Padua travel guide
Giotto's chapel, Saint Anthony and spritz in the piazzas
A lively university city 30 minutes by train from Venice, with Giotto's Scrovegni Chapel, the Basilica of Saint Anthony and the world's oldest botanical garden. Spring and autumn are the best seasons. Two days is enough, and it also works as a base for day trips to Venice. Costs are high, and many nationalities enter visa-free.
Forty kilometres west of Venice and half an hour away by train, Padua is a university city first and a tourist stop second, which is much of its appeal. It holds two UNESCO listings: the world's oldest botanical garden and a group of 14th-century fresco cycles led by Giotto's work in the Scrovegni Chapel. Galileo taught at the university, founded in 1222.
Entry to the Scrovegni Chapel is by timed slot, so book it first; the visit itself is short. Then follow the SIR1 tram line south: it links the station with the Eremitani, the Basilica di Sant'Antonio and Prato della Valle. The basilica holds the saint's tomb and draws pilgrims year-round, while Donatello's bronze horseman, the Gattamelata, stands outside. Next door, the frescoed Oratorio di San Giorgio is usually empty, so you can study the work of Giotto's followers in peace.
Evenings revolve around the spritz. Students and office workers pack Piazza delle Erbe and Piazza della Frutta from about seven, on either side of the Palazzo della Ragione. Caffè Pedrocchi, the grand 19th-century café near the university, is the classic coffee stop. On fine afternoons Prato della Valle, an enormous oval square with a statue-lined canal, fills with people lazing on the grass.
Explore Padua by theme
Find your kind of trip: 24 travel themes, each with the packages in Padua.
Padua at a glance
The essentials first-time visitors ask about, in one place.
Explore more of Italy
Pick a place by travel style: beaches, nature, cities, heritage, hills, islands.
Nothing in that category yet.
Top things to do in Padua
Giotto frescoes, a great pilgrimage basilica, a historic botanical garden and busy evening piazzas.
No things to do in Padua are listed yet. Browse all things to do
Best time to visit Padua
Month by month, so you can pick the weather and the crowds you want.
Mild weather for the piazzas and the Botanical Garden.
Hot and humid on the plain; spend the middle of the day indoors.
Damp and sometimes foggy, but quiet in the chapels and museums.
Scrovegni Chapel entry is by timed slot, so reserve as soon as your dates are fixed.
Packages in Demand
A Journey to Remember
Tours, activities and day trips in and around this destination, with the details you need before booking.
No packages in Padua are listed yet. Browse all packages
Create Your Custom-Made Trip to Padua
Traveling to Padua? Chat with a Local Travel Specialist in Padua Who Can Help Organize Your Trip.
START HEREOur Travel Experts are Recommended by
Plan your trip
Practical answers before you go. Pick a topic.
Getting there
Veneto rail hub, Marco Polo and Treviso coaches
Padua is a rail hub for the Veneto, which makes arriving simple. Venice is about 30 minutes away by train, Bologna around 1 hour 30 minutes and Milan about 2 hours 30 minutes, with Vicenza and Verona on the same line west and Castelfranco 45 minutes north. The city's own Gino Allegri airport takes only private planes.
- Train from Venice
- About 30 minutes
- Venice airport bus
- Direct and frequent, about 1 hour
- Treviso airport bus
- About 1 hour 10 minutes; few evening departures
- Train from Bologna
- About 1 hour 30 minutes
- Venice Marco Polo (VCE), about 50 km away, has direct, frequent buses to Padua in about an hour, or you can take a bus to Venezia Mestre and change to a train.
- Verona (VRN) is 88 km away, reached by bus and train.
- Flying into Treviso late? Evening buses to Padua are few, so check the last departure before you book.
Where to stay
Under the porticoes: the Ghetto, the Santo or the station side
Hotel rates here run well below Venice, which is why plenty of visitors sleep in Padua and commute to the lagoon. Inside the old centre, miles of arcaded pavements keep you dry on the walk home, and nothing is more than about 25 minutes on foot from anything else. Pick by what you plan to do most evenings.
