Padova Transportation

The buses are frequent and take you to all places in the city, and even connect to all the suburbs and even farther out for miles to satellite towns in the province. Servie is good and on time. the tickets are .75 Euro for a 1 hour time slot. Therefor, if you want to see sites, you need two, or more for the day. Purchases can be made at edicola, and tabbaci and other places, like information center?

It is a electric car that only goes form Prato delle Valle to the train station. They leave every 1/2 hour and only go down one line to get to the destination points. Price is the same as a bus, .75 Euro

It is very easy to get to Padova by train and the heavy traffic in the city centre is another reason why you should opt for the rail.
All trains from Venezia to Milano (and further on, to Switzerland and France) and to the South of Italia (Roma, Napoli, Palermo, Bari...) stop at the Padova station, which is also served by many regional trains. You can find a connection between Padova and Venezia approximetely every 30 minutes. There are direct regional trains to Venezia, Vicenza, Verona, Bassano del Grappa, Rovigo (and further to Ferrara and Bologna), Belluno and the Dolomites.
The interior areas of the station are being fully refurbished.
When you go out of the station, there are many platforms where many bus line stop. There is an electronic panel telling you what buses are going to leave from the station and how long you have to wait.

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Ma and I spend a couple of days getting the run around regarding train tickets from Paris to London, because no one seemed to sell them, including Trenitalia. We were bounced from one agency to another until we finally heard about Viaggi Su Misura.

The agency is located directly across from the recently constructed tribute to the 911 tragedy, (The Tower of Light), just moments from the statue of Garibaldi located near the Scrovegni Chapel. Easy access from the train station, simply walk out the main exit of the train station, locate Corso dei Popolo, walk about 10 minutes, and as you cross the bridge, and you'll see the Tower of Light on your right. The Travel agency is just across the street.

Upon entering, we were immediately welcomed by Sabina Tognon, a striking look-a-like to our own VT member Katmosphere. Same curley red hair, same smile, the same easy going manner. She speaks ENGLISH, and has a great sense of humour. Both Ma Kettle and I felt very comfortable dealing with Sabina. She is knowledgeable, and will give her honest opinion without being pushy.

She was a great find for us dumb Canucks. I'm so sorry we found her so late in our visit to Padova, but for those visiting Venice, and need further travel connections, she will be invaluable to you.

Viaggi Su Misura
Via Giotto, 5 - 1-35137 Padova

ask for Sabina Tognon, tell her the Canadian couple from VT sent you (Maria and Dave). If she looks puzzled, tell her I was the hubby who kept taking photos and couldn't learn Italian. If she still looks doubtful, go elsewhere. LOL.

For European Rail schedules, plus International Rail Service (including Canada), click on their website for comprehensive travel info, then go to ....Turismo ... then to ... Servizio treni. Great sites all on one page (in English).

Be aware that they close Wednesday and Saturday afternoons, and Sundays. Expect lunch hour closure, but are open until 7pm.

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APS (Yellow bus)...

There are two locations to buy bus tickets, one located 'within' the train station, and they sell tickets for APS, (a yellow bus), and these are Linee Extraurbane which simply means buses that travel to limited destinations outside the city limits. For places like Abano Terme and Torrelia, these appear to be more frequent than Sita, plus these buses depart from immediately in front of the train station.

Sita (Blue bus)...

This other location, is under the portico of the Padova Train station, outside of the actual building. They sell Sita Bus tickets, (a blue bus), and these buses travel to all points 'outside' of Padova. Some Sita buses stop at the train station, but only for certain destinations. Besides selling Sita Bus tickets, this is the baggage storage area, and you can also purchase kilometer train tickets here (a much quicker way to buy a train ticket to Venice)

Prices are very similar between companies, for example APS charges 1.90 (one way) to Torreglia, Sita charges 1.95 (one way), however, if you buy directly from the bus driver, the ticket will cost 3.00 euro.

Be aware that APS Bus tickets, and Sita Bus tickets are not interchangeable. These are two completely different companies. You must be aware which company goes where, and be sure of the schedules...not an easy feat. Do not rely upon the knowledge of the clerk selling you tickets. They are not very knowledgeable, and often are wrong.

If you arrive in Padova by bus and you are unsure how to get to your accommodation you may do as we did and decide to take a taxi

there is a taxi rank at the bus station [Piazzle Boschetti] we were delighted to see there was a taxi in it, but there was no driver, and you cannot hail taxis in the street here
we hovered hopefully waiting for him to finish whatever he was doing but no one appeared, so we went and bought a map and puzzled over it for a while, the owner of the kiosk gave us a telephone number for a taxi firn, and I rang and asked in my halting Italian for one to take us to the Al Cason,
I understood a taxi was being sent to pick us up, but I had a problem with when - was that two minutes, or twelve minutes before it would arrive ? I could not ask, the lady had rung off with a busy caio ! Padova is not a large city, surely it will be two minutes

ok so five minutes pass and we decide it must have been twelve minutes

after fifteen minutes we worry it is not coming, but at exactly twenty minutes it arrives [note to self; learn the number translations more thoroughly

next time we will follow Pakettles suggestion, go into a bar for a much needed drink, and ask the barman to call us a taxi
the number for taxis in Padova is below

Sky Service is a very convenient method of transport from the airport to your hotel. When arriving at the Venice airport for example, the driver of the van will hold a white sign with a prearranged name written on it, and will stand just outside the luggage pick-up area.

A great service because it takes you directly from the airport, to your hotel entrance. Very little handling of luggage, no dragging suitcases on and off station platforms or running to catch a train or bus, and then trying to find your hotel once you arrive in Padova.

Cost for two people from Venice to Padova, is 43 euro. Door to door. Pre-book your pickup, and Visa cards are accepted as well as cash. Suggest you confirm the trip cost with the driver prior to boarding the van, if for no other reason except to ease your mind.

Don't try to wave down a taxi in Padova, they won't stop. Taxis are dispatched by radio, and you are given a pick up time, and to their credit, they are accurate within a couple of minutes (strange as it seems).

Upon arrival at Padova train station, line up outside at the designated pick-up, immediately in front of the main doors. Taxis drop off their fares at one end, and drive forward to where you are standing. Don't bother walking back to where the drop off area is, it won't help, plus you will get yelled at. We've seen it happen, and it warmed our hearts. Depending upon how busy they are, (as is natural of course), the system is orderly, efficient, and fairly quick.

ORDERING BY PHONE
When you order a taxi by phone, you first get a recording (in Italian), telling you to stay on the line, after a minute or two, a dispatcher (real person) comes on, says "Radio Taxi", and you have to be ready to give your pick-up point or address. Immediately you will be told how long before the taxi will arrive, and the car number, which is located above the front fender. It throws you at first, if you don't realize that your first contact is with a recorded message. Just stay on the line....

Taxis are exceptionally clean, and drivers courteous and helpful. Taxis are white in colour, come in all sizes, wagons, vans, cars, with the occasional Mercedes thrown in. Quite a treat. The drivers normally own their own cars.