Day trip to Padua from Venice
 

In September 2011 I'm planning on visiting Venice and then cruising the Dalmatian Coast. I will have roughly 4 full days in Venice. I have been to Venice twice before though I still have a number of less-visited sights I would like to visit. However, I am considering a day trip to Padua to see the Srovegni Chapel, St. Anthony's Basilica, the Donatello equestrian statue, etc. I have heard Padua is only 30 minutes each way by train. Has anyone done this? Do you have any recommendations? How hard is it to get from the train station in Padua to the centro? Thanks for any feedback.

I have done the day trip to Padua and enjoyed it a lot - the town itself IMO is so so - but it has some outstanding churches - one is a shrine to accident victims i believe and all kinds of photos of folks killed in accidents are posted - very moving.

The train station is if i recall correctly about a half-mile from the town center - a short enough walk and there are buses as well - i took a day trip to Vicenza later and enjoyed that town near Venice even more - loads of Palladian architecture i believe - easy by train as well.

In September chestnuts should be roasting all over Padua from sidewalk stalls - that is what i remember the most! "Maroni, maroni' if i recall the Italian name for chestnut was being yelled everywhere it seemed.

I've done day trips from Venice to Padua a few times. The main sights are located on an almost straight route to the south from the train station. The Scrovegni Chapel is one the "edge" of the old center, which puts it quite close to the train station.

My estimation of times:
From the train station, it is 5-10 minutes to the Scrovegni Chapel and museum.
From the Scrovegni Chapel, it is 5-10 minutes to the Piazza de Erbe/Duomo area.
From the Piazza de Erbe/Duomo area, it is 10-15 minutes to the Basilica of St Anthony.

Basilica of Saint Anthony of Padua
www.basilicadelsanto.org

The Basilica of Saint Anthony has a really neat web site - with a virtual tour of one of Catholicdom's most venerated pilgrimage sites.