scubish.com: Scuba diving Padova - Italy

Padova (English: Padua, French: Padoue, Latin: Patavium) is a city in North Eastern Italy, and the capital of the province of the same name. It is located centrally in the Veneto region, between Venezia on one side and Vicenza and Verona on the other. The city itself has 210,821 inhabitants (2001), with about 350,000 inhabitants in the wider metropolitan area.

Get in

By train

Padova is a central railway node in the Veneto area. Many lines converge into the city central station, notably from:

Venezia (Venice, Trieste, and points East) - Venice is only a 20-minute ride away

Bologna (Bologna, Ferrara, Rovigo, Rome, Florence)

Milano (Milan, Brescia, Verona, Vicenza)

Castelfranco (Belluno, Calalzo, Feltre)

All kinds of trains pass through Padova: Eurostar, InterCity, EuroCity, InterRegionale, Regionale, InterCityNight, EuroNight, Espresso. More info is available on the Trenitalia website .

By plane

Padova has its own airport for private planes, but with no direct commercial connections. However, three international airports are conveniently located nearby:

Venezia Marco Polo (VCE) , 50km, lot of destinations throughout Europe.

* by bus: direct and frequent connections to Padova, 1h

* by train: bus to Venezia Mestre station, then train.

Treviso (TSF) , 42km, low-cost airport with Ryanair and other carriers. Destinations: Dublin, London, Frankfurt, Bruxelles, Barcelona, Paris

* by bus: direct and frequent connections to Padova, 1h10

Verona Valerio Catullo (VRN) , 88km, many domestic flights and some international destinations (also low-cost)

* by train + bus

Other options further afield include:

Brescia Gabriele D'Annunzio (VBS) , 130km

Bergamo Orio al Serio (BGA) , 190km, many low-cost flights

Bologna Guglielmo Marconi (BLQ) , 120km

By car

Padova is connected through the national highway network

A4 - Torino-Milano-Venezia-Trieste

A13 - Bologna-Padova

Many national/regional roads originate in or pass through the city:

SS11 Padana Superiore

SS16 Adriatica

SS47 Valsugana

SR516 Piovese

SR307 del Santo

Get around

On foot

Discovering the city on foot is very easy. The historic center is not very big, so you can go around in the narrow streets.

By bicycle

Padova, luckily, is quite a flat city. Apart from the few roman bridges and some -not very steep- streets, you will not find any hills to hike! Especially in the city center, most of the streets are narrow and quiet and the terrain is sometimes made of pavé or cobblestones. In some areas, the cobbling is such that it would be unsuitable for standard road bicycles. Outside the narrow streets, a bike lane is sometimes available.

By tramway

APS Mobilità (ex-ACAP, call center: +39 049 20111) runs the only tramway line of the city, based on the rubber-tired TransLohr vehicle.
The line SIR1, entered service with passengers on March, 24th 2007.
The route is Stazione F.S. (Piazzale Stazione) - Trieste - Eremitani - Ponti Romani - Tito Livio - Santo - Prato della Valle - Cavalletto DX - Diaz - Santa Croce - Cavallotti - Bassanello - Sacchetti/Assunta - Cuoco - Guizza - Capolinea Sud.

This line is very useful for tourists because it stops near various monuments, museums and local landmarks like Santo Basilica, Eremitani Civic Museums, Cappella degli Scrovegni, Prato della Valle, Santa Giustina Basilica, Botanic Garden, central squares. (The stops for each of these...