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Veneto · Padova

Padova

The university town that gave Giotto a chapel and the world a science of plants, with two UNESCO inscriptions inside one set of walls.

Best time
Apr–Jun, Sep–Oct
By car
3 min from Padua
By train
Station in the comune
Population
206,496

Known for

  • GIOTTO'S SCROVEGNI

    The fresco cycle that started the Renaissance. UNESCO 2021. Timed-entry, books out weeks ahead.

  • WORLD'S FIRST BOTANICAL GARDEN

    Founded 1545, UNESCO 1997. Still on its original walled circular plan.

  • 1222 UNIVERSITY

    Galileo taught here. Vesalius dissected here. The world's first woman PhD graduated here in 1678. Palazzo Bo and its Teatro Anatomico still operate.

  • BASILICA OF ST ANTHONY

    Third-largest pilgrimage church in Catholicism. Donatello's Gattamelata stands outside, the first equestrian bronze since antiquity.

When to visit

Best · Apr–Jun, Sep–Oct

  • J8°
  • F12°
  • M15°
  • A18°
  • M22°
  • J28°
  • J30°
  • A31°
  • S26°
  • O20°
  • N13°
  • D9°
  • Best
  • Hot or crowded
  • Quiet
  • Mostly closed

Daytime averages, 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.

The festa: Antonio di Padova, 13 June

Why come

The Università degli Studi di Padova was founded in 1222 by scholars who had left Bologna in search of academic freedom, and for half a millennium it supplied the Veneto with its doctors and lawyers. Galileo lectured on physics here between 1592 and 1610. Copernicus studied here.

Elena Cornaro Piscopia became, in 1678, the first woman anywhere to receive a university doctorate. The teaching happened in the same rooms tourists now walk through, which is part of what makes the university feel less like a monument and more like a machine that has never stopped running. The city's older story predates the university by centuries in spirit if not in stone: in 1303 Enrico Scrovegni commissioned a fresco cycle for his family chapel, an act of atonement for his father's usury, and the result changed what painting could do.

Separately, and for entirely different reasons, the city's botanical garden preserves a walled circular plan laid down in the sixteenth century, the layout that made it the template for every university garden that followed. Away from these two, the Basilica di Sant'Antonio draws pilgrims to a reliquary and a bronze outside its doors, the Palazzo della Ragione holds an astrological fresco hall and a two-hundred-year-old wooden horse, and a historic caffè has served coffee since 1831 in a neoclassical room that once served as Risorgimento headquarters. The kitchen runs to bigoli with duck ragù, baccalà mantecato, risi e bisi in spring, and white asparagus from the Piazza delle Erbe market in May. What holds the city together is the university's habit of making its past into working infrastructure: a lecture hall still gives lectures, a dissection theatre still stands where it was built, a garden still grows on its original beds.

The Sunday letter

Padova is on our list. Its letter is still to come.

We are writing about all 1,000 of these towns, one at a time, in a free letter every Sunday: the photo, the food, the festa. That is our mission. Sign up and you will be there when Padova comes up. By Peter & Sophia, from Pietrasanta.

Read on

Padova in our articles

How to get there

From Venice (TSF), about 48 minutes by car.

Bologna (BLQ) is about 1h 19m away.

By car from the centre of Padua 3 minutes or Verona 1 hour.

Driving in is restricted: there is a limited traffic zone here (ZTL Zona A e B). Check the signs and the times before you drive into the centre.

There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive without a car.

Coming from Venice, Verona or Bologna?

Coming by train into Padova? Padova is about 6 minutes away by road.

Every town within reach of Venice airport.

Padova, photo 1
Padova, photo 2

What to see

  • Cappella degli Scrovegni (Giotto, 1303–1305)

    38 scenes from the life of Christ and Mary, painted directly onto the plaster of a single chapel. The air-handling required to keep the pigment stable is why entry is capped at 15 minutes and 25 people at a time.

  • Orto Botanico (1545, UNESCO)

    A walled circular garden, laid out on its founding plan and unchanged in shape since. Goethe stood among its beds. A modern biodiversity greenhouse has been added alongside the historic plot.

