What to do and see in Padua, Veneto: The Best Hidden Gems Things to do

Venice Day Trips offers activites focusing on culture, wine and food in Venice, Padova, Verona and throughout the Veneto. Our wine excursions will take you to the most important production areas including the Valpolicella, the Prosecco Hills and the Soave countryside. Our culinary activities include cooking lessons in Padova and Venice. We also offer multi-day packages such as "In the Land of Prosecco", a fun 5 day wine and food tour in the Prosecco countryside and "Gourmet Emilia Romagna", a 5 day culinary pilgrimage to the land of Parmigiano Reggiano, Prosciutto di Parma and Balsamic Vinegar. Contact us for family-friendly activites and cruise excursions!

A wonderful scenic flight over the most beautiful place in Italy. Have you ever dreamed to see Padova, Venice or Verona from the sky on a plane thought just for your comfort and relax? 5 comfortable seats, one minibar, go pro cameras to record your flight and a team of experts who will make your dreams come true. Come with us and have a look on Italy like anybody else. Prices starts from 30 euro.

Founded in 1545, the University of Padua Botanical Garden is the oldest in the world to have maintained its original location and architectural layout. It has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1997. Green heart of Padua city centre, it is host to more than 6,000 specimens and 3,500 species on a total area of 3.5 hectares. In the old Garden, characterised by a charming circular structure enclosed within walls, there are medicinal, insectivores, poisonous, succulents, aquatic, and ornamental plants, as well as historical plants such as “Goethe’s Palm” (1585). In 2014 the Garden was expanded with the construction of the Biodiversity Garden, consisting of five low-impact large greenhouses where visitors can enjoy a fascinating journey through the planet’s natural biomes – from tropical to sub-humid areas, from temperate zones to deserts – while exploring the thousand-year relationship between plants and humankind.

The PRECINEMA Museum - Minici Zotti Collection, also known as the Museum of the Magic Lantern, opened its doors in 1998. The PRECINEMA Museum holds a number of records, being not merely the only one of its kind in Italy expressly dedicated to Precinema history, but alsoreceiving a “Declaration of Local Interest” from the Veneto Region.The Museum displays exhibits including optical views, the “new world”, and a varied collection of optical instruments which, during the 19th century,but particularly during Victorian times, borewitness to the path that led to the birth of theCINEMA in 1895. Alongside simple toys, like thethaumatrope or the anamorphose we find morecomplex instruments including the phenakistoscope,praxinoscope and zoetrope, optical toys that createdthe illusion of movement.

Esapolis is the first major museum in Italy, which offers the world of small animals, mostly arthropods and especially insects. It is the result of a fruitful collaboration between the Province of Padua and MicroMegaMondo Butterfly Arc. The visitor is projected in a world of small beings that represents the largest animal biomass of the planet. It offers a course in which the visitor is not a mere observer of the elements, but the actor interactions more or less direct. In addition to the permanent exhibitions, there are temporary exhibitions. Esapolis will capture through continuous stimulation of the senses and mind. In the 2500 square meters of exhibition Esapolis meet countless species of live insects and important preserved collections, there are also exposed other small creatures like reptiles, amphibians, fishes, spiders, and other animals from all over the planet. Among them are also those useful to man as bees and silkworms, or the strangest predatory insects, social species, insects jewel and evolutionary paths. Technological structures make you enter the world of insects that can turn visitors into one insect-human.You can have fun interacting with the 4D cinema or interact with multimedia workstations for an unforgettable visit. On holidays, you can take part in interactive workshops. Open from April to June and from August to September, Tuesday to Friday from 9:30 to 12:00 and 14:30 to 17:30; Saturday, Sunday and holiday’s 9:30 to 17:30 lunch break. Except for groups by appointment, the museum is closed on Mondays and from October to March and July open only on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays from 9.30 to 17.30. There are special openings during the holiday season. Esapolis has various services to facilitate your visit: easy access for the disabled, parking, picnic area, covered snack area, bathrooms and a well-stocked shop for your memories.

A place that offers you the opportunity to travel light years away exploring the Universe. Everybody can enjoy our fulldome shows: you only have to sit comfortably down and keep your eyes open to the Cosmos.