Pisa ( Tutte Le Stazioni ), near PSA?
 

Hi Everyone,

I'm heading to Tuscany from Lake Garda. Initially I was going to train down to FLR, rent a car and drive to Pisa. I'm considering training to Pisa, renting a car at the airport (to save the drive to Pisa and make it a bit more easy on us).

Is the Pisa train ( Tutte Le Stazioni ) near the airport?

Do you think it makes sense to train to Pisa over FLR?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Natalie

hi, nat,

Ok i see where you're gett ing confused.

when the trenitalia timetable comes up, it says "tutte le stazione" at the top.

however, on the left, each train says where it starts - Pisa centrale, Pisa aeroporto, etc. -those being the two main stations.

the airport is about 5 kms out of town. you need to find out whether your train from Garda goes to the airport. or if it only goes to centrale, is there a car hire office nearby.

it would be much easier to pick up a car in Pisa than florence where the traffic is truly horrible.

Where are you heading for in tuscany [if it's florence, don't bother with a car!]

regards, ann

hi, again,

I just had a another go with trains from pisa cetntrale to Aeroporto. they are every 20 minutes or so and take 5 minutes.

So you can easily get from centrale to the airport, even if it's not shown on your timetable.

hope this helps.

regards, ann

It is not very difficult to drive out of Pisa, and the central train station (not the airport station) is at the edge of the city. There is usually a car rental place at a train station, so you explore the possibility of renting your car right there, rather than lugging your bags to the airport.

Just make sure of two things: The rental office you choose will be open the hour when you arrive and that the rental office you choose has the type of car you want.

Airport rental offices are usually open 24 hours and have automatics, but unless you need either or both those things, renting near the Pisa train station should work for you.

Hi Ann,

My husband and I have visited florence (the city) last year, so this year we'll be staying two nights just outside San G and 3 nights in S. Tuscany. We are training down and had planned to rent a car in FLR, however, if you think it makes sense to rent in Pisa, I think we may consider it. The train on trenitalia says its Pisa Centrale. So where is centrale in relation to the airport?

Thanks in advance,
Natalie

PS: Not to complicate your life further, but have you considered renting a car somewhere in or near Garda -- like Brescia or Verona or even one of the larger lake towns? Since you are going to be paying for that whole day anyway, you can save the cost of your train tickets plus not be lugging your luggage around. It's not difficult to drive on the Autostrade south to Tuscany.

Pisa Centrale is quite near the Arno. I'm sure if you do a google search for a map of Pisa, the station will be clearly visible on the map. In Italy, train stations tend to be at the edge of the centuries old historic center, and airports are serveral miles out of town in the middle of farmland.

Fall, I did consider that: driving from Garda. I was just concerned that 5 hours of driving would wipe us out for that day. And restrict us from driving to Pisa and Volterra (one add'l hour each location).
I do like to drive, but was hesitant. Have you ever driven for that distance?

To further clarify, ``Tutte le Stazioni'' means ``All the Stations''. So this is just a heading for the list.

natalie,

My general pattern for driving in Italy is to leave after breakfast (about 10, 10:30), drive until lunch, pick up again (around 3pm) and be off the road no later than 5:30. I don't do that everyday, but on the days I do it, it works out.

However, you are right that including Pisa in the mix argues for taking the train there and enjoying the ride.

I still go with the recommendation that you do Volterra as a day trip from San Gimignano.

hi, Natalie,

if you search the trenitalia site again, put pisa aeroporto into the destination box.

this will give you the trains that go straight through to the airport from garda, [if any] and the connections from centrale, which are every 20 minutes or so. so all you have to do is to change at centrale for the airport - no need to know where the stations actually are at all. [unless you want to visit pisa].

personally, I would prefer to rent in garda, and make a day of it driving to San gim - my recollection [from about 25 years ago!] is that it was quite a nice drive, and if you have accommodation booked, you'll be able to take your time.

If you've never been to Pisa, and had a few hours to spend there, you could spend them nicely at the tower etc. But as you haven't mentioned an overwhelming desire to go there, I wouldn't bother.

I would avoid driving in Florence at all costs!

regards, ann :".