Valpolicella Budget Breakdown: 3 Ways to Sip Italy’s Finest Wine
If you’re planning your trip to the heartland of Amarone, you might be wondering how much it’s going to cost you. To answer that, I’ll use the most commonly used phrase in my software engineering day job: “it depends”.
Your Valpolicella budget is naturally going to vary, depending on how many wineries you want to visit, and whether you want to sip the finest riservas or if cheap and cheerful is more your style. In my Valpolicella walking route post, I’ve laid out a day that covers four of the most well-respected wineries in the region. In this post, I’m going to give you a few different budget ideas, so you can decide what works best for your day, and your wallet.
The Valpolicella Budget: 4 Styles, 4 Price Ranges
The Guided Tour
Even though I’m a big fan of a DIY winery day, I’d be remiss if I didn’t at least mention the guided tours from Verona to Valpolicella. These tours are the most stress free options, usually picking you up from your hotel or a meeting point in the city, and taking you out for a day amongst the vines.
- Half Day Tour with Pagus
- This tour takes you to the town of San Giorgio di Valpolicella and a local vineyard. The wine tasting is accompanied by a platter of local meats and cheeses.
- Cost: €90 per person
- Half Day Tour with Ways
- I’ve actually done this tour myself, and had a great time on it. It’s a small group tour that takes you to two wineries in Valpolicella, where you’ll meet the makers and learn about the wines.
- Cost: €125 per person
- Half Day “Grand Tour” with Your Local Guide
- This tour, like the others, leaves and drops you back to central Verona. Here, you’ll visit two wineries, and have lunch in one of them.
- Cost: €235 per person
The Benefits of Doing a Tour:
- A guide who’s familiar with the area and the wineries, on hand to answer questions and give you fun information.
- No planning for you! You can just sit back and enjoy the wines.
- A group atmosphere, which can be great for meeting new people if you’re with the right group.
- Air-conditioned transport from Verona, with someone else doing the navigating
The Drawbacks of Doing a Tour:
- You’re on someone else’s schedule, and you don’t have control over the wineries you visit. If you had your heart set on one estate in particular, there’s no guarantee that’s where you’re going.
- When lunch is included, it tends to be a light lunch. Which is often lovely, but if you know you’ll be hungry after all that wine, you’d better bring a snack.
- No guarantee the group will be cool. You might end up with a woman from Birmingham liberally sharing her IBS woes with you. Ask me how I know.
Who is this best for?
If you’re unfamiliar with the region, the thought of planning gives you a headache, or you feel nervous navigating Italian buses, then a tour is the most stress-free option. Yes, you relinquish some control over your day, but you also have someone else taking care of all the logistics for you. You’re on holiday to relax and enjoy yourself. If planning a self-guided winery day feels like a pain, skip it and spend your Valpolicella budget on a tour.
The DIY Itinerary
Before we jump into the different Valpolicella budget options, let’s talk about your itinerary. For each of the options, you’re going to need to do a little bit of pre-planning.
I’ve laid out the itinerary in another post, and I’ve got a condensed version in PDF form, which you can get for free below – it’s got a map of the area, a cheat sheet for the wines you’ll taste, and an example itinerary to make planning your day easier.
The Budget Traveller
This is always my favourite section to write on any budget post. As much as I have an unfortunate, and expensive, love for Amarone, I love trying to find ways to make travel and experiences accessible for different budgets.
The Valpolicella budget traveller option is for anyone who wants to see the rolling hills and visit the most famous wineries in the area, all without their bank accounts staging an intervention. The key here is to forego the cellar tours and head straight for the tasting rooms or “enotecas” in the neighbourhood.
You still get the atmosphere, the expert knowledge in the shops, and the exact same Amarone, but you’re only paying for what’s in your glass, rather than the full tour of the wineries.
