vivi

I will be changing trains in Pisa tomorrow. I can leave Florence earlier and have a longer layover if it is do-able to dash and see the Leaning Tower and then dash back to the train. Is there a left luggage room in Pisa? Would 2 hours be enough time or is this pushing it? It it worth the effort??
THANKS

amyb

Do you literally just want to see it or do you want to climb it? I think you could manage that but if you want to linger, stop in the baptistry or duomo (which you should, imho), then I think 2 hours is kind of tight.

Dukey

Even if you take a taxi back and forth I think two hours could be tight..I'd give myself three and try to do more than just view the tower.

yk

To actually climb the tower, you'll have to book tickets in advance.

vivi

I dont want to climb the tower, I just wanted to see it as I was passing through. But it seems like the trains staion is pretty far from the campo and I dont want to have major stress about missing my next train....

amyb

If I remember correctly, it was about a 15-20 min walk, it's not that far. But to get there and just see it and leave would be a shame.

vivi

I hate to miss seeing the Tower but maybe I will have skip it. Today I went to the Florence train station to get on the first train I saw to either Pisa or Lucca. The Lucca train was waiting, I jumped on and spent the day being enchanted by this charming town. It was wonderful to be in a car/Vespa-free zone.

flanneruk

I suggest you're asking the wrong question here.

It's at least a 20 min (I'd say 30) walk each way. I didn't see any taxis round the exit from the Campo last time I was there. It's 10 mins max by bus, less than €1 each way and there are about 7 buses an hour most of the day, though they're a bit less frequent at lunchtime.

BUT:

You (at least I) have convinced yourself this is just a cheesy famous sight to notch up on the bedpost. You dash in, partly intending to giggle a bit at what the tourists are doing.

Then, to you gobsmacked astonishment you realise this is truly beautiful. It's not a bit of inept early medieval engineering: you really had never quite twigged how utterly glorious Romanesque architecture could be. Nothing one millionth as beautiful in Florence.

You tell yourself you'll find out more, order the Rolf Toman book on the Romanesque from Amazon when you get home, if you've chosen your home wisely sign up on your local university's Romanesque course and suddenly start seeing your local medieval churches in a wholly new light.

Your life will never be the same again.

The question isn't "how long will it take?" It's "how much earlier must I leave Florence to ensure I've got enough time to see - and wonder over - Europe's most under-rated aesthetic marvel?"

weelittlemaggie

Two hours is totally enough time if you want to just go see it, snap a couple pictures, grab a piece of pizza, and get back on the train.

There is a room to check your luggage in the Pisa station, though (if I remember correctly) they close relatively early. My friends and I thought we would be stuck in the Pisa train station most of the night with our luggage as we waited for our connection to Nice, but we really lucked out. If you will be there in the evening, after the luggage room closes, go out the front of the train station, around the fountain, and straight down the street. On the left, there is a hotel where (and this is a secret, don't spread it around or they might stop) if you ask very nicely, they will let you leave you luggage in their luggage room (for no charge) while you take a look at the tower. They're even nice enough to give you a map and draw the best route for you.

And as a special treat, if you're there around dusk, early night, you should hit the river, where all the locals under 30 grab a drink and sit on the walls of the river to chat. We're talking 200 people hanging out. Good times.

vivi

Thanks for the replies! I left Florence very early and had almost 4 hours in Pisa. I walked to the campo, how wonderful to stroll on a pedestrians-only street after bustling Florence. When I arrived at the Leaning Tower there were hardly any people there, fantastico! I visited the Duomo, baptistery, and also ducked into 3 neighborhood churches that were absolutely lovely. No problems depositing baggage at the station, very easy process.

Now I am in Rapallo, I picked it by pointing to a spot on a map because I needed someplace to stay before I meet my daughter tomorrow in CT. Rapallo is adorable, it seems positively cheap after the high prices in Florence.

peppermintpatti

Vivi, I'm so glad you got to visit Pisa! And thank you for coming back to let everyone know how it worked out! That will be a help to someone else with your same questions. What a great forum this is, that you can post a question from your vacation site, and get an answer in time to use the information! Have fun on the rest of your trip! pp

MKE

Vivi, I'm also glad that you got a chance to visit Pisa. It was one of the highlights of my trip in Sept 05. I wish I had had the time to see more than I did. I purchased a first class ticket from Florence to Pisa that was to leave at 12:03 pm. By mistake, I got on a 12:00 train (same platform) and found out that it was a local train that stopped at nearly every town in between and took twice as long as the right train would have. Nevertheless, I had some of the best pizza in Italy at the Pisa train station.