Spring Break in Italy: Pisa Stop

One of our goals for our Spring Break trip to Italy was to finally see the famous leaning tower. Yes, it’s quite touristy, but we wanted to see if after just missing it a few years back.

Note: a few hours in Pisa is sufficient, since the tower is the main thing to see there. We effectively stopped there to break up the trip from Rome to the Cinque Terre.

Getting there

We were coming from Rome, where we’d spent our first couple of nights. To get to Pisa, we first took a 1.5 hour fast train ride from Rome to Florence, and then took a somewhat slower train for another 1.5 hours the rest of the way to Pisa. Pisa itself is about 88km (55 miles) west of Florence, so it would be close enough for a day trip.

From the Pisa Centrale train station, it’s a solid 25 minute walk through town to get to the tower, so leave enough time. That said, it was a nice walk.

After arriving in Pisa, we stowed our luggage at a luggage service near the train station that we found online. Logistics-wise, left Rome at 9:10 and arrived just before noon.

Ideally, you should get advance timed tickets for the tower. It might be possible to get the tickets that day, but might require more waiting. I believe our tickets may have been 1:30pm for our noon arrival, as we left time to walk through town and get a quick bite to eat.

The Tower and Church

The famous tower is actually the bell tower of the cathedral on that site. There are a number of different buildings related to the church there (e.g. the duomo, the baptistery, a building with artifacts/treasures) that you should tour when you’re there. The ticket you purchased will get you into the different buildings.

Ideally, you should get there early and use the time buffer before your scheduled ticket time to see these other buildings. Or if you were running late, see them afterwards.

As you arrive, you’ll notice everybody else trying to take the same photos, as it’s that kind of destination. But it’s fun.

One thing to be aware of is that no bags are allowed inside the tower. This is more than just backpacks – Jennifer had to check in her purse into the nearby storage lockers.

From there, they give an overview, and it’s a 230 step climb to the top of the tower. It’s an odd climb, as you can feel the slant of the building as you go around the stairs. From the top, there’s a nice view of the surrounding city.

Pisa

Otherwise, we had a small lunch in town on our way to the tower, and likewise eventually walked back to the station, and picked up our luggage to continue on. It was a nice enough university town, though a few hours was enough for us. The countryside just outside the urban area was a nice green.