Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare
Sezione di Padova

INFN Unit in Padova is located in the Department of Physics of Padova University, in 8 Marzolo street, near the railway station and bus headstop (15 minutes on foot), and the centre of Padova.

Padova (Padua) is one of the cultural and economic centers in the Northeast of Italy, in Veneto region, 40 kilometers far from Venice.

Reaching Padova by plane
The nearest airport is the Marco Polo Airport in Venezia (Venice), 40 kilometers east of Padova; it is the third in importance in Italy, and conveniently linked with all major European airports. Other airports near Padova are in Verona and Bologna; but the transfer from there to Padova is not an easy one.

Coming from overseas, look for a connecting flight reaching Venezia from Roma (Rome) or some other convenient European airport, like e.g. London Heathrow, Frankfurt am Main or Paris Charles De Gaulle. On the contrary, avoid flying to Milano (Milan): from Milano, you have a bus ride of about 1 hour after the customs in order to reach the railway station; and then a 2 or 3 hours ride by train to Padova.

From the Venezia airport you can have:

• Bus service to Padova (Piazzale Stazione, on the east side of the railway station) - The SITA service offers buses every 30 minutes from Marco Polo airport in Venezia-Tessera to Padova bus headstop in Railway station square (70 minutes ride), 15 minutes far from Physics Department, on foot.
• Bus + train service - Route 15 of the local Venetian ACTV bus service offers a bus every 30 minutes from the airport to Venezia-Mestre railway station (20 minutes ride). From Venezia-Mestre there are 2 or 3 trains for hour to Padova (20-30 minutes ride).
• The Limousine Service - Different companies offer a service which will pick up at the airport and take you directly in Padova: e.g. Air Service by TaxiPadova or Landomas Service. Please note that the reservation must be made at least 24 hours before your arrival, indicating date, time and flight number.
• Taxi - There is also a Radiotaxi service (Tel. +39-041.595.2080) for a direct transfer from airport to Padova, howewer this is the most expensive solution.

The typical ride time from downtown Roma to downtown Padova (about 600 kilometers, or 375 miles) is of the order of 6-7 hours, but has a large variation according to weather, peak hours, and works on the highway. All the highways in Northern Italy require a toll, paid when exiting; a ticket automatically issued to the driver when entering the highway is required for payment.

If you are not familiar with the competitive European (and, in particular, Italian) way of driving, avoid long travels by car; it is quite different to travel 200 or 300 miles in Italy or in the United States, and in particular it is difficult to estimate the required time.

Car rental fees depend from the car type and the length of the rental period; and may increase if the car is returned to a different location. Inquire locally at your favorite international car rental company for more information.

First and second class are available; for fast trains a supplement is required, and in some cases a seat reservation is mandatory: so, specify which train you are going to board when asking for a ticket. All tickets (both round-trip and one way) have a validity of 2 months; before boarding the train, it is mandatory to validate them by using the yellow machines located on the platforms and throughout the station: penalties are applied to the infringers.

The Department of Physics is within walking distance (10-15 minutes) from the railroad station.
On coming out from the station take the road on the left, until you reach the traffic lights: then go through the lights in Gozzi street in front of you. After 300 meters there are other traffic lights (at the cross with Trieste street) and you must go straight on the left sidewalk; the name of the street is now Morgagni. After the bridge over the Piovego canal, take on the left (Loredan street) and then take the first narrow street on the right (Jappelli street), in front of an awful neoclassic building resembling a doric temple. After 50 meters on the left there is Marzolo street along which there is the Physics Department, at number 8 on the right sidewalk.

• Maurizio Loreti that wrote the first version of this guide.
• Group 1 secretariat for the informations and the map of the centre of Padova, published on their web pages.
• Physics students, webmasters of the SPIRO for all informations, links and maps on their guide.
• The Istituto Nazionale di Fisica della Materia for the photo of the Physics Department