century; the Torre dei Lamberti looms over the eastern end and can be climbed for a bird's-eye view of the piazza below.
Piazza dei Signori: the quieter neighbour
Duck through the Arco della Costa (named for the whale rib hanging beneath it — a medieval curiosity still in place) and you enter Piazza dei Signori, Verona's aristocratic counterpart to the market square. It is noticeably calmer and ringed by the Scaligeri family's civic buildings.
The Loggia del Consiglio, a delicate Renaissance arcade, faces the medieval Palazzo della Ragione. A statue of Dante stands in the centre — he spent time in exile here as a guest of the Scaligeri lords and wrote warmly of the city.
Best time to visit
Arrive between 8 am and 11 am on a weekday for the fullest market experience and the best produce. By midday the stalls begin to thin and the piazza transitions into an outdoor café scene.
Saturday morning draws the largest crowd and occasionally hosts additional artisan and antique vendors along the edges of the square. Avoid the lunch hour if you want to move freely — the piazza becomes very congested with tour groups.
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