How to get to the Scrovegni Chapel from the station, Venice and beyond

Where the chapel and the ticket office are

There are two places to know, and they are about 100 metres apart. The ticket office is not at the chapel. It is at the entrance of the Musei Civici agli Eremitani, Piazza Eremitani 8, and that is where you go first to collect your ticket. The chapel stands in the gardens next door, on land beside the site of Padua's Roman arena, which is why you will also see it called the Arena Chapel.

Padova railway station is in Piazzale Stazione, to the north of the historic centre. Piazza Eremitani lies between the station and the main squares, on the side of the old town closest to the trains. In practice that means you reach the chapel before you reach the busy heart of the city, so it works well as the first stop of a day in Padua.

If you are using a map app, search for the Musei Civici agli Eremitani rather than the chapel. Going to the ticket office first is the right order anyway, and it saves you doubling back once you realise the chapel entrance is not where you collect your ticket.

Walking from Padova station

Walking is the simplest option for most people. OpenStreetMap's walking route from the front of the station to the museum entrance on Piazza Eremitani is just under 1 km and takes about 13 minutes at an easy pace. The route runs south from the station square straight into the old town, and there is no need for a taxi or a ticket.

Treat that 13 minutes as the minimum, not the plan. Getting off a crowded train, finding the right exit, waiting at crossings and stopping to check your phone all add time. If you are walking with children or carrying bags, add more. The rule at the chapel is fixed, so the margin has to come from your side.

If you would rather not walk, the buses and the tram both leave from the square in front of the station building, which is covered in the next section.

By bus or tram from the station

The chapel's own directions list buses 3, 10 and 12 from the railway station, line 42 on public holidays, and the tram (metrotram). Most of Padua's urban bus lines and the tram line start from the square in front of the station's passenger building, so you do not need to hunt for the stop.

The ride is short, so the time you save over walking is small. Public transport earns its place when you have limited mobility, tired feet after a day in Venice, or heavy rain. Check on the timetable which stop is closest to Piazza Eremitani before you board, or tell the driver you are going to the Scrovegni Chapel.

One warning if you are tight on time: a bus you have just missed can cost you more than the walk would have taken. If your collection time is close, walk.

Driving and parking

If you are driving, the chapel's directions point you to the Padova Est motorway exit and Park Porte Contarine at Via Giacomo Matteotti 21. The other car park they suggest is Padova Centro Park (Interparking) at Via Trieste 50. The Padova Sud and Padova Ovest exits also work, depending on which direction you are coming from.

Do not try to drive up to the door. Padua's historic centre is a limited traffic zone (zona a traffico limitato, or ZTL) controlled by electronic gates that record vehicles going in and coming out, and one of the exit gates is on Piazza Eremitani itself. The city's 2023 ordinance divides the zone in two: one part is enforced on weekdays from 8:00 to 23:30 and on holidays from 14:00 to 23:30, the other around the clock. Transits that are not authorised are treated as violations.

If your hotel is inside the zone, ask it before you arrive how your car can be registered, because the ordinance allows short loading and unloading stops for guests of hotels within the ZTL under a permit. Otherwise, leave the car in one of the car parks above and walk the last stretch.

A day trip from Venice by train

Padua is an easy day trip from Venice. Trains run between Venezia Santa Lucia and Padova throughout the day, around 72 of them on a normal day according to Trainline's route data, which puts the trip at about 28 minutes on average and the fastest trains at 25 minutes. Slower stopping trains take longer, so look at the actual timetable for your train rather than the average.

Work backwards from your slot. Say your slot is 11:00. You need to be at the ticket office by 10:30, which means setting off from Padova station on foot by about 10:15 at the latest, so a train that arrives around 10:00 gives you some room. Then add the time it takes to get from your Venice hotel to Santa Lucia, by vaporetto or on foot, which in Venice is rarely as quick as it looks.

Do not take the last train that technically works. If it runs late, the chapel cannot hold your slot, and a missed slot cannot be moved or refunded. Taking one train earlier costs you half an hour with a coffee in Padua. Taking one train too late can cost you the visit.