- The piazzas and the Ghetto
- Rooms around Piazza delle Erbe and the narrow lanes of the old Jewish quarter; ideal for the spritz hour, but voices carry late on weekend nights
- The Santo and Prato della Valle
- Calmer streets by the basilica, with pilgrim guesthouses alongside regular hotels; a longer walk to the station
- Portello
- The old river port by the university faculties, with student bars along the canal; good value, a little scruffy
- Station area
- Best for daily trains to Venice and the SIR1 tram into town, though the streets north of the tracks have little appeal at night
- Much of the centre is a limited-traffic zone, so drivers should ask the hotel how to register their plate before arriving.
Getting around
Arcaded streets and the rubber-tyred SIR1
Padua is flat with a compact centre, so walking is the obvious choice. Busitalia Veneto's SIR1 tram calls at the railway station and passes Eremitani, the Santo and Prato della Valle on its way south to Guizza; a second line, SIR3, is under construction. Buses fill the gaps.
- SIR1 tram
- Station to Eremitani, Santo and Prato della Valle
- Padua Card
- Museums, most churches and public transport in one pass
- Some cobbled stretches are rough on thin bicycle tyres.
- For the Brenta Riviera, local shops hire out bikes and deliver them to hotels; regional trains run to the spa town of Abano Terme.
- Use tram stop Eremitani for the Scrovegni Chapel and Santo or Prato della Valle for the basilica.
Know before you go
What makes Padua worth the trip, and what catches visitors out.
Why travelers love it
- Giotto's blue vault in the Scrovegni Chapel, seen on a short timed visit.
- The empty Oratorio di San Giorgio, where you can sit with the frescoes as long as you like.
- An evening spritz in Piazza delle Erbe, surrounded by students.
Good to know
- Reserve the Scrovegni Chapel; entry is by timed slot and same-day places can run out.
- Cobbles are rough in parts of the centre, hard going on thin bike tyres or heels.
Trip fit
BookingMentor editorial ratings out of 5, based on a first-time visitor's experience.
Weather in Padua, month by month
On wet days the arcaded streets of central Padua keep you dry. See how rainfall and temperature change month by month.
Climate figures are approximate long-term averages for Padua (ARPA Veneto, via Wikipedia).
Giotto's blue vault, the Santo and Prato della Valle
Two days in Padua start with a booked slot at the Scrovegni Chapel for Giotto's frescoes. Day one continues to Caffè Pedrocchi, the Palazzo della Ragione and the evening spritz in the market squares. Day two covers the Basilica di Sant'Antonio, the Oratorio di San Giorgio, the Botanical Garden and Prato della Valle.
Day one, morning: take your booked slot at the Scrovegni Chapel, where Giotto's frescoes cover every wall beneath a deep blue vault, then step next door into the Eremitani church.
Afternoon: walk into the centre for a coffee at Caffè Pedrocchi, then cross to the Palazzo della Ragione, with the market squares of Piazza delle Erbe and Piazza della Frutta on either side. Evening: stay for the spritz hour, which starts around seven, and drift on to Piazza dei Signori.
Day two: ride the SIR1 tram or walk south to the Basilica di Sant'Antonio, with the saint's tomb and Donatello's altar figures inside and his Gattamelata in the square. Spend a quiet half hour in the Oratorio di San Giorgio, then visit the Botanical Garden a few minutes away. Rest on the grass of Prato della Valle in the late afternoon. With extra time, take a train to Abano Terme at the foot of the Euganean Hills, or go to Venice for the day.
Mint coffee at Pedrocchi and spritz in Piazza delle Erbe
Padua is a city of good-value student eating. Start at Caffè Pedrocchi with its mint-cream coffee, shop the market under the Palazzo della Ragione, and join the spritz hour in Piazza delle Erbe from about 7pm. For dinner, the Ghetto osterie serve bigoli with duck ragù and bollito misto.
Food in Padua is less about a single signature dish than about good-value eating in a student city. The day starts at the bar, and the classic address is Caffè Pedrocchi, a grand 19th-century café that was once open around the clock; order its house coffee, served with mint cream.
Around Piazza delle Erbe and Piazza della Frutta, the market stalls set up below the Palazzo della Ragione, and the arcades underneath hold butchers, cheese counters and delicatessens. In the evening the same squares turn into one long aperitivo: a spritz in hand, a few snacks, students and office workers mixed together from about 7pm.
