Often seen as a grittier sister of Venice, Padua has plenty of art and history in its own right.
What’s Padua all about?
In one spot, Padua is gritty. All galumphing Mussolini-era facades and grey stone. Then turn the corner, and it’s gorgeous. Elegant towers by the bubbling river, or giant red brick palazzi.
Padua stubbornly refuses to fit easy categorisation. That which makes it lively and youthful now – the university that sees the squares fill at night with boisterous, chattering students – also makes it historic. Founded in 1222, and with former professors including Galileo Galilei, it has a near-unrivalled pedigree. It also has a justifiable claim to being the birthplace of modern medicine.
But Padua scores highly on innovation in the arts as well as the sciences. Giotto was working wonders here before Raphael and Michelangelo were born. It’s a city that regularly both surprises and impresses – just don’t try to pin it down to one easily-pigeonholed character.
A walk through Padua’s highlights
Kick off at the star attraction, the Cappella degli Scrovegni, which is one of the world’s great artistic masterpieces. It’s not about one particular Giotto fresco in there – it’s that the whole building is covered in them, becoming a giant, singular whole. The scale and the foresight – Giotto was pioneering techniques in the early 14th century that would become standard a century later as the Renaissance arrived – are staggering.
The entrance ticket for the Capella degli Scrovegni includes entrance to the main civic museums next to it. These are OK – expect sprawling collections of occasionally important art and archaeology – but dragged down by poor explanation. If pushed for time, go elsewhere rather than trying to get your money’s worth by traipsing through them.
From the Cappella degli Scrovegni, amble through the city centre’s squares – the Piazza dei Signori and Piazza delle Erbe are both full of life and framed by impressive palazzi. But end up at the most impressive palace of them all, the Palazzo del Bo. This is the university’s main building, and the tours there take visitors into lavish halls dating back to the 16th century.
The icing on the cake, though, is the wooden, funnel-like and deeply claustrophobic Anatomical Theatre. Designed so students could watch human bodies being cut up, it was the first of its kind anywhere in the world back in 1594.
Padua’s historic garden
The Orto Botanico can proudly boast of being the world’s first botanic garden. Set up by the university in 1495, the main section is still laid out into segments of medicinal herbs as it was then. But a 21st century addition, a giant state of the art greenhouse, is unexpectedly riveting. Displays within tell of how humans have learned to cultivate crops, breeding in mutations to make them bigger, over the centuries. And it also traces how key plant-based commodities such as coffee, bananas, paper and medicinal drugs have spread from their place of origin.
Padua tours and experiences
Top Padua experiences include wine-tasting sessions, small group street food tours and pizza-cooking classes.
Padua restaurant tips
The Ai Porteghi is a gorgeous little spot slightly detached from the main hubbub. With walls and ceiling covered in dark wood, and dishes prepared in front of the diners, there’s a bit of homely flair.
Belle Parti is the dress-to-impress joint, with gleaming glasses, white tablecloths and dickie-bowed waiters under a centuries-old wooden ceiling. The menu is fish-heavy, with decadent seafood platters the highlight
Shopping in Padua
Mostly pedestrianised Via San Fermi plays home to the big international Italian designer labels, plus plenty of lesser known but high quality fashion brands such as Lui-Jo, Makola and Luisa Spagnoli.
For more of a mixture, try Via Umberto I, where the men’s shirts of Brando rub shoulders with tempting jewellery at L’Arte del Regalo and antiques shops.
Padua hotel recommendations
The Majestic Toscanelli is bang central, and has a sense of mid-tier grandeur to it. Polished wood floors, mosaic-tiled bathrooms, expensive-looking rugs and big yellow drape curtains are amongst the flourishes.
The Methis has a lovely riverside location, and opts for design flair over heritage trappings. Each floor has a different theme, whether earth, water or sky – and that shows through in the colour schemes. This can mean bold blue bathrooms that look like fish tanks or junior suites with everything in a Starck-esque bright white.
The Albergo Verdi offers simply furnished, but bright rooms, with nice touches such as free sweeties on the work desk and a communal living room area.
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