I looked up the schedule for Florence SMN to Pisa San Rossore.

No problem.

However, it show a non-existent transfer at San Rossore that indicates "Path inside the station".

Does that mean you get out of the station thru some station tunnel?

Yes, it's simply a walkway.

If the schedule to Pisa S.R. doesn't meet you needs there are more frequent trains to Pisa Centrale, and from there you can take a bus right to the tower area.

The schedule is ok.

I want the S.R. train staion both in and out.

Florence-Pisa
and
Pisa - Lucca.

Looks quite convenient.

I just wanted to make sure this isn't one of those "you can't get there from here" type of things.

Good.

A few lessons learned.

1. Pisa is flat, so you CAN walk from the train station.
2. Be sure to validate your train ticket BEFORE you get on the train. The conductors will happily collect a hefty fine from you if you fail to do so. If your kids put on a teary eye they may waive or reduce the fee for you, but don't count on it.

J62.

Amusing.

Our kids are married and have kids of their own.

Maybe I'll take the grandkids along and teach them to cry on cue.

If you are daytripping to Lucca, I would reverse the city order. Visit Lucca early (consider taking the bus also - I think it's Lazzi) as most things close in the afternoon. Train to Pisa from Lucca after lunch.

I haven't been to S. Rossore in a few years, but when we were there you had to walk across the tracks and through a fence opening to shortcut to the tower. Zoom in on Google maps and switch to satellite views to see the street views.

I used S. Rossore last year. I took the Lucca-S. Rossore train. There wasn't even a station building on the platform. It felt like getting off a bus onto a side walk. Campo dei Miracoli is not even 10 minutes walk from there.

We're going from Florence to Pisa, Lucca and then onto Cinque Terre to sleep over and the next day.

The train to Lucca is not very good. We can go from Florence to Pisa, spend an hour or so around the Leaning Tower and then go on to Lucca and get there at the same time as taking a train from Florence to Lucca.

If thengs are closed for a few hours we'll wonder the town. That's the plan. We won't leave until about 6:30PM and possibly after dinner (though probably not).

So going to Pisa first and then Lucca works out best on the train schedule.

>>>The train to Lucca is not very good.<<<
I'm not sure what that is supposed to mean. The train to Lucca is the same type as the train to Pisa. Both are R trains which mean no seat reservations or amenities. That's one reason people use the Lazzi bus which is just a tad faster, has AC in the summer (the R train won't)and is more comfy. Departs beside the Florence train station. There is very little train travel time difference for Florence/Pisa (1:18 to S. Rossore) or Florence/Lucca (1:22 travel time). The bus is 70 minutes to Lucca.

What do you plan to do with your luggage while you are wandering around? The S. Rossore station has no facilities. If you need to store luggage it will have to be at Pisa Centrale. Lucca doesn't have storage either.

I didn't mean the type of train wasn't very good. I meant the schedule.

Going from Florence to Lucca you have a train at 9:08 which is too early for us. The next one is at 9:57 and is very slow arriving at 12:28 (2:31!!). You spend well over 2 hours on the train.

The one after that leaves at 11:38 and arrives at 13:21.

We could leave Florence at 9:57 and arrive in Pisa (SR) at 11:14.

After spending some time seeing the Leaning Tower (a lower priority for us than Lucca) we could leave Pisa (SR) at 12:25 arriving in Lucca at 12:47 or even leave Pisa at 12:55 arriving in Lucca at 13:17.

Both are still earlier than the 13:21 we would have arrived from Florence without going to Pisa first.

As to our luggage. We'll be keeping our hotel room in Florence (a bit extravagant I know) and the overnight will be with a small backpack of necessities.

The Duomo in Pisa is stunning - well worth the moderaste (€2 I think) admission fee. I would probably rate it among my top 3 cathedrals in Italy (along with Siena and Monreale in Sicily - but I still have plenty to see).

>>>As to our luggage. We'll be keeping our hotel room in Florence (a bit extravagant I know) and the overnight will be with a small backpack of necessities.<<<

I've done that before in the US, but in Europe I check out and arrange storage with the hotel. They usually don't mind since you are returning to stay with them and most have luggage rooms.

I see you don't want to depart early. If you change your mind (or for anyone seeking options in the future) there is a direct bus at 8:15 to Lucca (4.70€) that arrives at 9:30 (lots of other bus times available during the day - some taking a bit longer).

As for S. Rossore, the station is a bit sketchy, but shouldn't be a problem during the day. There are only ticket machines and you can't always count on them working so you might want to keep an eye out for the Trenitalia logo as you are walking to the tower.

There is a podcast you can download if you are interested.
http://www.opapisa.it/en/miracles-sq...e/podcast.html

kybourbon,

My intention is to buy the Florence-Pisa and Pisa-Lucca tickets in Florence before we leave. Probably the day before. I figured there would be a purchasing issue at San Rossore.

Any reason we can't do that?

About the hotel. I thought about packing up, checking out and having the hotel store our luggage. While I expect we may return late in the evening the next day and won't like the idea of basically checking back in and unpacking, I asked.

They gave me an extra 10E per day discount. They called it "early booking a stay for the entire duration of the trip".

So it wouldn't really be worth packing up. I'll bet if I did they wouldn't charge back the extra amount. But convenience is worth something.

It has been several years (8 or 9, I think) since we used S. Rossore, and I hope the area is improved. We rode the train with an older man that was mugged on his way from the Campo M. to SR, and he was pretty beat up and bleeding. Going through the pedestrian tunnel, we saw several used syringes on the ground.

I don't think this is going to happen to you, but my suggestion is to keep your heads up and your valuables inside your clothing.