Departure after breakfast for a guided visit to Padua, a city that still conserves important signs of its prestigious past, including first and foremost the Scrovegni Chapel, with a series of masterpiece frescoes by Giotto. After these works were painted, many of the city’s other monuments were decorated with frescoes by leading artists, and Padua therefore boasts Europe’s highest concentration of painted fresco cycles. Many architectural and artistic treasures can be admired in the Saint Anthony Basilica, in the Church of the Eremitani, with frescoes by the young Andrea Mantegna, and in the Baptistery of the Cathedral, the grandiose Basilica of Santa Giustina, and the Palazzo della Ragione. Free time for lunch. Visit to the city in the afternoon with a cruise along its waterways, boarding at the Porte Contarine lock and following the river as it passes the old Venetian walls from the Renaissance period and the gardens of the Roman arena. Beyond the former abattoir and the 16th-century walls lies Portello, the most important river port during the times of Venetian rule, and the cruise continues around the walls to return to Porte Contarine after about 90 minutes. Return to hotel in the late afternoon for dinner and overnight stay.
