Padova (Padua)....Is it worth the visit?

[browneyes7]

We are thinking about taking the train from Venice to Padova (Padua). I think it is only about a 30 min. train ride. Has anyone visited Padova, and what were the highlights! I know it is a university town.

[browneyes7]

Has anyone been to Padova (Padua), Italy. It is only about 30 minutes from Venice. Any input will be appreciated. :)

[dogs4fun]

Has anyone been to Padova (Padua), Italy. It is only about 30 minutes from Venice. Any input will be appreciated. :)

I've been but it has been about 10 years since I visited and any info would be quite dated. The historic town center is south of the train station & there was a TI just next to the station (not sure if it is still there) & there are buses outside the station where you can catch a ride to the town center. There is the lovely Scrovegni Chapel (Cappella degli Scrovegni) with gorgeous frescoes by Giotto (book online) which we enjoyed visiting. We also visited the Basilica of St. Anthony of Padua (Il Santo) & there are many churches to visit with some wonderful works of art. I remember that we took a boat tour on the canals that circle the city - really can't recall much else that we did other than exploring the medieval fortified cities of Cittadella, Este, Monselice and Montagnana (which was our primary reason for visiting Padua). Padua is a lovely university town.

Sorry I can't be of more help. You might check-out TripAdvisor.

[roaming_kiwi58]

Hi browneyes7

 

We visited Padua (Padova) in 2014, as an excursion from a Uniworld cruise, which was based around the Venice lagoon.

 

To be honest it was not our favourite town on this trip. We did not find it as interesting as other places in the area, but that is of course just our opinion. We do a lot of walking and enjoy history and architecture.

 

In Padua We had a walking tour of the centre of the town, including a tour of the Saint Antonio Basilica. Then we had free time to wander. We had a total of about 3 hours in Padua. The weather was poor, very overcast, with some showers, which did not help!

 

I believe the highlight of Padua is actually the Scrovegni Chapel. This was, unfortunately, not included in our tour. You have to book ahead if you want to see it. A visit here may have changed our feeling about Padua. We did not have the time to try and fit it in to our free time.

 

I know you did not ask about any other places in this area, but while I am here.....Other places close to Venice we visited on this trip were Ferrara, Ravenna and Verona. All of these ranked higher in our enjoyment stakes than Padua, particularly Ferrara and Ravenna. Ferrara has a moated castle in the centre of the town, and further out the remains of the city walls. We enjoyed walking this town. Ravenna is famous for mosaics, and the Mausoleo di Galla Placidia and the adjacent basilica are indeed very impressive. Verona we had been to before. Here, there is of course a lot of hype over the supposed balcony where Juliet stood while Romeo declared his love. The fact that the balcony was a 20th century addition to the building and that Romeo & Juliet were probably just a figment of Shakespeare's imagination is irrelevant! Verona is a nice place to wander, but was less of a novelty to us. It has a very impressive Arena (the third largest in Italy) and other Roman remains.

 

Hope this helps a little!

[browneyes7]

Hi browneyes7

 

We visited Padua (Padova) in 2014, as an excursion from a Uniworld cruise, which was based around the Venice lagoon.

 

To be honest it was not our favourite town on this trip. We did not find it as interesting as other places in the area, but that is of course just our opinion. We do a lot of walking and enjoy history and architecture.

 

In Padua We had a walking tour of the centre of the town, including a tour of the Saint Antonio Basilica. Then we had free time to wander. We had a total of about 3 hours in Padua. The weather was poor, very overcast, with some showers, which did not help!

 

I believe the highlight of Padua is actually the Scrovegni Chapel. This was, unfortunately, not included in our tour. You have to book ahead if you want to see it. A visit here may have changed our feeling about Padua. We did not have the time to try and fit it in to our free time.