  • Prato della Valle

    An elliptical canal ringed by 78 statues of Padovan worthies, enclosing a central island and facing the Basilica of Santa Giustina. At 88,000 square metres it is the largest piazza in Italy.

  • Basilica di Sant'Antonio

    The Saint's tongue and chin are kept in the reliquary inside. Outside stands Donatello's Gattamelata, cast in 1453, the first equestrian bronze made since antiquity.

  • Caffè Pedrocchi + Palazzo Bo

    The 1831 'caffè without doors', open around the clock until the war years and still serving. Across the street, Palazzo Bo holds Galileo's old lecture hall and the 1594 Teatro Anatomico, the oldest surviving anatomy theatre.

The slow-trip planner

Building a trip? Find where Padova fits in a slow Italy circuit.

Answer five questions. We will shape a geographically coherent slow trip from the 1,000 Italian towns most travelers skip. Yours to save and share.

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We recommend

Where to eat

Not our picks, but places the guides put their name to: a Michelin star, a Gambero Rosso fork, a Slow Food snail, a Michelin Key for the hotels. Worth a table, a counter, or a night when you pass through.

  • Ai Porteghi BistrotBistrot

    Two Gambero Rosso tables for Ai Porteghi Bistrot, and a spot in the Michelin Guide.

  • Enotavola PinoBistrot

    Enotavola Pino holds a Gambero Rosso listing and a spot in the Michelin Guide.

  • ExforoRistorante

    Exforo holds one Gambero Rosso fork (77/100) and a spot in the Michelin Guide.

  • Tola RasaRistorante

    Tola Rasa holds a Gambero Rosso listing and a spot in the Michelin Guide.

  • A Banda del BusoTrattoria

    A Banda del Buso has two Gambero Rosso prawns to its name.

  • Belle PartiRistorante

    A spot in the Michelin Guide, at Belle Parti.

  • Caffè PedrocchiCaffè

    Caffè Pedrocchi has a place on Italy's historic-locali register to its name.

  • Da Nane della GiuliaTrattoria

    Two Gambero Rosso prawns, at Da Nane della Giulia.

  • Osteria TestamattaRistorante

    Osteria Testamatta holds one Gambero Rosso fork (77/100).

  • Stefano Mocellin al PadovaninoRistorante

    Stefano Mocellin al Padovanino holds a spot in the Michelin Guide.

  • Trattoria da CrakTrattoria

    Trattoria da Crak carries a Gambero Rosso listing.

  • UvaBistrot

    Two Gambero Rosso tables, at Uva.

Living here

  • Population 206,496
  • A local hubi
  • Pharmacy in town
  • High school within a 30-minute drive
  • Train station in the comune
  • Nearest airport Venice, 48 min drive
  • Regional capital Venezia, 34 min drive

Common questions

What is Padova known for?
Padova is the university town that gave Giotto a chapel and the world a science of plants, with two UNESCO inscriptions inside one set of walls.
Where is Padova?
Padova is a comune in the province of Padova, in Veneto, at 12 meters above sea level.
What is the nearest airport to Padova?
Venice (TSF), about 48 minutes by car.
Can you get to Padova without a car?
Yes. There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive by train.
How long is the drive from Padua to Padova?
About 3 minutes by car.
When is the best time to visit Padova?
Best in Apr–Jun, Sep–Oct. August is the warmest month, averaging 31 degrees, and May the wettest, with about 15 rain days.
Is there a sagra or a festival in Padova?
The town keeps its patron saint's day: Antonio di Padova, 13 June.
Which other towns are like Padova?
Vicenza, Treviso and Bassano del Grappa.
How many people live in Padova?
206,496 at the 2023 count.
Tags & datadesignations · numbers · sources

Recognised as

The numbers

  • Elevation: 12 m
  • Population: 206,496
  • Surface area: 93.03 km²

These figures were compiled from public directories: ISTAT, OpenStreetMap and Wikidata, and from the official listings of the guides named on this page. Town details change; verify with official sources before you travel.

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🏛️ UNESCO

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