Discover Padua in 1 day: itinerary and guide

Is it really possible to discover a city like Padua in just one day? With this question we want to get straight to the point: it is, but it is necessary to make some compromises, such as walking a lot! If you choose your itinerary carefully, it is in fact possible to visit the most interesting places in Padua and fully enjoy the splendid city and its atmosphere.

First of all, most of the places of interest in Padua that we will see on this itinerary are included in the Urbs Picta Cards of Padua , a card that allows you to get to know Giotto's Padua and not only by entering the museums and chapels with a price affiliated. By purchasing the single 48-hour ticket online, you can avoid wasting time at the ticket offices and optimize your day.

So let's set off to discover Padua and its most significant places with this one-day itinerary!

The Scrovegni Chapel

A tour of the city of Padua cannot fail to begin with a visit to this renowned chapel painted by Giotto in 1300. The cycle of frescoes that you will find inside has influenced world art for its innovative use of perspective, and today it is included in the UNESCO World Heritage Site : it belongs to the cycle of Padova Urbs Picta or "Painted Padua" which includes the entire series of frescoes that Giotto began in 1300 and which his followers painted inside both religious and civil buildings in the city , among which:

• The Palace of Reason,
• The Oratory of San Michele,
• The Basilica of the Saint,
• The Baptistery of the Cathedral.

The University of Padua

A visit to the University of Padua, with its eight hundred years of history , is practically unmissable. In these places, including the Palazzo del Bo , the Museum of Geography, the Palazzo Liviano and the Botanical Garden , the history of science was made, the history of teaching, discoveries and actions that make up the exceptional cultural heritage .

Here you can breathe in an area made of love for culture, for discovery and for the knowledge that permeates these rooms, as well as visit the beautiful botanical garden founded in 1545 and which today hosts 6500 different species and where the Biodiversity Garden is located , a single greenhouse that houses 4 different environments.

Pedrocchi coffee

If at this point the visits have made you want to stop for a coffee and refresh yourself, then do it at Caffè Pedrocchi : it is located in Piazza Garibaldi and can be reached from Corso del Popolo, and you will recognize it by the two lions of Caffè Pedrocchi which dates back to 1800 and is particularly renowned for its liveliness: in this place the student insurrection against the Austrians broke out in 1848.

The café is open 24 hours a day and is divided into the White Room, reserved for special events, the Red Room, which is the historic one, and the Green Room with free access, made so by Antonio Pedrocchi who wanted the cafe to be open and accessible to all.

The Palace of Reason

Among the places not to be missed in Padua there is undoubtedly this Palace located between Piazza delle Erbe and Piazza della Frutta, in the historic center of the city. Here you can admire 333 frescoes of an astrological nature , divided into 12 sections, by zodiac sign. Inside this splendid palace there are also Foucault's Pendulum, the Vitupero Stone and the Wooden Horse, an imposing sculpture.

Valley Meadow

An obligatory stop is the Prato della Valle square which is none other than the largest square in Europe after the Red Square in Moscow . It has an elliptical shape at the center of which is the Memmia island, an artificial island also elliptical in shape which is delimited by a canal on which 78 marble statues stand, one more beautiful than the previous one. This enormous grassless lawn is a particular and unmissable environment in Padua.

Seeing Padua in one day, is it possible?

A single day may be enough to take a tour of Padua, but booking an apartment online easily and safely , even for just a weekend, allows you to enjoy more time to visit the city and admire its beauties more calmly and perhaps also visit the Baptistery and the Cathedral of Padua, the Church of the Eremitani or the splendid Basilica del Santo, which at sunset warms up with the color of the sun and appears in all its majesty.