 

I know you did not ask about any other places in this area, but while I am here.....Other places close to Venice we visited on this trip were Ferrara, Ravenna and Verona. All of these ranked higher in our enjoyment stakes than Padua, particularly Ferrara and Ravenna. Ferrara has a moated castle in the centre of the town, and further out the remains of the city walls. We enjoyed walking this town. Ravenna is famous for mosaics, and the Mausoleo di Galla Placidia and the adjacent basilica are indeed very impressive. Verona we had been to before. Here, there is of course a lot of hype over the supposed balcony where Juliet stood while Romeo declared his love. The fact that the balcony was a 20th century addition to the building and that Romeo & Juliet were probably just a figment of Shakespeare's imagination is irrelevant! Verona is a nice place to wander, but was less of a novelty to us. It has a very impressive Arena (the third largest in Italy) and other Roman remains.

 

Hope this helps a little!

 

Thanks, roaming! We have been to Verona. Which was closer to Venice....Ferrara or Ravenna. I know where Ravenna is, but I'm not familiar with Ferrara. We will only be there for the day in Venice, so we won't have too much time to spend in another city. We've been to Venice many times, so we don't feel the need to do much there. Thanks for your help. :)

[roaming_kiwi58]

Ferrara is north of Ravenna, but further inland. So a bit closer to Venice. Looking at the trains I see it takes about 3 hours to get from Venice to Ravenna, but only about an hour (or a bit more depending on service) to get from Venice to Ferrara. Though the train station in Ferrara is not right in the centre. We went by bus and got dropped near the moated castle and the cathedral. But we walked a lot, right out to the old city walls. But the walls themselves were a bit disappointing - not as much left as we had hoped. Along the way though we saw lots of interesting architecture. We got a really good map from the tourist info. It had a number of suggested walking tours marked on it. Also in Ferrara is an amazing cemetery. Check out the Monumental Cemetery of Certosa.

 

Hope this helps!

[browneyes7]

I've been but it has been about 10 years since I visited and any info would be quite dated. The historic town center is south of the train station & there was a TI just next to the station (not sure if it is still there) & there are buses outside the station where you can catch a ride to the town center. There is the lovely Scrovegni Chapel (Cappella degli Scrovegni) with gorgeous frescoes by Giotto (book online) which we enjoyed visiting. We also visited the Basilica of St. Anthony of Padua (Il Santo) & there are many churches to visit with some wonderful works of art. I remember that we took a boat tour on the canals that circle the city - really can't recall much else that we did other than exploring the medieval fortified cities of Cittadella, Este, Monselice and Montagnana (which was our primary reason for visiting Padua). Padua is a lovely university town.

Sorry I can't be of more help. You might check-out TripAdvisor.

 

Thank you, dogs4fun! This is very helpful! :)

[browneyes7]

Ferrara is north of Ravenna, but further inland. So a bit closer to Venice. Looking at the trains I see it takes about 3 hours to get from Venice to Ravenna, but only about an hour (or a bit more depending on service) to get from Venice to Ferrara. Though the train station in Ferrara is not right in the centre. We went by bus and got dropped near the moated castle and the cathedral. But we walked a lot, right out to the old city walls. But the walls themselves were a bit disappointing - not as much left as we had hoped. Along the way though we saw lots of interesting architecture. We got a really good map from the tourist info. It had a number of suggested walking tours marked on it. Also in Ferrara is an amazing cemetery. Check out the Monumental Cemetery of Certosa.

 

Hope this helps!

 

Thank you, roaming_kiwi58. We might try to do Ferrara. That would probably be doable time-wise. :)

[Kinofdc]

Definitely worth a visit. Giotto, Giotto, Giotto!

[3ssn]

Has anyone been to Padova (Padua), Italy. It is only about 30 minutes from Venice. Any input will be appreciated. :)

 

 

Great city. Visit the Giotto chapel, the university and the town square. Only 30 mins from Venice. Verona however is even better but takes over one hour on the high speed train

[browneyes7]

Another option is Vicenza. Magnificent architecture. Very easy to explore. Close to Venice.

 

Thank you, DennStann!