HC

I plan to visit Pisa on a day-trip from Rome (approx 3hrs by train) on 1st of May, which is a public holiday. Will most of the major monuments, shops & restaurants in Pisa be closed? Appreciate if someone can advise...

baldrick

You'll find all major monuments around the leaning tower. Tourist shops and tourist restaurants nearby the leaning tower will most certainly be open.

Kate

Others may disagree, but I just wouldn't waste a whole day of my time on visiting Pisa. The town is ordinary, there's only one thing to see, and the tower is surrounded by tourist tatt. Add in the bank holiday, when the crowds will probably be a nightmare, and I just don't thin it's worth it. Instead, I'd visit Ostia or Hadrian's Villa on a day trip from Rome, and save Pisa for when I'm closer on another trip (to Florence, for example).

mclaurie

If you look at the thread "highly touted places you've visted that disappointed you" (or words to that effect), you'll see several others agree with Kate.

baikal

Nothing special to see there and it is does not matter if everything closed. we did the trip fro florence, in the evening, just so the tower made a pictire and got back-nothing else to there there just tacky shopping place around

Shon

I too agree with Kate. We spent several hours getting to Pisa so my kids could see the Tower. It's a great picture but Pisa is a very unattractive, tourist tacky city. I thought it was a monumental waste of time.

Victress

As an engineer my husband found the tower fascinating. It depends on what you are into I suppose.

amfitrion

The tower is, for sure, an attractive landmark. And, in the same area, Piazza dei Miracoli, you'll find three more interesting things: the Duomo, the Baptistery and the Monumental Cemetery. So, your trip to Pisa can hardly be considered a waste of time.

But, to my opinion too, for a one-day trip out of Rome you can do much better: Siena (the whole city is a monument, it doesn't matter it's 1st of May), combined with San Gimignano. Or Tivoli, as suggested upper. Or Roma - Bomarzo - Orvieto...

But one day is so short, isn't it?...

Plan your trains on www.trenitalia.it and enjoy yourself!

jimcolorado

Whether to visit the Tower certainly is hotly contested. We visited from Siena in a rental car, but planned our drive carefully so as to visit as many small Tuscan towns as possible, going and coming back. I will never forget our midmorning cappucino e' cornetto break in a small bakery along the way. The owner was most excited that we had stopped and went out of her way to make us feel welcome. I rank a visit to Pisa right up there with a gondola ride in Venice. For many of us, a trip to Italy is a once in a lifetime (God, I hope not!)adventure, and touristy or not, there are some things that should not be missed if at all possible. I don't think a leisurely drive through Tuscany is a waste of time by any means.

ThinGorjus

Go to Pisa if you must, but I HATED it. It was a tacky tourist trap, like an outdoor Italian Walmart. The tower is forgetable, however, the doors of the cathedral are wonderful. If you have to see anything in Pisa, it is those doors.

JBX

Nothing like a thread on Pisa to push people's buttons. Agree that the Piazza is clogged with tacky, touristy, kitschy junk. Nevertheless, travellers still make the pilgrimage to view what is one of the most recognizable attractions in the world.

HC, a helpful and more positive thread on Pisa was recently posted by crazymina,
http://www.fodors.com/forums/pgMessages.jsp?fid=2&tid=34408004