We will be staying in Florence for 5 nights at the end of June.

Would it be advisable to daytrip by train to Pisa and Lucca in one day?

I have looked at the trenitalia website and it looks like it would take about an hour to get to Pisa and about an hour and a half back to Florence from Lucca.

Would 2 hours in Pisa be enough time? This would leave about 8 hours to see Lucca.

Thanks for your advice! Laurie

Yes, you can do them both in one day. If you want to do climb the Leaning Tower, be sure to make ticket reservations in advance.

We took the bus from Florence to Lucca and later in the day trained to Pisa. If you aren't planning on climbing the tower you won't need much time in Pisa. We took a late train back to Florence.

Laurie, we did go to Pisa so my daughter who was a teenager at a time could see the tower.
But Pisa leaves a lot to be desired.
However the church is beautiful! Do take the time to visit there. Have a wonderful trip!

It's entirely do-able. Lucca is one of my most favorite cities in Tuscany so IMO, I would spend more time there. However, 8 hours should be enough to walk around the city walls, see Puccini's home, San Michele in Foro church, the Duomo, open market, etc. and eat some great food.

Pisa and its Campo dei Miracoli (the Duomo and Leaning Tower) is do-able even in 1 hour! I have done it that way a couple time as often there has been a 1.5 hour wait for the next train while in Pisa. I use that time to take the "A" bus over to Campo dei Miracoli and see the Tower, take some photos, buy a souvenir and still get back to the train station in time to catch my train. Two hours should be more than enough time - even allowing time to climb the Tower if you should choose.

I first saw Pisa in only 40 min between trains, even including crossing town by foot to see the tower! That left only a few seconds to sightsee, but you can cut even more transit time by using the smallernorth train station near the tower rather than the central one (probably your train stops there anyway).

Not that Pisa isn't worth any more rambling - I stayed there 3 nights recently - but H. is right as usual that Lucca is the gem that deserves most of your time, unless you don't appreciate subtle unflashy charm.

I did exactly that trip last summer and it was very enjoyable. It takes about 20 minutes to walk from the main train station (which is the only one the train from Florence stops at) to the Leaning Tower. I walked back a different route and it was nice to see the very "untouristy" side of a medium sized Italian town. I wouldn't spend a whole day wandering around Pisa, but I thought it was worthwhile to walk through it. The area right around the tower is tourist city - stalls selling tacky souveniers, zillions of snapshot taking people. But aside from the fact that I enjoy seeing in "real life" something that I've seen in photos for so long, it really is beautiful architecutre. Not just the tower, but the church, the baptistry, the whole setting. Read up on the story of the building and the attempts at repairing the tower, it's really quite interesting.

Lucca was extremely "peaceful" and "lovely". I was there on a Sunday, that might have had something to do with it. But there was a very lively antiques market spread out over a large part of town so there were plenty of people around. But the stores were mostly closed. It's a very affluent community, and you can tell that just by walking around. It was not my favorite town in Italy but I'm glad I spent an afternoon there.

I too have done both Pisa and Lucca in one day. Make sure you make those reservations in advance to go up the tower or you could find yourself waiting. I would allot most of the day to Lucca, which we failed to do, as that is by far the most beautiful town of the two. We did not do that and did not feel that we had enough time in Lucca and spent too much time waiting to go up into the tower in Pisa. I should have posted this question before we left. Have fun. Jackie

Thank you so much to all of you who have replied. We will plan to go to Pisa in the morning as suggested, see the tower and the church and then we will take the train on to Lucca.

Huitres, What restaurants do you recommend for lunch or dinner in Lucca?

Thanks again for all yur advice! Laurie

Trains to and from Lucca probably all stop at the Tower square, before proceeding to the central station on the opposite (boring) side of Pisa. Even if you have a thru tkt, be prepared to jump off the train if you see the tower practically next to the south side of the tracks.

sheesh, guess i pushed a wrong button and lost an update. Prepurchase train tix from central Pisa to Lucca, but give a try to boarding train at stop just west of Baptistry. Should be able to confirm on internet all Lucca bound trains stop there, and pop up map for slightly southward dipping walking path to get to station.

