Taking the cycle path along the Battaglia Canal, you pass through Padova, city of one of Italy's (and Europe's) oldest universities and rich in art and history. Cycling along the Piovego Canal, you reach Stra. Then you follow the Brenta Canal, on which the mansions of the old Venetian nobility (Villa Pisani, Villa Malcontenta, Villa Widmann) overlook, until you reach Mestre, Venice's mainland.