europeannovice

Hello again,

A few threads say that Padua makes an excellent day trip from Venice or from Verona. Others say it is better to spend the night. Some people report that the area around the train station is rather seedy. If you use Padua as a base how safe is it coming off the train in the evenings walking back into the historic center? Are there taxi stands outside the station? A tram stop nearby?

Same question for Verona--are there taxi stands at the station?

Is it wise to split the time between Padua and Verona? Or just base in one and do a daytrip to the other?

MmePerdu

I visited both Verona & Padua as day trips from Venice, so easy to do. While they're both interesting cities & definitely worth the time & effort to visit, for me nothing compares with waking up & going to sleep in Venice.

Dukey1

Yes, there is a place to get a taxi directly outside of the Verona Porto Nuova train station and we've done it many times. You can also walk into more or less the center of the city in about 15 minutes. Look, there are a lot of people who will say somewhere is "seedy" and you need to figure out that the term "seedy" is vague. An example: a couple of years ago somebody claimed that the area around the Munich train station was "seedy." Why? because there was an "adult" bookstore about a block away.

Reading54

If you have found a lodging in Venice or Verona that you like (I myself like modern and bright rooms), I'd say stay put, and make Padua a day-trip without schlepping luggage or check-in/check-out hotels.

From Padua train station you can get a taxi to the historical center. And yes, I did find the area in front of the station seedy.

TDudette

DH and I visited Padua from Venice and I second that it's a fine day trip. BUT that rather depends on your interests. The Scrovengni Chapel required a reservation when we were there, and the Cathedral was closed during siesta times. If you are interested in the university and a tour of its medical facilities (we were not), someone else can give you a time frame needed for that. The market on Piazza delle Erbe is historic, and I believe open in the mornings except for Sunday--again, check online or someone can give you info about times and what items are sold on what days. Lunch or a drink at 18th century Caffè Pedrocchi would be perfect! We felt no fear at the train station.

The train ride was about 1/2 hour from Venice. If you leave early, you can enjoy a nice day and be back in La Serenissima. An overnight in Padua would give you a more leisurely view. My memory of the Verona station was that it was busier but I don't remember a bad vibe at either. You might consider after ending your Venice trip, training to Padua for an overnight, then training on to Verona. Again, check schedules and reservations. And please, report back--lots of folks will be interested in how it goes.

Trophywife007

Padua was an easy day trip from Verona. As I recall there was a tram you could take from the train station to the Scrovengni Chapel and then to the Basilica. You can buy tickets at the train station for it and pick it up across the street -- they'll give you directions.

rialtogrl

It depends on how much time you have. If you are focusing on the Veneto and have a couple of weeks, two nights would be fantastic. Padova is a university town, there is always something going on.

you can arrive in the afternoon, enjoy the vibrant evening vibe, spend the following day seeing the market, Scrovegni Chapel, and St Anthony’s. Or go to Scrovegni the first day if you have more interests. There are trams and taxis from the train station to the center. I don’t really consider the area around the train station seedy, but it’s not exactly exciting.

michael_cain_77398

I spent three nights in Padua, five in Venice, and two in Verona. That was a good balance. As others noted, though, it depends on how much time you have & what season you're going.

I think Venice itself requires at least five nights, in the city. And less and I wouldn't recommend a day trip.

In Padua, the Museum of the History of Medicine was excellent. That alone would merit a trip. If you don't have luggage you can take the Brenta Riviera boat cruise back to Venice. One day for the Museum and the Scrovegni Chapel, overnight, and one day returning to Venice by river would, for me, make a great combination.

Padua has better night life, if you're looking for that. For those interested, it also has the only real gay nightlife in the Veneto region.

We saw an opera in Verona, which was amazing. Otherwise, I enjoyed the city well enough ... but I enjoy almost any city in Italy. It wouldn't be a priority for me - unless it's opera season.

Dukey1

The opera festival in Verona begins mid-June and runs through early (first week) in September. It was cancelled last year and we are waiting to see if it will be cancelled again this year.

kleeblatt

I liked Verona better than Padua and was glad I didn't make it my base.

maitaitom

Below is our 2018 Padua day trip report (link). Cappella degli Scrovegni (short walk from the train station) was astounding (get tickets online in advance).

https://travelswithmaitaitom.com/cha...lating-padova/

europeannovice

Thanks everyone for your opinions and thoughts. I appreciate it.

Kleeblat--Can you describe why you liked Verona better than Padua? I know everything is very subjective and would like to know what you didn't care for about Padua and what attracted you more to Verona.

Maitaitom--Thanks for the link to the Padua portion of your trip report and photos! Seems like you enjoyed your day trip to Padua. Sorry Tracy wasn't feel well that day. Do you wish you had stayed overnight to afford a longer visit? There appears so much to see in Padua. The university has museums and as Michael pointed out there is the museum of the history of medicine which seems very interesting. Which city do you prefer Bologna or Padua? Both are university towns. Both have covered porticoes although Bologna's seems more ornate from pictures. Curious as to your opinion on these two places.

Michael can you elaborate more on your opinions between Verona and Padua?

These are all very helpful so again I thank everyone for sharing their thoughts.

kleeblatt

We had made Verona our five-day base and wanted to explore the town. There are many parts that are pedestrian zones and the architecture as well as visiting and eating at a local vinyard made our stay delightful. We took day trips to Padua and Venice as well.

As for our Padua day trip, we didn't see the Scrovengni chapel in Padua so I certainly would book that ahead of time. Otherwise, although we enjoyed the lovely town, I felt a day trip was enough. Others will may say the same about Verona.

