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Hostels Guide > Western Europe > Italy > Veneto > Padua Hostels > HI - Padova - Città di Padova Hostel

HI - Padova - Città di Padova Hostel

Padua

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Address	Via Aleardo Aleardi 30, Padua Veneto, Italy Map
Price	Dorm beds from US$19.00. Price may vary by season - Check Current Prices by Date Here

Location/Contact

Details

This is a Hostelling International (HI) hostel. A membership card isn't required, but an extra fee will apply for non-members. You can get a membership card before your trip here.

Their Description

Features

Free Breakfast
Lockers
Lounge / Common space
Food/Restaurant
TV
Washing Machine (laundry)
Travel information provided
Bike Rental
Phones (public or in room)

The Hostelz.com Review

Ostello della Gioventu - Città di Padova is a very traditional hostel and well known to people who often come to Padova to visit Saint Anthony's Cathedral and tomb. It also is very convenient when you do not want to pay high prices in expensive, neighboring Venice or when you do not find a room there. Padova is a quick thirty-minute trip from Venice by train.

The hostel is not close to the train station and you should take a bus right in front of the station that will take you to the Prado, Padova's large central field (a recreational area with beautiful gardens and statues). The hostel is a few blocks away. It is also within walking distance from Saint Anthony's Cathedral.

The hostel rooms are wide and airy, with not so many bunk beds in each. Most are quiet and have their windows looking at a central patio from where you can hear church bells. The reception guys are very friendly and multilingual and can teach you all about Padova and the surroundings in several languages.

The showers are individual and are great despite being located inside the WC. There are WC's with oriental-type toilets for those used to this. There is not a kitchen for cooking, but a large meal room is available with a curious world pictographic panel on the wall (photo enclosed).

The hostel has a real student air, with many young people who usually stay out singing and playing. There is a curfew but no problem to enter after hours. Unfortunately there is an unusually long lockout that goes until 4 p.m. Breakfast is the usual hostel breakfast -- a small bread, one larger bread, one coffee, a piece of cheese, and one small marmalade packet.

— Exclusive Hostelz.com Review
January 2007

Ratings & Comments

3.6 Average from 11 Ratings

This is an open forum, and unlike other hostel guide websites we don't censor out the negative comments.
We can't validate the legitimacy of comments posted on this site—so take what you read here with a grain of salt.

Comment by Christina

March 2008

It's a hostel of highs and lows, this one. it's in a great location, close to the Prato della Valle and within walking distance to St. Anthony's; the street it's on is quiet but clearly marked, so it's easy to find. There's a Spar nearby for cheap food options, breakfast is provided (roll, spread, coffee, prepackaged croissant), and the rooms themselves are fairly spacious and clean, with large individual lockers. The staff are friendly and spoke enough English to get by, though it helps if you speak (even a tiny bit of) Italian. Not much atmosphere if that's what you're looking for in a hostel, though there is a common room (with plastic chairs and a small TV; the "internet corner" -- one computer -- is unavailable now that they have Wi-Fi throughout the building). The showers are hit-or-miss -- on the first night there was no hot water, on the second there was no water at all. The rooms are freezing in February unless you get a bed by the heater, but the staff do keep replacing the blankets (everyone ended up stealing extra ones off the unoccupied beds -- I think we each ended up with about four). Padua itself is a great town, though, definitely worth spending a night or two in, and the hostel's all right for its price (especially as they didn't charge any extra fees for not having an HI card).

Comment by ChrisJ

September 2006

Don't believe the hype -- this place is bleak. There is no bar. They don't let you into your rooms until 4 p.m. (so harsh) and there was random rubbish in my locker when I finally got a key (they insisted on a deposit for it). Padova is dull anyway, so don't bother.

Comment by student

October 2005

I stayed here with six other college kids. We loved the breakfast, were shocked by the curtain-less showers, didn't think the staff were very friendly or too mean either, and thought it was very, very clean. We've been traveling, and this was an excellent stay, especially if you get to walk Padua at night.