Depending upon budget and time, you can also take a cab from Pisa to Lucca. We were in Pisa in the morning and found that the train was not due back for a while. Since it was raining and we didn't want to wait anymore we caught a taxi back to Lucca. I don't believe it was more than $20US.
Lisa S

Hi Laurie:

There are a lot of good places to eat in Lucca. Tuscan specialties include: pasta al fagiole (usually served as a soup with beans); fried zucchini florets; and bistecca alla fiorentina ("Florentine" style steak with garlic and rosemary).

My two favorite restaurants in Lucca are:

Trattoria Da Leo (Via Tegrimi, 1 Tel 11.39.0583.492.236) bustling with locals, comfortable, family style place with friendly service. Our meal in September was only 32,40 euros and included cover charge, bread/grassini basket, 2 beverages, 1 large bottled water, 2 primis-spaghetti con crema al funghi/quattro formaggio ravioli, 1 secondo/fiorentina steak, 1 contorno/plate of potatoes.

Ristorante da Francesco (Corte Portici, 13 Tel 011.39.0583.418.049). For example, 26,50 euros incl. a cover charge, bread, insalata caprese, tagliatelle con funghi, penne alla bologonese, roasted chicken and garlic rosemary potatoes, and a large bottle of mineral water.

Also, there is a very good pizzeria for more informal eating (eating a large slice of pizza while walking around looking at the sites). Pizzeria San Michele is in the main square, behind the Church of San Michele in Foro.

In addition, I found this bakery that I absolutely loved and went back nearly every day:

Il Forno Cei & Cianelli (off Piazza S. Maria B 9). For only 1,78 euros, we bought macaroons, chocolate haystacks, bread, and cookies (to name just a few things).

Buon appetito!

Huitres, Thank you for the restaurant information. I have taken notes and hope to try these places.

Viking, Thanks for the info about the train stops. Are there two places in Pisa that the train stops? the trenitalia website only shows one. Should I try to book train travel to the one that is near the tower? What is the name of that stop?

Thanks so much for your help! Laurie

Laurie" The Pisa Centrale station as listed on the trenitalia.com website is just fine. It is the one most used on connecting routes between Florence, Lucca, etc. From the station, it is ~20 minutes with the "A" bus, or you can walk over to the Leaning Tower. The whole thing is quite easy to do as Pisa is relatively small and easy to navigate.

Hi laurie,

The closer station is St. Rossore. You can get off there if you wish.

It used to be the gospel in this forum to direct Pisa travelers to the St. Rossore station which is practically on top of the tower square - have they removed it from tren. web site? From one end of the train you are practically staring at the tower, although I have only used the rather indirect exit path from the other end. This puts you in the north half of town which has interesting squares down to the nice river view.

The central station is in the dreary south side of the river which I would bypass when possible. However I would prepurchase all train tix in Florence for the longest and most expensive options you could possibly take (thru Pisa central, not the cheapest train type) since it should only cost maybe half a euro more yet leave flexible options open. These smaller stations sometimes present delays or difficulties in buying tix.

P.S. I think the best view of the whole tower complex is from an eyebrow window in the top of the baptistry. A guard showed me how to swing open a chickenwire bird guard for the ultimate photo (remember to close it back up).

Wow! Thanks so much for your suggestions on arriving in Pisa! This is the information that you cannot find in a guidebook.

I went to the Trenitalia website and found that if I enter Pisa S.as the destination, I can find the station at St. Rossore.

Thanks so much for the tip! I will probably purchase our train tickets while in Florence, but now I will know exactly which station in Pisa to book our train to.

Thanks again for all your advice! Laurie

When we were in Lucca it seemed like everything shut down after lunch and didn't reopen until quite late. You might want to go early to Lucca and after lunch train to Pisa. We got off at S. Rossore and you walk across the tracks to the left and through a small opening in the fence.