If I had never been to Venice before, I certainly would make that my number one priority. However, we had all been, but few of us knew Verona so it was a good decision for our trip. Both Padua and Verona's towns are not located next to the train station but there are plenty of buses to provide the link.

Everyone is a different travelller and has different tastes. I personally enjoy staying at least two nights in one town and doing day trips to see other sites. The hassle of changing hotels daily is stressful for me. Of course, I live in central Europe so that also affects my preferred method of travel in Europe.

maitaitom

"Which city do you prefer Bologna or Padua?"

We enjoyed Padua, and a day trip there sufficed for us. Bologna was a great base, and we loved the city, plus our day trip to Ravenna and its marvelous mosaics was spectacular. We'd really like to come back to Bologna and take a cooking class or two.

TDudette

Gorgeous shot, maitaitom. We have based in Verona and Bologna. Each has its own flavor. Just as Padua has! I'd give Verona my vote over Bologna because of the area around its coliseum, two other great piazzas, and an older Roman complex for starters. Europeannovice, if you click on maitaitom's name, look at his trip reports for great info and fun!

michael_cain_77398

It's actually hard to quantify. Both were short visits, and part of a trip where I spent a week each in Napoli and Venice. I was very much in a chill-mode rather than a see-all-the-sites mode. In Padua I was alone, and happy to explore a bit & mostly relax in the square with a spritzer & watch the world go by. In Verona I was with friends, and there for the opera. I didn't visit any of the tourist sites in Verona during the day.

With that: Verona seemed more high end. There were far more visitors. Prices were higher. Padua was younger. It had a lot of visitors, but I think they were mostly other Italians. Our big night out in Verona was to get dressed up, have dinner at a Michelin-starred restaurant (which was surprisingly affordable), and watch a fabulous performance of Nabucco in the Roman theater. My big night out in Padua was to visit the "gay village" - part of their month-long Pride celebration. It was enjoyable, and I speak enough Italian that I was able to meet people. It was very regional, though, and drew mostly people from the rest of the Venuto. It wasn't a major event like you'd see in Madrid or Barcelona or Amsterdam.

If you only want to do a day-trip & return to Venice that night I'd probably suggest choosing based on any sites or museums you want to see. But also, for myself, I probably wouldn't do a single day trip to either - I'd just stay in Venice and explore more.

annw

I've done two day trips to Padua and on the first had reserved to see the Scrovegni Chapel, which was well worth the trouble! For me, a day in Padua is enough, much as I generally like university towns. We did stop to visit the anatomy theater when I traveled with friends, so historic. And of courses a gigantic basilica.

I preferred Verona to Padua, with lovely piazzas, of course the arena, cafes, etc. Several briefer visits but took a language class for a week and never got tired of it or bored. My second choice for more than a day trip might be Vicenza, for the architecture, but another nice walkable town, and the Olympic Theater is quite interesting to see.

Most of all, in the Veneto I love Venice, though I never go in summer. Where you stay matters, so finding the right area and locanda, or splurge hotel, is well worth it. I will always prefer to stay there (architecture, water, walks, art, beauty--I've actually taken several mosaic classes there).

Bologna, also a university town, is far better situated as a hub, but watch that you don't go there when there's a gigantic convention, as many do occur and lodging gets sky high or fully booked. As noted, lovely long porticos, great food, and terrific transit links to nearby towns such as Ferrara (large station; allow time to find your trains). But my preference is for longer stays in Emilia-Romagna is Ravenna, 40' away by regional train, not only because of the incredible mosaics, but also because the town is more "scalable," the food is classic, the lodging is reasonable, the ancient center is people and bicycles only, the passagiata lovely--you can watch from a table on the piazza while consuming your 4 euro Spritz and complementary snacks. I've spent several weeks there, usually for a mosaic class, and never tire of it.

Although Venice lodging tends to be relatively expensive, one advantage of day trips from there is that you could avoid the mid-day crush of day visitors -- Venice is best early and late in the day, though as mentioned not known for night life; apperitivo hour seems a high point with such locals as you find crowded around cicchetti bars, or a bit later in St. Marks for the music (fellow tourists here not locals so much IMO).

If you stay a night in Verona, Hotel Milano is close to the Arena and to the main piazzas and has a lovely roof top bar with a view straight over to the Arena! Beautiful at night!

Redlandsneen

I made Venice my base for 8 nights in 2017 and made various day trips out of the city: Verona one day, Padova and Vicenza another, Trieste another. Even though it is expensive to stay in Venice, there is no feeling as thrilling as walking out of the station onto the Grand Canal - I could do it a million times and not be tired of it. I don't think any other station in Italy can boast the same. As for Padova, I liked Vicenza better, but if I had done better research I should have gone to the Scrovegni Chapel which I totally missed. I learned about it on a Rick Steves' episode and he mentioned that you had to do 30 minutes in a de-humidifying ante-chamber before entering the chapel. There is no mention of it in the below link, so I'm not sure if it's still the case, but reservations are mandatory. BTW, from Verona, I took a bus to Lake Garda for lunch - that was cool, but Garda itself is not the best representation of the lake as there are more beautiful resort towns further up the lake and on the other side.

Cappella degli Scrovegni - Home

bfrac

Redlandsneen, how long is it to Trieste by train? Thank you.

Redlandsneen

Bfrac, as I recall it was around 2.0 hours, but a check on the great website Rome2Rio, which shows you how to get from one place to another, confirmed it is about 2hrs 05minutes:

https://www.rome2rio.com/map/Venice/Trieste