Casa di Giulietta
Museum · Verona ·
Museum with balcony, statue, ceramics, and love story artifacts
Museum with balcony, statue, ceramics, and love story artifacts
"Home to Shakespeare’s most legendary heroine, this museum’s courtyard is among Verona’s most photographed (and most crowded) spots, but it’s worth going inside to stand on the famed balcony; inside, you can see a statue of Juliet, period ceramics, and art and artifacts inspired by the love story, including the bed featured in Franco Zeffirelli’s 1968 film." - Laura Itzkowitz Laura Itzkowitz Laura Itzkowitz is a writer and editor based in Rome. She has been contributing to Travel + Leisure since 2014, when she started as a fact checker before becoming a contributing digital editor in 2015. She has also held positions as a contributing editor at The Points Guy and the NYC cities editor at DuJour Magazine. In addition to Travel + Leisure, her writing has appeared in Architectural Digest, Surface Magazine, Brooklyn Magazine, T Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, Vogue, GQ, Departures, Afar, Fodor's, Town & Country, Condé Nast Traveler, Robb Report, Hemispheres, and others. When she's not jetsetting around Italy and beyond, she can be found in Rome, enjoying some cacio e pepe or relaxing at home with her husband and two dogs. Originally from the Boston area, Laura moved to New York City in 2011 to pursue a master's degree in creative writing and translation at Columbia University. She also holds a bachelor's degree in French from Smith College. * 10+ years of experience writing and editing * Co-wrote "New York: Hidden Bars & Restaurants," an award-winning guide to New York City's speakeasy scene published by Jonglez Editions in 2015 * Contributed to "Fodor's Brooklyn," published by Penguin Random House in 2015, which won silver in the Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism competition * Contributed an essay to "Epic Hikes of Europe," published by Lonely Planet in 2021 * Updated the 2022 edition of "Fodor's Essential Italy" Travel + Leisure Editorial Guidelines
"Verona’s approximation of where Romeo and Juliet’s balcony scene could have taken place, it’s essentially a graffiti-covered courtyard where visitors pose with a bronze Juliet statue, cupping her right breast for “good luck.” They also write her letters, dropping them in a red mailbox or smushing them to the wall with wads of chewed gum—it’s gross, really—yet something sincere slips through: people travel from all over the world to scribble down their romantic angst and send it into the void." - Kate Brennan
"A must-see, often crowded courtyard built around the balcony made famous by Shakespeare; visitors go inside to stand at the balcony, view a statue of the literary heroine, and see period ceramics and love-story–inspired artifacts, including the bed featured in Franco Zeffirelli’s 1968 film." - Laura Itzkowitz Laura Itzkowitz Laura Itzkowitz is a writer and editor based in Rome. She has been contributing to Travel + Leisure since 2014, when she started as a fact checker before becoming a contributing digital editor in 2015. She has also held positions as a contributing editor at The Points Guy and the NYC cities editor at DuJour Magazine. In addition to Travel + Leisure, her writing has appeared in Architectural Digest, Surface Magazine, Brooklyn Magazine, T Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, Vogue, GQ, Departures, Afar, Fodor's, Town & Country, Condé Nast Traveler, Robb Report, Hemispheres, and others. When she's not jetsetting around Italy and beyond, she can be found in Rome, enjoying some cacio e pepe or relaxing at home with her husband and two dogs. Originally from the Boston area, Laura moved to New York City in 2011 to pursue a master's degree in creative writing and translation at Columbia University. She also holds a bachelor's degree in French from Smith College. * 10+ years of experience writing and editing * Co-wrote "New York: Hidden Bars & Restaurants," an award-winning guide to New York City's speakeasy scene published by Jonglez Editions in 2015 * Contributed to "Fodor's Brooklyn," published by Penguin Random House in 2015, which won silver in the Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism competition * Contributed an essay to "Epic Hikes of Europe," published by Lonely Planet in 2021 * Updated the 2022 edition of "Fodor's Essential Italy" Travel + Leisure Editorial Guidelines
"An Italian restaurant running a fall 'Grapes to Glass' wine tasting series focused on Italy’s wine regions, featuring multiple tasting classes (16 wines total across the series) paired with snacks and small bites like fried ravioli and cheese/charcuterie; events are scheduled across different locations and dates, each running in the afternoon with options to buy full-series or single-event tickets." - Nadia Chaudhury
Decorated like an upper-class Italian family home from the seventeenth century, this medieval house in Verona with its so‑called ‘Juliet balcony’ has become one of the city’s most popular tourist attractions, drawing huge crowds of Romeo & Juliet fans despite having little real connection to the play. The building was once inhabited by a Cappelletti family, whose name inspired the Capulets, but the famous balcony itself was only added in the 1930s and the statue of Juliet arrived in the 1970s, so the site has no genuine claim to Shakespeare’s star‑crossed lovers – it’s more of a romantic themed stop than an authentic literary landmark. Overcrowding has gotten so bad that access over the Christmas period now costs €12 and visitor numbers inside have been reduced from 130 to 100 at a time, with anyone taking photos on the balcony limited to just 60 seconds, measures the city council defends as necessary for public safety even as local guides and business owners criticise the new fee and restrictions. - Annie McNamee
