I am planning on staying one night in Pisa enroute to Rome. We will be arriving via train in the late afternoon and departing around noon the next day. Yes, I know most of you don't even do a daytrip here, much less an overnight. But our fate is already sealed - we are going to see if Pisa is unfairly given a bum rap!

Looking for suggestions on a three star hotel (90-125E?), Hotel Royal Victoria?

And moderate restaurant (15-20E per person excluding wine), Da Bruno, near the Duomo and the Tower?

Also looking for suggestions on what is there to do and see besides the Tower Area? Walks of the historic district perhaps?
Tower area rants and raves are also welcome.

If you can, walk up into the tower, my friends did and still talk about it to this day. I didn't because I have acrophobia. Go into the bapistry and the area. You know already that the area around the tower has alot of vendors, etc. but just take some grains of salt and you will have a good time.

I liked Pisa, I know others don't but I tend to live in the moment when I am on vacation so "attitude is everything" to quote another fodorite.

There are plenty of folks here who would tell you there is more to Pisa than the tower and other buildings located on the Field of Miracles but the tower is justafiably famous and attracts many visitors and for good reasons.

I know you've seen the pictures of it but once you actually see it up close you'll realize why it mesmerizes so many.

This IS Italy, whether the Tuscany romantics caught up in the cypress trees and the hill towns want to acknowledge it or not, and it is obviously worth one's time unless millions of people were all wrong which I rather doubt.

Degas, here's a recent thread about Pisa:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34729715

It might help. I hope you come back with a new "Pisa Walking Tour".

In my opinion Pisa isin't worth more than an overnight but I'm sure people will have other opinions. We were just there and stayed at the hotel Duomo. It was a decent hotel with a decent breakfast. The hotel is about 200 meters from the Duomo and you can see it at night from the roof. I'm sure that we were more anxious to get to Florence. We did end up going to Vinci which was fun.

Hi, thanks for the feedback.

I'm approaching Pisa with a positive attitude, an open mind, and my trusty white walking shoes.

Hotel Duomo, that is where we stayed! I have been trying to remember the name of that hotel in Pisa.

Degas, stayed in Pisa overnight and was never sorry that we did. However we had a long time in Italy so I can understand if someone just has 10 days or the like they may not want to spend one of the nights in Pisa.

Like SeaUrchin I did not climb the tower but my husband and daughter did. My daughter fell going down but thankfully did not hurt herself. I spent time in the duomo while they climbed the tower. I will always remember the duomo, it is so beautiful and it was so peaceful (at least when I was there).

I don't remember where we had dinner so guess nothing fantastic but obiously not terrible either..just a casual trattoria.

Have fun, look forward to reading your trip report.

I've spent some time in Pisa on a couple of occasions a while back. It is a very nice university city.

There are not a lot of special attractions other than the Tower and surroundings, but we enjoyed looking around the old city.

Just don't take the most direct route from the Centrale train station to the field of miracles, there's a nicer way to walk: With the station at your back, keep straight, Corso Italia, cross the bridge Ponte Mezzo that takes you into the pedestrian-only Borgo Stretto. If you can look up a map, find Piazza dei Cavalieri, it has an almost unspoiled Renaissance look about it, I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of filming went on there.

Overall I'd say, yes, a visit to the tower and adjacent cathedral is well worth it, there's nothing like that tower in the world and it looks more askew live than in pictures - it makes everybody smile! And you come home with wacky pix, opf course.

Since you can walk there and back and take your time for a coffee on the way, all in about two hours (if you didn't book to go up on the tower, that takes longer), you can do Pisa between trains if you're travelling through, just get off and pick a later train to carry on.

WK

Thanks for the additional feedback - lots of good ideas.

degas, I haven't been to Pisa, but here's an old post I had saved in case I get there:

Author: ppp ([email protected])
Date: 05/03/2002, 12:26 pm

Even Pisa detractors must agree that the Campo dei Miracoli, with its green lawn and the four Pisan-Romanesque buildings, is one of the finest and unparalleled architectural ensembles of the world. Of course, there are tacky souvenir stands all around that may get on one´s nerves, but these shouldn´t prevail. But there´s much more to Campo dei Miracoli than the splendid general view (best when approaching from the west, through Porta Santa Maria).

The magnificent west front façade aside, the highlights of the Duomo are its impressive 100 mts long interior, with its deep apse, 3-aisled transept and numerous piers; its fine Giovanni Pisano pulpit, the transept door Pisano´s Romanesque bronze panels and the Bologna´s bronze main doors.
The Battistero is so perfectly built that if one talks at low tone in one side, one may be understood in the other. The masterpiece in the Battistero is Pisano´s pulpit and I the octogonal center font is lovely.
IMO, though, the highlight of the Campo dei Miracoli is the Camposanto. To get the right perspective, one must have in mind that it was completely destroyed by a WW2 bomb. The restauration work done (specially regarding the frescos) is simply amazing and the result is magnificent. The cycle comprising the Triumph of Death, the Last Judgment and Hell, painted by an unknown 14C artist at the height of the black death, is simply amazing. Restoration work on tombstones should still be on. This gives the opportunity for visitors to watch it real time (and have it explained by restorators).

Did you notice that I didn´t even mentioned the Tower ... to me, it fits perfectly in the ensemble and is and outstanding example of the Pisan Romanesque architecture ... period!
There´s much more to Pisa than Campo dei Miracoli. Since more than 90% of tourists restrict their visit to the Campo, I guarantee that you´ll feel like you´re just about the only tourist in town if you stroll away from it. The old town has a maze of narrow and interesting alleys. The streets of the city are geared toward locals (50,000 of them students, almost half of the entire population), not tourists.

There are mane very good restaurants, from simple to elegant, in most of which you´ll hardly hear a word in English. The river, with its bridges, is lovely, as is the historic centre of Pisa, Piazza dei Cavalieri. The Santa Maria della Spina church, overlooking the Arno, is a must.

In all, Pisa is IMO one of the most vibrant cities in Italy. Unfortunately you won´t have the chance to visit it by night. It has a very intense cultural life: there isn´t a single evening/night (except 2nd half of July and August) that something (theatre, music, dance, etc) isn´t going on.
Pisa detractors lack something! Or are so overwhelmed by the desire to visit the Tower (which won´t live up to expectations) that disappointment is a certainty.

SusanP, that old post had some good info. I'll keep my expectations low and my mind open.