Experience the summer of love in "fair Verona" with new film tour packages

(Relais Borgo Scopeto)

Tourists looking to experience the romantic scenery featured in the movie Letters to Juliet can now do so thanks to the launch of several film packages to Verona, Italy.

The US-based TourCrafters travel agency is offering three packages named “Forever Young,” “Italian Idyll” and “Rekindle Romance” for US-based visitors who want to get to know the stunning towns and countryside featured in the Hollywood summer romance hit Letters to Juliet.

The film follows the adventures of a young American woman (Amanda Seyfried) who discovers a “letter to Juliet,” one of thousands left every year at the fabled home of Shakespeare’s Juliet Capulet in the northern Italian town of Verona.

She decides to answer and becomes entwined in an adventure that leads her across Italy in search of the long lost love of the author (played by Vanessa Redgrave), finding her own Romeo in the process.

Now tourists can visit the sites for themselves, with TourCrafters packages that include both accommodation in Verona and a car with which to experience the stunning Tuscan countryside starting from $799 (€653).

In the UK, Citalia is offering its own three-night packages starting from £379 (€455), ranging from a bed and breakfast deal to a luxury hotel package.

Verona is expecting a tourism boom from the movie, which went on US release in May and hits European cinemas throughout June.

The 15 or so "Club di Giulietta" secretaries who spend their days answering the real-life letters to Juliet told AP that they expect a deluge following the release of the movie.

Visitors to the region are told to bring tape, paper and pens if they want to leave a message at Juliet’s house.

Tips for visiting Verona

1. The closest airport is Verona Airport (http://www.aeroportoverona.it/), although visitors may wish to consider Brescia Airport (http://www.aeroportobrescia.it/) or the larger airports around Milan (http://www.sea-aeroportimilano.it)

2. Letters to Juliet Packages are available from TourCrafters at www.tourcrafters.com, Citalia at www.citalia.com or travelers can book directly with the Borgo Scopeto estate where some of the film is set http://www.borgoscopetorelais.it

3. Visiting the Casa di Giulietta is a must - a guide to the traditions is available here http://www.gourmantic.com/2010/05/27/the-real-letters-to-juliet-casa-di-giulietta-in-verona/

4. Verona Tourism has more information on the surrounding region http://www.tourism.verona.it/