Wekiva

A friend of mine is planning on going from Florence to Rome via Pisa to do a drive-by tourist thing. How long would it take to get from the train station to the leaning tower, spend a bit of time there and in the baptistery and then get back to the train station? I would also think they'd eat lunch there during the middle of the day. It's not the way I'd like to see Pisa but it's on their bucket list.

Thanks

Andrew

Pisa is in the opposite direction for someone heading from Florence to Rome.

It's about a 25 minute walk from Pisa Centrale over to the Field of Miracles (Tower of Pisa, et al.), but you can take a bus directly from the station to the Field. There's also an alternate train station in Pisa that only some trains stop at, but it's very close to the Field.

kybourbon

As Andrew pointed out, Pisa is not on the way to Rome. It's an hour by train west of Florence (Rome is south of Florence). Your friend would have to train to Pisa, catch the bus to the tower (outside train station - about 15 minutes) or walk (Pisa S. Rossore station is closer than Centrale for walking). Do they just want to see the tower or climb it?

They would then either train back to Florence to catch a train to Rome or hang around in Pisa to catch the less frequent trains down the coast to Rome.

Jean

If interested in climbing the Tower, your friend needs to buy a ticket. Doing this online in advance would save time and prevent finding it sold out for the day, but then your friend is locked into a specific time slot to be at the Tower and ready to climb. No bags or small luggage are allowed in the Tower, so add time to visit the bag check before and after. Or the friend can check his/her luggage at the Pisa Centrale train station to be picked up on the way to Rome.

http://boxoffice.opapisa.it/Torre/index.jsp

IMO, the Duomo and Camposanto are at least as interesting as (if not more than) the Baptistery.

agedude

20-30 Minute walk from the Pisa Station. Jean is right, the Camposanto was the highlight of my visit. You can see it all in two to four hours.

Wekiva

Thanks for the replies. Jean...good point on the luggage. They will have it with them since they'd be moving from one hotel to another. I'm just helping them a bit with the itinerary and wasn't sure about Pisa time frame since I hadn't been there in 15 years.