Choose your slot with the trains in mind. If you are staying in Venice, a late-morning or early-afternoon slot means you do not have to catch one of the first trains of the day, and you still have time afterwards for the museums and a walk through the centre before heading back. Coming back is relaxed. The chapel visit itself takes about 30 minutes, the museums on the same ticket take as long as you like, and trains back to Venice are frequent through the day.

From Verona, Vicenza, Bologna and Milan

Padova is on the main railway between Milan and Venice, so it is just as easy to reach from the west. Regional and faster regional trains on the Verona, Vicenza, Padova and Venice line stop here, and so do long-distance trains from Milan. From the south, there are fast trains and regional trains from Bologna, and some long-distance trains from Rome and Florence run through Bologna to Padova without a change.

We are not quoting travel times for these routes because they vary a lot with the type of train. Check the timetable for your date, and use the same rule as from Venice: aim to be at Padova station at least an hour before your slot.

If your trip involves a change of train or a longer ride, an afternoon slot is the safer choice. A delayed connection in the morning then costs you some waiting time in Padua rather than your visit.

How much margin to build in

There are two times on your visit day, and both matter. Be at the ticket office at least 30 minutes before your slot to collect your ticket. Then be at the chapel's entrance pavilion at least 5 minutes before the slot. The doors open on time, and your group of up to 25 people spends 15 minutes in the climate-controlled waiting room while the air is stabilised, then 15 minutes in the chapel.

If you are late, you do not go in. Tickets are non-refundable and the date and time cannot be changed, so a missed slot means a new booking for a later slot, if one is still free. We say this plainly because it is the rule that matters most on the day, and it is almost entirely in your hands.

A simple plan works for most people. Arrive in Padua at least an hour before your slot, walk to Piazza Eremitani, collect your ticket, and spend any spare time in the Musei Civici Eremitani, which are included in every fare we sell, keeping an eye on the clock. Bring the booking we email you, and if you are travelling on a reduced fare such as Students or EU visitors 65+, bring the card or ID that proves it.

The other part of the plan happens before you travel. Same-day bookings are not possible, so book before you leave for Padua. Day slots are currently on sale up to 10 February 2027, and the next batch has no published date yet. For later dates, or days that are already full, we can hold you on our waiting list with no payment, and when a place can be booked we email you a secure payment link. We can't promise a place opens. The chapel is closed on 25 and 26 December, on 1 January, and from 16 to 27 November 2026 for the annual inspection of the frescoes.

Luggage and bags

Travel light on chapel day. Suitcases and trolleys are not allowed in the museum, and no bags, food or drink go into the chapel. Backpacks and bags go into the cloakroom or the lockers, which take items up to 44 by 31 by 46 cm. Phones go on silent, and photos for personal use are allowed without flash, lights or tripods.

If you are moving between cities with luggage, the easiest answer is to leave it at your hotel. Padova station's passenger building also has a luggage deposit. Check its opening hours for your day before you rely on it, especially if you plan to collect your bags for an evening train.

Where to walk next

The chapel is part of a UNESCO World Heritage site, Padua's fourteenth-century fresco cycles, inscribed in 2021. It covers eight buildings in four clusters across the old centre, with frescoes painted between 1302 and 1397 by Giotto, Guariento, Giusto de' Menabuoi, Altichiero and others, so the obvious next stops are already within reach on foot.

Next door, the Church of the Eremitani belongs to the same cluster as the chapel. Further into the centre, Palazzo della Ragione is part of a second cluster with the Carrara Palace chapel and the Baptistery. The Basilica of St Anthony and the Oratory of San Giorgio form a third, and the Oratory of San Michele the fourth.

The museums on your ticket are the other easy win. The Musei Civici Eremitani fill the cloisters of the former friars' convent beside the ticket office, and Giotto's painted Crucifix, which once hung over the chapel altar, is in the collection. Every fare we sell also includes Palazzo Zuckermann from Tuesday to Sunday, with its applied and decorative arts and the Bottacin coin collection.