Pisa and other places west of Florence
 

No offene to Pisa, but is it really worth the trip from Florence? My wife and I have only two short days in Tuscany - we will be driving, starting out from Florence. If we headed west to Pisa, is there enough there, and are there other nice destinations on the way back east (we are staying in San G) to make the trip worthwhile? Or, given the shortness of our time there, should we just head south and focus on the Chianti region, San G, Siena, Montelcino, etc.?

With only two days and so many wonderful places to see in Tuscany, I think you'd be crazy to go to Pisa.

Hello Cally, with only two days in Tuscany personally I would not bother spending time to go to Pisa. If you were driving by Pisa spending a bit of time would be fine but I wouldn't lose the precious time that you have in Tuscany. Do have a wonderful trip!

we were in Florence for 4 days and I regret taking an afternoon to go to Pisa...definately pass.

A really nice day-trip could be: Pisa in the morning, Luca (a beautifukl walled-city nearby) in the afternoon/evening.

I actually enjoyed the town of Pisa and we stayed there two nights -- but that is only after visiting a couple of dozen other Tuscan towns that I'd put way above it.

I agree that if you are doing Pisa, then Lucca is the best to combine with it, but I'd stick with the plan to head south and spend a full day doing Pienza, Montepulciano, and Montalcino, and a few of the tiny towns between them.

Fantastic advice! Thanks to everyone or your input.

Excerpt from my trip report:

Tuesday, March 13: Florence to Pisa and on to Venice

We woke up early and stored our luggage at the B&B. (For those who are wondering, the luggage storage at the Florence train station does open at 6am.)

We took the 7:57 train, which arrives at Pisa S. Rossore station at 9:15am. This train station is much closer to the tower than Pisa Centrale.

We followed PalenQ's directions to the tower:

"Though the sleepy San Rossore station is practically within eyeshot of the Tower, getting from the station to the Tower area is not obvious upon arrival in my experience ....

from the station as i believe you cross the easternmost tracks (or use subway) and then go out a gate in the back fence and then head east."

We followed PalenQ's advice (and the crowd) and headed east. Following our gut instinct we turned a corner and saw the duomo. We checked in for our 10am climb and still had time to find an ATM and a WC.

We LOVED Pisa. The sun was out, not a cloud in the sky, and very few tourists prior to 10am. I am dismayed by the number of people that tried to dissuade us from visiting Pisa, as we had a fantastic time. If you want to avoid the crowds, go early. You could do our exact itinerary an hour earlier (train at 6:57, climb at 9) and be out of there before the crowds invade. Pisa was beautiful.
"

I thought Pisa was awlful and a waste of time. So many other places to visit that are much, much nicer.

Chiming in here... I agree that you don't really have enough time for Pisa. I doubt I'd go again even if I did have enough time.

If you have enough time to really explore the architecture, marvel at the Duomo and generally avoid the 20 minute "look the tower is leaning! - lets take photographs of us holding it up" version of Pisa, then the city is worth doing.

To my mind this will be even more true once they find a permanent home for the roman boats they found.

If you have only two days in Tuscany including Florence, then just stay in Florence - two days is hardly enough to scratch the surface. If the teo days excludes Florence, then visit Siena one day, then choose from Volterra, San Gimignao, Lucca, Montepulciano or Montalcino (or two of the above).