Travel from and to Padua with special offers from 8,9 €

Exploring Veneto is easier by train: Italo takes you to Padua, the capital of 14th-century painting, nestled a few kilometers from the nature of the Euganean Hills and the Venice Lagoon.

The natural location of Padua makes this city the ideal destination for those looking for a place rich in both natural and scenic beauty. Start to relax and, from the train station, reach on foot the social heart of Padua, the triangle of the three most famous city squares: Piazza delle Erbe, Piazza della Frutta, and Piazza dei Signori. The latter is so named because it was the site of the Palazzo della Signoria, the Royal Palace of the Lords of Padua in the 14th century, the Carraresi. Look up and admire the architectural marvel surrounding you: the elegant historic buildings around the square, the Church of San Clemente, the Palazzo del Capitanio, and the Clock Tower. On the corner of the road that reconnects Piazza della Signoria to the Duomo, you can admire and enter the Loggia del Consiglio (also called Gran Guardia), which in the 15th century was the palace where the city council met. Climb the long staircase, enter the patio with its seven arches, and access the upper hall, decorated with a series of frescoes depicting legendary episodes from the city's life. Piazza della Frutta and Piazza delle Erbe immediately recall their original purpose, which continues to this day: traditional markets that animate the city every morning where you can buy fresh fruit or a mid-morning snack.

The discovery of the city's art continues at the nearby Duomo and the Baptistery. If you love literature, you can pay homage to one of the cornerstones of Italian literature, Francesco Petrarca, who was a canon of the Duomo and has an honorary tomb monument here. The Baptistery, in particular, offers a unique 360-degree art experience: at the end of the 14th century, Giusto De' Menabuoi painted every inch of the interior walls up to the top of the dome with stories from Genesis and the Apocalypse.

Another symbolic square of Padua is the enormous elliptical square of Prato della Valle, which is not only the largest in the city but also one of the largest in Europe after Red Square in Moscow.

You will easily reach it with a pleasant walk through the historic center, the streets with typical shops, and especially the ancient arcades that characterize the old shopping streets of Padua. Prato della Valle has always had recreational and commercial functions, and you will not find it difficult to come across markets surrounding it. The peculiarity of this symbolic place of Padua is that it does not have the typical shape of a square but is more of a monumental walk among the 78 statues of historical figures, with its center being the Memmia Island, surrounded by a canal. Since you are in the area, do not miss another symbol of Padua, a pilgrimage destination from all over Italy and Europe, the Basilica of Sant'Antonio da Padova, called simply Il Santo by the Paduans. Here the relics of the Saint and his tomb are kept, and it is worth visiting to admire its magnificence and artistic and architectural richness.

The cherry on top of an artistic itinerary in Padua remains the Scrovegni Chapel, a 14th-century chapel dedicated to the Annunciation. Its exterior architecture is very simple, but what you will find inside will leave you breathless. Giotto decorated this chapel, making it famous worldwide with his cycle of paintings dedicated to stories from the Old and New Testaments: all of which is topped by an intense blue ceiling symbolizing the sky.

Now that you have had a feast of art, it is time to fill your stomach too! Start your Padua food and wine journey by treating yourself to a spritz, an aperitif invented right in Padua, to be enjoyed with some local cold cuts. Then delight yourself with bigoli, thick handmade spaghetti, or a dish based on white meat such as oca in onto padovana, finishing with a wide choice of Padua desserts like sbrisolona cake or pan del Santo. End your meal with a legendary coffee from Caffé Pedrocchi, also called "doorless" because it remained open day and night throughout the 19th century until 1916.

Don't wait any longer, buy your Italotreno ticket now and come to discover Padua!