Comment by Adam

July 2005

We arrived here after a night train from Ljubljana to Venice, then from Venice to Padova. We got to the hostel at about 11:45 p.m., we felt quite grubby and were in need of a shower but they had a pathetic lockout which lasted until 4 p.m.!! Ridiculous! Anyway we checked in and we left our backpacks (kind of them) and went out to see a bit of Padova. It rained a lot, and this place is an absolute maze. You will get lost at every street corner, even with a map! Anyway, we arrived back at the hostel at about 4:30 p.m., me and my girlfriend were sharing a room with a guy and his son. We showered up and slept for a bit and visited the local Spa (very handy!). It closes at 7:30 p.m. I think, so get there early. The showers were nice, although the light switches were a bit weird and we had to ask the staff to show us how to use them. We later found this to be the norm in Italy! They have a nice common room upstairs, since we were too tired to go anywhere too far. The Internet corner machines they had didn't work, and the guy at the desk was a bit too cocky for my liking. We stayed upstairs and met some Italian guys who spoke hardly a word of English. It was a challenge but loads of fun! The hostel was relatively clean, although our shower had a serious damp/mould problem due to a weak extractor fan. This place is also very busy; we were lucky to get the rooms we did. Apparently a lot of people stay here to visit Venice, as it is the much cheaper option. Ring ahead and reserve if you can, as this is the only hostel in Padova.

Comment by George Stewart

February 2005

This hostel has class. I worked there for a bit in April 2004 and it was great, the staff were very friendly and Claudio always made me laugh, which made my stay even more fun. Now I am studying to teach English as a foreign language, thanks to Claudio. Cheers, mate. I would love to come back and see you all.

Comment by Aussie Luke

October 2004

I was definitely happy I stayed here. I visited in May 2004, intending to stop in Padua for a couple of hours before hitting Venice, but like a few other reviewers I decided to take the cheaper and easier option of staying in Padua, and didn't regret it for a second. In fact, Padua was probably my favourite stop in Italy! The hostel is quite nice. It's quite clean, with small six-bed dorms and pack-size lockers. Don't plan on spending too much time in the dorms, though, because there isn't much room apart from the beds! The bathrooms aren't too bad, but they could do with a bit of updating. A couple of the showers didn't work too well, but those that did were good—they had plenty of hot water! The breakfast here is very good, too: a croissant, roll, juice and coffee. The dining room is a bit of a walk from the dorms/common area, but it is quite cosy. The common room is a tad cold, but not too bad. The location of the place is okay, just a 2-km walk from the station. You can get a bus, but it's really not that far a walk! The town itself is beautiful: not very touristy, but with plenty of restaurants (get the staff to tell you about the great pizza bar), great gelati, and some fantastic churches! And for those who want to check out Venice, it's only a short (and cheap at less than 5 euro) train trip away. Padua was great. If you're debating between Venice and Padua, I definitely recommend the latter!

Comment by Joana

September 2004

Although this place is a bit far from the train station, I enjoyed staying here. The rooms are clean, the breakfast is excellent, and it's near Venice (15-20 minutes by train). We decided to stay in Padova because Venice was too expensive, and we ended up discovering Padova, which is also really nice. And because it's near Venice, we could visit that city, too. So, it was perfect!

Comment by Jasper

July 2004

Why stay in the more expensive Venezia? Padova is a really nice city which doesn't really attract the large number of tourists of Verona and Venice. The hostel is quite nice and the location is good. If not heavily packed, you can also walk the 2 km. Just walk straight ahead from the station and you will end up at the Piazza delle Valle. This is a good choice: I would go back. By the way, Venezia is just 15 minutes by train.

Comment by Robbie

July 2004

I stayed here in May 2004. I wanted to stay in Venice, but I could not get accommodation. I ended up very impressed with Padova. It was a nice university town with a lot going on. It was close to Venice as well. The hostel was clean and the breakfast was good. I would recommend it.

Comment by Ramona

June 2004

This is a huge hostel with separate dorms for men and women. It's very clean, and there's a direct bus from the train station, which gets you to the beautiful Piazza delle Valle -- one of the best squares, which has a huge market on Saturday. A dorm bed costs 13 euros per night, inclusive of breakfast, and comes with lovely hot showers and clean bathrooms. The usual lock-out time exists, and there's a curfew as well -- 11 o'clock sharp. I made a day trip to Venice, and explored the quaint town of Padua and the famous shrine of St. Anthony of Padova. I met some very nice and interesting people here, but the Internet rates were too high.

Comment by Anonymous

October 2003

This hostel is ok, it is clean and is right near the centre of town. It has no atmosphere but the breakfast was the best we had in all the hostels we stayed in!! Our travel guide suggested it was a good place to explore Venice from, but if you can find a cheap place to stay in Venice then it is much better to stay there instead. We ended up staying just one night here and that was enough time to explore Padova.

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