
About Padua
Home to the poet Dante and the partial setting for Shakespeare’s play “The Taming of the Shrew,” Padua is bursting with historic and cultural significance. Perched on the Bacchiglione River, the city is a colorful tapestry of tightly wound streets that spill open into vast communal piazzas. Mostly flat, this is a great place for walking or bicycling your way around. An OG university town, with past scholars including Galileo, Copernicus, and Petrarch, Padua may give visitors the majestic sense that they’ve traveled back in time. Though the city is picturesque in its antiquity, it’s a youthful hub with a strong student presence. Foodies are in luck; most local restaurants use only the freshest ingredients purchased from the markets in Piazza dei Frutti and Piazza delle Erbe, and you’ll find a few dishes on menus that date back to medieval times.
Where is Padua
45.412273617731, 11.879218590753
What to do in Padua
- Padua Astronomical Clock: Check the time by visiting this towering timepiece that was built in 1344 and is still in working order. On select days of the week, you can tour the inside of the clock.
- Villa Pisani: Ride 15 minutes over to Stra, where this magnificent villa looms large. Be sure to wander through the gardens, which boast one of the world's most complicated garden mazes.
- Orto Botanico: See the world's first botanical garden, created in 1545, and still used for scientific research to this day.
- Riviera del Brenta: Take a day to cruise this scenic canal that connects Padua to Venice and catch views of Venetian villas and glorious countryside.
- The Rolling Pin Cooking School: Learn how to cook like a Venetian at these hands-on cooking classes in the heart of Padua. Half- and full-day classes are available.
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