For dinner, the osterie in the Ghetto lanes between the squares are the place for Veneto staples: bigoli, thick hand-pressed spaghetti often served with duck ragù, or a plate of bollito misto with green sauce in the colder months.
Travelers are asking
No questions yet about Padua. Ask the community or our travel team, and the answer will show here once it is published.
Our travel desk answers questions about Padua
How we research our Padua travel guide
Scrovegni Chapel booking rules, the SIR1 tram stops, rail times and airport buses are rechecked with the Comune di Padova and Italia.it. UNESCO's listings cover Giotto's frescoes and the Botanical Garden.
Last updated . Spotted something out of date? Tell us.
Checked against trusted sources:
Official website of PaduaItalia.itUNESCO World Heritage Centre
Before You Go...
Discover Trips & Info
A Travel Network Connection Travelers and locals
Incredible Event & Festival, Don't Miss!
Most Popular Event & Festival of Padua
Festivals and events in this destination, with dates, venues and ticket details where available.
No upcoming festivals or events in Padua are listed right now. Browse all events
Memorable Experiences
Where to Go (& NOT Go) In Padua!
Roaming the World one Adventure at a Time: Travel Tales, Tips, and Inspiration for wanderlusters.
Subscriber
Popular car hire destinations
Explore more options to hire a car for cheap
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Quick answers to the questions travelers ask most before visiting Padua.
Getting there
About 40 km. Trains between the two take around 30 minutes.
Eremitani, the stop next to the chapel and the Eremitani church. Stay on to Santo or Prato della Valle for the basilica.
Padua is a rail hub for the Veneto, which makes arriving simple. Venice is about 30 minutes away by train, Bologna around 1 hour 30 minutes and Milan about 2 hours 30 minutes, with Vicenza and Verona on the same line west and Castelfranco 45 minutes north. The city's own Gino Allegri airport takes only private planes.
General
Usually, yes: the direct coach takes about an hour and runs often. Taking a bus to Venezia Mestre and switching to a train makes sense mainly when a coach has just left.
Yes. Trains to Venice take about 30 minutes, and Padua has plenty to see in its own right.
The tomb and relics of St Anthony, with Donatello's statues and crucifix on the high altar. His equestrian Gattamelata stands in the square outside.
Piazza delle Erbe, Piazza della Frutta and Piazza dei Signori fill with drinkers from about 7pm.
Yes. Book the Scrovegni Chapel for the first morning and spend the second day around the basilica, the Oratorio di San Giorgio and the Botanical Garden, which sit within a few minutes of each other.
Founded in 1545, it is the world's oldest university botanical garden still on its original site and is UNESCO-listed. It lies a few minutes from the Basilica di Sant'Antonio.
Padua is flat with a compact centre, so walking is the obvious choice. Busitalia Veneto's SIR1 tram calls at the railway station and passes Eremitani, the Santo and Prato della Valle on its way south to Guizza; a second line, SIR3, is under construction. Buses fill the gaps.
Booking
Yes. Visits run in timed slots, so reserve ahead rather than turning up.
Prices & payment
It works best with a daytime arrival. Direct buses take about 1 hour 10 minutes, and evening departures are limited, so check the last one before booking.
Timing & weather
The best time to visit Padua is Apr to Jun, Sep to Oct. Mild for walking and outdoor spritz, avoiding the humid summer on the Venetian plain.
- Best overall: April - June, September - October (Mild weather for the piazzas and the Botanical Garden)
- Summer: July - August (Hot and humid on the plain; spend the middle of the day indoors)
- Winter: November - March (Damp and sometimes foggy, but quiet in the chapels and museums)
Visa & documents
Schengen rules apply in Italy. Citizens of the EU and of many other countries, including the US, UK, Canada and Australia, can visit visa-free for up to 90 days in any 180-day period; other nationalities need a Schengen visa. The EU's Entry/Exit System (EES) records non-EU travelers' fingerprints and a photo at the border.
Health & safety
Violent crime against visitors to Italy is rare. Pickpocketing is the main problem, especially on buses and metros in Rome (bus 64 is notorious), at Roman and Florentine sights, and at Termini and Naples Centrale stations. Wear your bag across your body and zip it, and use only licensed white taxis or official ride apps.
