The best traffic-free bike rides around Rubano

The Benito Daga Bridge is a cycle-pedestrian bridge located in Padua, in a strategic river area near the headquarters of Canottieri Padova (south-west area of the city). ​The structure is named after Benito Daga (who passed away in 1991), a respected figure in Paduan and national sports, known for being an instructor and coach for the Italian national swimming team at the Paralympics. ​From a logistical point of view, the bridge represents a fundamental hub for the city's sustainable mobility: it connects the riverbanks of Brusegana and Bassanello, serving as a mandatory passage for runners, walkers, and cycle tourists. It is a key point for those who travel the famous river loops of Padua or join the cycle paths leading towards the Euganean Hills and along the Brentella Canal.

Located on viale Italia in Bovolenta, the Monument to the Fallen is a work of great emotional impact created by sculptor Rocco Mozzato and inaugurated in 1923. The sculptural group in Carrara marble and trachyte depicts the Motherland as a woman holding up a laurel wreath, flanked by a victorious soldier with a flag and a child symbolizing the future and rebirth. Unlike many contemporary works, it does not list individual names but celebrates the collective sacrifice of the soldiers from Bovolenta in the Great War through patriotic inscriptions. Since 2003, the site has also hosted a plaque in memory of Giorgio Perlasca, adding a further layer of civic and historical value to the place.

Caffè Pedrocchi, Italy's most famous coffee house (historically, architecturally, and socially of greatest importance. Used to be open day and night, hence "caffè senza porte = without doors"). See description on my Padua visit (Komoot March 25, 2026).

Ferrara Piazza del Mercato (Pizza delle erbe)

Great for a break

Palazzo della Ragione, Padua The Salòn, or Palazzo della Ragione, the former seat of Padua's municipal courts, is one of the largest column-free halls in Europe. Considered one of the most famous civic monuments in Europe from the time of the Communes, the building was begun in 1218. Between 1306 and 1308, Fra Giovanni degli Eremitani transformed the three large rooms into a single hall and designed a roof in the shape of an inverted ship's hull. Giotto and his workshop were commissioned to paint the walls with frescoes; however, the cycle was destroyed by fire in 1420. The frescoes were restored by the Paduan Nicolo’ Miretto in collaboration with Stefano da Ferrara and other painters, based on the studies of Pietro d’Abano, a wealthy scholar of his time. The fresco cycle is one of the very few medieval astrological cycles to have survived to this day. The connection between the paintings and the function of the place explains the presence of animal figures representing the insignia of the courts, whose function is also linked to the allegories of Justice, Law, the Community in Rule, and the frescoes depicting the Judgment of Solomon and the court scene. In the great hall is the "Pietra del Vituperio," or Stone of Shame, upon which insolvent debtors, clad only in a shirt, had to sit three times (the custom is the origin of the expression "to stay in one's shirt"), while repeating the Latin phrase "cedo bonis" (roughly translated as "I will pay the bill"). Also located there is the large wooden horse, crafted by Annibale Capodilista for a tournament and donated to the city by the family. Today, the great hall serves as a venue for exhibitions and cultural events. Not to mention that "Sotto il salone" is the oldest cooperative in the world, dating back 700 years. Text / Source: Turismo Padova https://www.turismopadova.it/en/the-palazzo-della-ragione/

Basilica of Saint Anthony of Padua / Basilica of Saint Anthony, Padua The Basilica of Saint Anthony, known as "the Saint," is the city's most important religious center and attracts thousands of pilgrims every year, especially on June 13, the saint's feast day. The basilica was built in 1232 to protect the tomb of the Franciscan friar Anthony, who died in Padua in 1231. The large building presents a complex structure with a fusion of styles: Romanesque elements in the façade, Gothic elements in the ambulatory, Byzantine elements in the eight domes covered with lead, and Moorish elements in two tiers. The Church of Saint Anthony holds numerous reminders of the Carrara Signoria. In 1350, Cardinal Guido de Boulogne came to the cathedral to acknowledge the saint's miracle and was greeted by Jacopo II da Carrara and Bishop Hildebrand. Members of the Carraresi family, such as the Lupi di Soragna and the Conti, chose the basilica as the site for their own mausoleums. The Chapel of the Black Madonna now stands on the site of the earlier church, dedicated to Santa Maria, Mother of the Lord. The polychrome Madonna is by Rinaldino di Francia and dates from 1396. Rinaldino is also likely the artist of the shield bearing the portrait of Stefano da Carrara, now in the city museums. A funerary monument to Raffaele Fulgioso, a renowned jurist from the University of Padua, is located to the left of the chapel. The Chapel of Blessed Luca reveals even closer ties to the Carraresi family: it was built between 1380 and 1382 by Naimerio and Manfredino Conti, executing the will of Fina Buzzaccarini. They commissioned Giusto de'Menabuoi, a painter from the Carraresi court, to create the frescoes. The stories of Saints Philip and James, arranged on the chapel walls, reveal a surprising new sense of spaciousness. In the center, within the lunette, are portraits of the patrons: Saint Anthony, Blessed Luke, Saint Francis, and Saint Louis of Toulouse, as they are presented to the Virgin. Text / Source: Turismo Padova https://www.padua.info/de/padua/was-zu-sehen-ist/details/basilica-di-santantonio

It's beautiful but it makes a mess when you ride a bike through it.