ltilley

DH and I are going to be in Florence for three days. We would like to spend a half day going to Pisa.

The main purpose would be to get a photo in front of the leaning tower to mimic a photo of my mother in front of the tower from the 50's.

We would take the train over in the morning and plan to spend about 4 hours there. Other than the leaning tower... is there anything else there to do or see. My tour books don't have much to say...

THANKS!

amy_zena

If it were me...I would just take the photo and leave. Go spend the rest of the time in nearby Lucca.

escargot

Agree with Amy - we basically went to Pisa for the same reasons you are - mimic an old photo from when I was yound with my kids, let them see the famous leaning tower they'd heard so much about, walk by the stands selling tourist memorabilia and had an ice cream and headed out - we were then on our way to San Gimignano, but stopping at Lucca is a good idea -

Dukey

I would not just take the photo..I would go inside the various buildings such as the cathedral and baptistry which are IMo interesting.

if you go early enough (the train ride from Florence only takes an hour) you go do all of that and Lucca, too.

ltilley

thanks for the feedback, we'll definately get the photo, grab lunch and see how we feel. Just wasn't sure if there were any must-see's that I was missing in the guide books.

Audie79

I agree with the other posters. You can spend about an hour to an hour and a half in Pisa to get a photo of the Leaning Tower and move on. There isn't anything else to do there and the shops are really touristy.

I loved Lucca and spent a half day there. It has a lot of great character and is charming! Think about it.

RufusTFirefly

While the famous Tower and the Bapistry and other sights around the Tower are best known, Pisa is actually an interesting, attractive, and vibrant city--once you get away from the somewhat junky and tacky tourist area around the Tower.

There are several interesting churches, the old city walls/tower, and a botanical garden, among other sights. The city is quite attractive and well maintained.

But it is true that it does not contain the sheer volume of high quality sights as, say, Venice and Rome do.

annhig

If you get the chance - go and have a peek at the Hotel Royal Victoria on the Arno - they have wonderful photos of all the people who have stayed there over the years, a roof-top bar, the real atmosphere of travel and Italy in years gone by.

phyllisnovotny

My kids and I did Pisa in an afternoon - it was plenty to walk - photos and see the sites. The food was great here when we were there this summer too.

Suki

I agree with Rufus. We walked back from the Tower to the train station so we walked along the river a bit, and stopped at a nice cafe. Pisa seemed like a place to see the real Italy if you know what I mean.

missypie

We toured the cathedral, the baptistery and walked up to the top of the tower (in addition to getting the pictures of each child holding up the tower [they are in my office right now; they make me smile]). They also have a lot of stalls selling Pisa kitsch; however, we found a lot of the "Florence souvineers" (e.g. paper, leather purses, etc.) there at prices that were less than at the San Lorenzo markets.

maitaitom

We did this a couple of years ago.

The train from Florence arrived at about 9:30 a.m. We walked (about 20 -25 minutes) from the train station to Piazza del Miracoli. We had made (online before we left) 11:30 a.m. reservations to go up in the Tower (which I would recommend...it was fun).

At the TI office in the piazza, we got a combo ticket for Baptistery and Cathedral. We did those two things, and then it was time for our ascent of the Tower.

If you do this, be sure to check any backpacks, purses, etc. They are strict about that here. The climb up the Tower, stopping for views at both levels and the deafening noontime bells took 1/2 hour.

We walked back through Pisa, grabbed a gelato and were back in Florence a little after 2 p.m.

People give Pisa a bad rap, but to me it was a fun little half day. If you go to Italy, you might as well climb the Leaning Tower, take the goofy picture holding up the Tower (well, of course we did) and tell the folks back home what a death-defying climb it is (it isn't, but they won't know that).

vinolover

We enjoyed our day trip to Pisa. Thought the Baptistry was very nice (ask if the guard will sing for you, the acoustics are wonderful). Loved the inside of the duomo, thought it was a nice a church as many we saw in Florence or Rome. We also toured the cemetery (in the same compound as the tower and duomo) and thought it was interesting.

I think it all depends on what other plans you have for your time in Italy as to how much you want to devote to this area. We don't like squeezing too much into one day and saved Lucca for a longer visit on our next trip.

flanneruk

Are we seriously talkimg about Pisa, Tuscany here?

Or some tacky resort in New Jersey or the Lancashire coast that's changed its name without my noticing?

The Piazza dei Miracoli (where the cathedral and bell tower are) in Pisa (the real one) is beautiful. Really, mind-bendingly, beautiful in a way few other cathedral closes in Europe come anywhere near. If it wasn't for an incompetent consulting engineer back in the 12th century, it'd be famous just as a wonderful example of Italian Romanesque (or as we call it in the civilsed world, Norman) architecture.

And it's not just the cathedral, baptistery and bell tower. The Museo dell'Opera del Duomo has glorious sculptures: the Museo delle Sinopie a fantastic range of frescoes and underpaintings.

Above all, the whole Piazza area has a website (www.tiny.cc/PaOSq ) which, in a country that's almost pathologically computer-blind, is almost as good as the piazza itself. Leaving aside its bizarre English (why IS official Italy so hopeless at English? No French or German state-run site would tolerate such illiteracy), it's a model of how to show a global treasure off, and a fantastic tool to plan at least a day there.

And with glories like the Piazza around you, it really isn't difficult to ignore the junk merchants.

ltilley

thanks... I'm actually really excited to see Pisa. If not for any other reason than to picture my mom there over 50 years ago...

I went to Pisa's website and it's very good. We'll reserve our tower tickets and plan to spend a few hours there. I'm looking forward to it!!!!

andasamo

I spent a couple hours in Pisa last March. All we did was walk from the train station to the tower, climb the tower, and walk back to the train station. But I thought the city was lovely and wished we'd had more time.

In fact, we are returning this summer - spending the night this time - and I am quite looking forward to it!