Day Trip to Pisa?
 

Hello: Please bear with me, I am a novice traveller and knew to this board. I will be in Rome in October for 6 days. Unfortunately, I will have limited free time. For personal and sentimental reasons I have always wanted to see the Tower of Pisa. Is this doable from Rome in a day? A long day? Is there anything else to see there besides the Tower. Thanks in advance.

Good evening, Not Scottie <BR>Probably your best bet is by rail, there are a number of trains which go direct to Posa and others you must change at <BR>Firenze SM. Time is approx. 3 hr one <BR>way. Seewww.fs-on-line.it for schedules (orario). <BR> <BR>If I recall the station is on the south <BR>side of Pisa and the Duomo and Tower, <BR>on the north. In addition to the endless souvenier shops there are some <BR>small ristorantes neat the Pza. <BR>Probably have time to get there, see <BR>the tower, duomo and bapistery, have <BR>lunch and begin your return to Rome. <BR>The tower to my knowledge is closed <BR>and no one is allowed to climb it any <BR>more. Have a good trip. <BR> <BR>Richard of La Grange Park, Il... <BR>

It is doable, though it will involve spending a fair amount of time on the train. My husband and I made a one-day stop in Pisa recently and it was very enjoyable. I always wanted to seeing the leaning tower - and thought it was neat. Pisa is actually quite small and you can walk from the train station to the tower area in about 20 minutes. This will give you a chance to see the tower, see a little of the town, etc. You won't need more than a few hours in Pisa to site see, take in the huge number of vendors on the street by the tower. (They have pretty much every household item you can imagine - in the shape of the leaning tower.)The tower is closed, but you can visit the cathedral (part of which is also leaning) and other buildings right by the tower.

Not Scottie: <BR> <BR>If you can get past the sentiment make better use of your time. I have spent a fair amount of time in Tuscany, in the hands of Tuscans and they would steer you to places much more rewarding than Pisa for short visits. Head to Lucca, bike on the walls, see the sites and definitely eat at bucadisanantonio. Head to Florence and spend the day walking around and then head to Fiesole for dinner (spectacular overview of Florence). Stay there or head back to FL. This region has many enchanting things to offer. I have flown in and out of Pisa numerous times, the first being required as an architectural excursion in college, and while this is a "significant" destination, Tuscany offers much more. In addition, a previous posting is correct, the Tower is under re-settlement and surrounded by construction scaffolding. Buy the bronze miniature at the airport and seek out Tusacany's treasures.

I agree with the other reply that said if you can get past the sentiment make better use of your time. If you have the extra time, by all means, see Pisa. But if you have time for only one side trip, go to Florence or Pompei. There is much more to see at either place but you will never see it all in a day.