Padua: Giotto at the Scrovegni Chapel, the Santo and Prato della Valle
The Scrovegni Chapel, Caffè Pedrocchi and Palazzo della Ragione in the morning, the Basilica of Saint Anthony, Prato della Valle and the Botanical Garden in the afternoon.
Padua has two UNESCO sites: the Botanical Garden, since 1997, and the 14th-century fresco cycles, since 2021, the most famous of which is Giotto's in the Scrovegni Chapel. In the morning the Scrovegni and the centre of markets and university, with Caffè Pedrocchi and Palazzo della Ragione. After lunch the Basilica of Saint Anthony, one of the most visited pilgrimage destinations in the world, Prato della Valle and the oldest botanical garden in the world.
When to goAll year round (the Scrovegni Chapel can only be visited by advance booking)
The plan from Bologna
Leave Bologna for Padua, the Scrovegni and the centre1 h 35 driving, 121 km
Padua, the Scrovegni and the centre2 h 30 of visits: The Scrovegni Chapel, Caffè Pedrocchi and Palazzo Bo, Palazzo della Ragione and the market squares
Lunch in Padua1 h 00 of visits: under Palazzo della Ragione or in Piazza delle Erbe: bigoli, baccalà, cicchetti with spritz.
Drive on to The Santo and Prato della Valle10 min driving, 3 km
The Santo and Prato della Valle2 h 20 of visits: The Basilica of Saint Anthony, Prato della Valle, The Botanical Garden
Drive back to Bologna1 h 30 driving, 117 km
Back in Bologna
Times are a guide: driving times are worked out without traffic, then come the visits and ten minutes at every stop to park. In summer towards the coast and at rush hour allow extra time.
What you will see
1Padua, the Scrovegni and the centre
The Scrovegni Chapel 45 min
Enrico Scrovegni, a wealthy banker, had it built next to his palace and had it frescoed by Giotto between 1303 and 1305. The walls are a single narrative in three bands: the lives of Joachim and Anne, of the Virgin and of Christ, with the Last Judgement on the entrance wall and the starry blue sky on the vault. This is the cycle that changed European painting: for the first time the figures have weight, emotions and space around them.
By advance booking and fixed time slot only. First you wait 15 minutes in a room that regulates the air, then you spend 15 minutes in the chapel.
Caffè Pedrocchi and Palazzo Bo 30 min
Caffè Pedrocchi, opened in 1831, was called 'the café without doors' because it stayed open day and night; in 1848 it was the meeting place for students during the uprisings against Austria. Opposite is Palazzo Bo, the historic seat of the University of Padua, founded in 1222: Galileo Galilei taught here from 1592 to 1610, and here is the anatomical theatre of 1594, the oldest in the world to remain intact.
Pedrocchi is a café open to everyone. Palazzo Bo can only be visited on guided tours, by booking.
Palazzo della Ragione and the market squares 35 min
Built from 1218 as the city's law court, it has upstairs the Salone, one of the largest suspended halls in the world, with an upturned ship's keel roof and walls frescoed with the cycle of the months and zodiac signs. In one corner is an enormous wooden horse from 1466. Under the loggias there are still shops, and on either side Piazza delle Erbe and Piazza della Frutta with market stalls, every morning.
The Salone requires a ticket; the squares and lower hall are free.
2The Santo and Prato della Valle
The Basilica of Saint Anthony 45 min
The Paduans simply call it 'the Santo'. It was begun in 1232, a year after the death of Saint Anthony, a Portuguese friar who came to Padua, and mixes Romanesque, Gothic and Eastern domes. Inside are the saint's tomb, touched every day by pilgrims, the Treasury Chapel with the saint's tongue and chin, and the high altar with bronzes by Donatello. In the square is the equestrian statue of Gattamelata, also by Donatello, from 1453.
Free entry; respectful dress and no photographs inside.
Prato della Valle 20 min
It is one of the largest squares in Europe. Until the 18th century it was a marshy meadow; in 1775 Andrea Memmo, Venice's representative in the city, had it drained with an elliptical canal around a green island, the Isola Memmia. On the two rings of bridges and balustrades are 78 statues of illustrious men connected to Padua.
Free. On Saturdays there is a large market.
The Botanical Garden 45 min
Founded in 1545 by the university to cultivate medicinal plants, it is the oldest university botanical garden in the world still in its original location. The ancient garden is a circle with a square inside, as in 1545; there is still a palm planted in 1585, called 'Goethe's palm' because the poet saw it on his journey to Italy. Next to it, the large modern greenhouses of the Garden of Biodiversity.
Ticket required. Reduced hours in winter.
Tips
The Scrovegni Chapel must be booked days in advance, sometimes weeks: book a slot between 10 and 11, so you can get there without rushing.
The PadovaCard includes the Scrovegni and many of the city's museums.
On 13 June, the feast of Saint Anthony, the city is full of pilgrims: better choose another day.
The same trip from other towns
How long it takes from each town, the drive back included. Tap a town to see the plan from there.
Almost every old town has a limited traffic zone (ZTL) with cameras: park outside and walk in. The fine reaches your home, abroad too. ZTL and car parks town by town
This trip with a driver
Romagna Transfer picks you up at your hotel, drops you in front of every stop and brings you back: no parking, no ZTL, and the wine is yours to enjoy.
Trips written by our editors from the facts of our monument pages and the official sites. Opening days and hours change: the note under every place tells you what to check before you leave. No prices: you find them on the museums' sites.
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