Living here · Bikes
Keep your bike, or get it back
Padova runs on bicycles, and a lot of them go missing. The city marks yours for free, and other students can help you find it.
In one minute
- Have your bike marked by the city: it is free, on Saturday mornings, and it is how a found bike gets back to you.
- Photograph the frame number today. Without it, a found bike cannot be proved yours.
- Buying a used bike? Ask for the frame number and the marking card; a seller without either is a warning sign.
Get it marked, free
The city stamps your codice fiscale into the frame and gives you a card. If the police find the bike, they can find you.
No appointment. Bring the bike, the signed form, your health card with the codice fiscale, and a copy of your identity document. Closed on Saturdays when a marking day is held elsewhere. The city offers it to people living in Padova and its province. The form is on the Comune's page.
The hour it is stolen
Look around the corner first
A bike locked badly is sometimes moved by the city, not stolen, especially near the station. The local police hold removed bikes.Report it to the police
Online with SPID or CIE, or at any police or Carabinieri station, with the frame number and a photo. Reporting a loss or a theft:Online, with SPID or CIEWatch the second-hand ads for a week
Stolen bikes are often resold online within days. If you find yours, do not go alone: tell the police. More on buying and selling used, safely.
Locking it so it stays
Frame to something fixed
Through the frame, not just a wheel, and to a rack or a post that cannot be lifted.
A solid lock, not a cable
A thin cable is cut in seconds. A U-lock or a heavy chain costs less than a second bike.
Indoors at night
A courtyard, a hallway, the residence's bike room. A bike left on the street overnight is the easiest one to take.
Locking advice is what students here report, not official guidance.
Checked against Comune di Padova and Polizia di Stato on Sat, 10 October 2026.