The Valpolicella Budget Breakdown
| Item | What you get | Cost |
| Return bus fare | Transport to and from Valpolicella from Verona | €5.20 |
| A Taste of History and Passion at Speri | A 30 minute tasting of five wines and introduction to the Speri winery | €15 |
| Farina boutique stop | A glass of wine at the counter | €6 (estimate) |
| Tommasi enoteca | A glass of wine in the shop | €6 (estimate) |
| Pizza lunch | A quick, local bite in Pedemonte | €15 |
| Total: | €47.20 |
Many of the wineries in the area prioritise tours of their vineyards and cellars over advertising tasting flights or experiences online. Speri is the only one that has an advertised option for a “wine-only” visit. You can chance your arm and show up to the cantina or wine boutique attached to each winery, but during busy periods, they may operate an “appointment only” policy and you might find yourself in front of a locked gate!
If this happens, there are wine bars in the area that you can pop into. You won’t get the experience of being in the winery, but you’ll be mere metres down the road from where it all came from. Here’s a couple of options nearby:
- Enoteca SantaMaria
- Via S. Maria, 44, 37024 Arbizzano-Santa Maria VR, Italy
- Da Irene Enoteca
- Via della Pieve, 57, 37029 San Pietro in Cariano VR, Italy
- Only opens at 5 pm and it’s a bit of a trek from Pedemonte (a 30-minute walk or a 4-minute ride on the 103 bus). This is your best bet for a “one for the road” drink before heading back to Verona.
The Mid-Range Option: The Sweet Spot
If you have a bit more wiggle room in your budget and want to get the full winery experience while still keeping it cheaper than the planned tours, this is the version I recommend. This is for the travellers who want the damp cellars, the giant barrels, and the deep dives into what makes Amarone so special.
In this version, you’ll be on a couple of formal tours and guaranteed tastings – you won’t be chancing your arm at the enotecas being open.
The Valpolicella Budget Breakdown
| Item | What you get | Cost |
| Return bus fare | Transport to and from Valpolicella from Verona | €5.20 |
| A Taste of History and Passion at Speri | A 30 minute tasting of five wines and introduction to the Speri winery | €15 |
| Farina Boutique tour at Farina | If you do one tour today, let this be the one. 1 hour and 30 minutes tour, followed by a tasting of five wines. | €35 |
| Meet and Greet at Tommasi | A 45 minute visit that includes a tour of the wine cellar and 3 wines for tasting | €25 |
| Pizza lunch | A quick, local bite in Pedemonte | €15 |
| Total: | €95.20 |
If we compare to the cheapest tour option above, Pagus offers a tour for €90 that includes one winery and transport to and from Verona. If you go the DIY route, you’re spending an extra €5.20 (exactly the price of your bus fare), but you’re now getting three wineries, a tour of Farina, a visit to Tommasi’s cellar, lunch, and a total of 13 wines to taste.
The Luxe Option: The Connoisseur’s Day
If budget isn’t a concern and you’re here for a once in a lifetime experience, there are plenty of ways for you to spend your Valpolicella budget. This is for the true wine enthusiast who wants to taste the library vintages, the bottles that don’t make it onto the standard tours.
In this tier, you’re not just tasting wine, you’ll do “vertical tastings”. This means you taste the same label across different years to see how the Amarone evolves over time. It’s the ultimate education for your palate, and an incredibly special day out.
| Item | What you get | Cost |
| Private driver with GetTransfer | A pre-booked ride in a premium vehicle from central Verona to Pedemonte, and a return journey in the afternoon | From €125 |
| Amarone: Timeless Emotions at Speri | A two hour experience at the Speri family winery. You’ll learn more about the winery and its production and taste four different vintages of the company’s Amarone Classico Sant’Urbano, starting from the current vintage and working your way back. | €95 |
| Private Tour at Farina | A private, two hour tour with a tasting of five wines (including 3 Amarones), plus a charcuterie board. Minimum 2 peope, maximum 12. | €70 |
| Lunch at Quinto Quarto | A long, lazy lunch to refuel between wineries. | €50 |
| Vertical Tasting of Amarone at Tommasi | A vertical tasting that covers 5 of Tommasi’s fine Amarones. Paired with chocolate, and includes a guided tour to the cellar. 2 hours. | €120 |
| Total | €460 |
For this option, your day is naturally going to be a lot longer than the mid-range and budget options because you’re building in full tours and elevated tastings. If you are booking a private driver to drop you off and collect you, you’ll need to work out the timings of your day and book those tours in advance.
