Venice to Padua at Night ?

i tried April 23 and found a train leaving every half hour or so. try the link below

http://orario.trenitalia.com/b2c/TimeTable?stazin=Venezia+Santa+Lucia&stazout=padova&datag=23&datam=04&dataa=2008&timsh=20&timsm=00&lang=en&nreq=5&channel=tcom&x=30&y=10

Sorry, I should have mentioned we'll be there end of June. But you're correct, in April and May it looks like trains do run regularly. Could there be a change in frequency during summer? Or maybe schedules just haven't been posted yet?

i think you can see the schedule 60 days in advance. the schedule probably won't change much. I wouldn't worry about buying tickets far in advance, a few days in advance should be fine; it's such a short trip that even if you miss a train, there will probably be another leaving half an hour later.

Susan is correct. If you look farther out than 60 days, the schedule becomes much less dependable. Last train out of Venezia Santa Lucia is midnight according to the current schedule. Also, to work better, use Padova on the English page instead of Padua.

CLICK HERE to see for yourself.

Forgive the soapbox here. (My soapbox is stamped "With Best of Intentions.)

I suggest you calculate what percentage of your overall trip cost you believe that you'll be saving by staying in Padua instead of Venice. (Be sure to first check out prices at some of the Venice B&Bs, such as Pensione Guerrato rather than just assuming that Venice is out of your reach.) Then read all the postings by people here that say the best way to enjoy Venice is to stay on the island itself. You risk spending lots of money to get over there just to cut the wrong financial corners and diminish the enjoyment of your trip.

Okay, stepping down off the soapbox now. (^_^)

Yes, but be warned that they go to an hourly departure time. I was just there last month and we attended a show that didn't get out until 9:30pm. Got to the train station after the 9:56 train left. Had to wait for the 10:56 train...

Your problem was most likely in not using the "Padova" spelling. I'd like to put a plug in for Padua not only for the savings, but also for the great town that it is. We stayed there and day-tripped to Venice and felt like we were able to enjoy two towns for the same amount of time spent. It's also one of the towns the RS tours go to on the Village Italy trip.

One thing to consider when thinking of taking a train back late in the evening is to consider where your hotel is -- Padua is large enough that we needed to take the city bus to get to out hotel.

Lauren,
I have a follow-up to your comment. We're travelling in October by train from Milan to Venice to join a RS tour there. We will have time for one stop. Between Verona, Vicenza & Padua, do you have a recommendation? All three interest us.

Sorry, Susan, I'm not an authority. We've only visited Padua of the three. This year we're considering either staying in Venice itself, since it's supposed to calm down at night, or else in Verona. I'm assuming you've been able to research what the three towns have to offer -- Rick gives a great summary in the Italy guidebook. Vicenza's architecture also sounds very interesting, but might have to wait until next time for us.

I really enjoyed Verona. Piazza Bra in the evening is full of locals strolling, there is the Roman arena to visit and much more.