Pisa travel guide, one of Italy’s most iconic cities
Picture perfect Pisa; the gateway to Tuscany, the icon of Italy and one of the most famous places on the planet. Best known for its historic leaning tower, Pisa is a must see when visiting Italy and you only need to spend a few hours there to fully appreciate this tiny city. I spent half a day there whilst on my recent trip to Florence and here’s a step by step timeline of what I got up to during my visit…
10am – Catch a train to the city
As we were staying just outside Florence, we actually flew into Pisa airport (way cheaper than flying into Florence!) and got a train from the airport straight to Pisa Central Station, leaving our luggage in the lockers there. We wanted to do Pisa in the day before heading to our hotel later on that night and it was so doable. You can hop on a people mover from Pisa Airport to Pisa Central (€1.80 per ticket) and you’ll be in the centre of Pisa in no time. If you’re coming from Florence, trains run from Santa Maria Novelli station every hour, and from other Italian cities like Rome, Milan and Verona very regularly too.
11am – Head straight to the Square of Miracles
Once arriving at Pisa Central Station you can either walk 20 minutes to the Square of Miracles, the plaza where all the monuments are located, or you can hop on a bus which will drop you off right at the front of the entrance. It was super hot when we visited and, as we were limited on time, we were a little lazy and got the bus. It would have been nice to walk along the river and see a bit more of the rest of the city, but I don’t think we were missing out on too much to be honest. Once you get to the plaza you’ll see everything you want to see…
12pm – See the iconic leaning tower
Wander through the archway at the front of the plaza and… voila! The iconic leaning tower of Pisa – one of the most famous monuments on the planet and a striking symbol of Italy. Marvel at it from the ground, or climb its 296 cobbled steps for a true bucket list experience – just make sure you book tickets online beforehand (you get allocated a time slot) as the queues are INSANE and slots are sold out regularly.
1pm – Enjoy pizza and gelato in Pisa
We spent time wandering around the plaza and then enjoyed a spot of lunch on the grass right next to the leaning tower. One of my favourite things about Pisa was actually just sitting in the sun and people watching! We saw hundreds of tourists and people taking SO. MANY. SELFIES! (myself included) but it was fun, and it’s gotta be done when in Pisa, right?! There are a few cafes/sandwich places selling overpriced pizza/pasta/ice cream and there’s a McDonald’s just outside the plaza (obvs) – food isn’t great on the plaza but it’s convenient and it’s a quick fix after a busy few hours of sightseeing.
2pm – Walk around the Cathedral for free
I’d recommend heading here first to pick up your free ticket as you get allocated a time slot and can plan your day a bit better if you get everything done first and then do the cathedral visit at the end, or get an early time slot and do it first so you have free time afterwards. Both the exterior and interior of the cathedral is built in a Romanesque style which is truly stunning and well worth a visit – I loved walking around and soaking up its 1000 year old history! The baptistry is also worth a visit too; you can buy a combined ticket to visit all buildings (the cathedral, the baptistry and the leaning tower) which is excellent value for money.
3pm – Head out of town and onwards to your next Italian destination
By now you’re probably fed up of the hoards of tourists and the hundreds of tripods/selfie sticks/self timing cameras that have been spoiling your view or stopping you from getting your Instagram pics. By the time I was done with Pisa I really wanted to get away from it and retreat to somewhere a little quieter, so we hopped on the bus and went back to Central Station ready to head onwards to Florence for our impending weekend stay. It may be short and sweet, but half a day in Pisa sure is plenty!
So there we have it, my travel guide to spending half a day in Pisa. As you can see, we spent just 4 hours in this city and it really was enough to see everything that we wanted to before heading back to Florence. You can of course spend as little of as much time as you want in Pisa, but there weren’t many hotels/restaurants dotted around other areas of the city as pretty much everything is centralised around the Square of Miracles. I don’t know if I’d go back – now that I’ve done it I don’t see any need to, but I’m so glad I visited and I’d recommend a day trip to Pisa to anyone looking for a stop off during an Italian interrailing adventure, or as a day trip from some of the major city break destinations. Have you been to Pisa before? Let me know what you thought of it!
Love Jess x