Alternatively, if you’d rather a private tour where everything is planned for you, this option is €360 per person – you won’t be able to control which wineries you visit, but you will have all the logistics taken care of as well as transport in between the wineries, and lunch in a local osteria.
Final Thoughts
Which Valpolicella Day is Right For You?
Aside from calculating the Valpolicella budget, choosing between these options usually comes down to how much you want to get behind the scenes versus just tasting the wines and the experience of being out in the valley. If you’re undecided, here’s a quick breakdown:
- The Budget Traveller (€47.50): You’re here for the scenery and the wine. You’re happy to keep it more relaxed, trying to pop into a winery’s enoteca for a glass, but happy with a backup bar around the area if it doesn’t work out. You’d rather spend your money on a second bottle to take home or for other parts of your Veneto trip than getting a full winery tour and learning the history.
- The Mid-Range Sweet Spot (€95): You want the best of both worlds. You’re happy to DIY, but you still want to experience the wineries and their histories, learning about the skill and time that goes into creating the perfect glass of Amarone.
- The Luxe Connoisseur (€460): You’re celebrating something special or you’re a serious oenophile. You want the library vintages, the private rooms, and the luxury of not having to check a bus timetable after 12 glasses of wine.
Tips for Your Day
- Booking tours and tastings
- Regardless of which category you fall into, book your tastings and tours early, especially if you’re travelling on a weekend during peak summer season.
- Planning your day
- If you’re doing a DIY day, plan your itinerary ahead of time. Check the bus times the day before, and aim to be at the stop 5 minutes early.
- Buy your bus tickets before you get to the stop, either through the ATV App or a tabbachi, and don’t forget to get your return ticket too. If you’re going digital, have an e-sim so you can check timetables and validate tickets.
- Eat well
- Have a good solid breakfast before you set off, and make sure you factor in lunch or snacks throughout the day. The wines of Valpolicella, especially Amarone, can be heavy (13-15% alcohol), so making sure your stomach is lined will mean you’ve got a better likelihood of making it onto the bus home!
- Bring water
- Even though the wineries will give you water with your tastings, it’s not a bad idea to keep a bottle of water on hand for the walks in between. I use this Chilly’s one because it keeps my water cold all day.
- Make room in your suitcase
- Even the best vintages are still almost always cheaper to buy in the actual wineries. The wineries can sort out international shipping, but between shipping and tariffs, it can start adding up very quickly. If you’re only planning on bringing 2-3 bottles back, it’s almost better to just bring it home yourself.
- When I travel, I usually take a carry on hard-shell case, and then check it on the way back. I roll a bottle of wine up in a dress or sweater, and then put these in packing cubes to keep them from rolling around my case. If you know you’re going to be buying particularly special wines or want extra protection, get some insulated wine bottle protectors – you don’t want to get home and find all of your clothes suddenly smell like a cellar back in Valpolicella.
- Sun protection
- If you’re travelling during the summer months, wear sunscreen and bring a hat. You’ll be out in the vineyards on some tours, and the sun can be intense. Hot sun and strong wines are not a good combo.
The Parting Glass
Whichever option you go with, you’re going to have an amazing day out in Valpolicella. The wines are something special, and each winery is unique with its own family history, story and production techniques.
If you’re spending more time in Veneto, you may like my One Day in Verona posts, or How to Get to Lake Garda without a Car.
And if you need some help planning your Valpolicella day, I’ve got an itinerary post here, or you can sign up below for a free, downloadable PDF guide and itinerary to keep in your pocket on your day.
