I think Italy is one of the countries I have traveled to the most in my life. I have visited quite a few destinations in this beautiful country (Venice, Rome, Naples, the Cinque Terre, the Genoese coast, the Aosta Valley…) but I had never been to Tuscany. And yet, I had long dreamed of visiting this part of Italy and in particular the city of Pisa. It was done last year, when we took a 12-day road trip through Tuscany during the month of September (from late August to mid-September) with my favorite photographer as well as our friend Borey. We three set off on the Italian roads to discover this beautiful region.
We chose to do a loop throughout Tuscany. Our arrival and departure point was the city of Pisa because we decided to fly with Easyjet (see below for details). I have provided a small map below with our different stops in Tuscany so that you can get an idea of our itinerary (and why not recreate it if you like it).
To go back to the first stage of this trip, the city of Pisa, I was very pleasantly surprised by our time in the city. I must say that when preparing our trip, many people told me “don’t go to Pisa, it has no interest”. I can now say that I absolutely do not agree with that. I think that a brief stay in Pisa (1 or 2 days) is really worth it from my point of view.
_
Table of Contents
Getting to Tuscany / Practical Info
After quite a few hours of searching on the internet, it seemed to us that the cheapest way to get to Tuscany from Paris was to take an Easyjet flight to Pisa (tickets are much cheaper than flights to Florence, for example). From this starting point, we designed our trip around this premise: we would land and take off in Pisa. For the rest of the trip, we generally traveled by train and bus, then we rented a car in the Valdichiana Senese to get to the Tuscan coast for the last part of our journey.
As for luggage, to minimize costs, the favorite photographer and I brought only 1 checked bag (as there is a supplement of €56 per bag for a round trip with Easyjet), so we had 2 carry-on bags + 1 checked suitcase for 12 days. Unfortunately, we couldn’t bring back too many souvenirs, but otherwise, we managed by doing laundry during the trip.
Easyjet Paris-Pisa flight Cost: by buying tickets a little last minute for a late August departure, it cost us €68 round trip per person My pro tip: if you are traveling with several people, buy your tickets together. I don't know why, but ticket prices drop depending on the number of tickets purchased... at least that is what I noticed when buying tickets for the 3 of us at the same time
_
Things to do and see in Pisa
Obviously, when one thinks of Pisa, one imagines its famous leaning tower, whose image has traveled the world. It can obviously be visited and is located in the heart of the Square of Miracles, the Campo dei Miracoli, where you must also discover the Duomo, the baptistery, and the Camposanto. This superb complex was erected between the 11th and 12th centuries to celebrate the victory of the Pisan fleet over the Saracens in 1063. It is also an opportunity to admire the thousands of tourists who flock to the square to see the tower, but especially to try to take a photo of themselves “with the Tower” at the price of sometimes rocambolesque acrobatics that are worth the detour!
If you want to visit these monuments, I highly recommend booking your ticket in advance to avoid an interminable wait. For our part, we booked 3 skip-the-line tickets for the Leaning Tower, Cathedral, Cemetery, Baptistery, and Museo delle Sinopie with the site Musement (which I have already told you about on the blog). When making the reservation, you must choose a day and also a visit time (the latter is actually especially important for the Leaning Tower of Pisa). You can also get entry tickets for the Tower and the Cathedral here.
_
The Leaning Tower of Pisa
The city’s emblem is really worth the detour, and above all, I highly recommend visiting the interior of the monument. I admit that before this visit, I myself thought that seeing the tower from the outside was more than enough and that it wasn’t really worth paying so much (the ticket alone to visit the tower is €18, after all) to go inside.
But in the end, the combo ticket motivated me, and honestly, I really don’t regret this visit. Indeed, the most spectacular thing about this tower is the climb! As a reward, after climbing the 251 steps (yes, it’s a bit of a workout) of its internal spiral staircase, you reach the final loggia of the monument, which gives you a magnificent view of the city and the square!
For the anecdote, this climb was the first in a long series of Tuscan towers (with a great number of steps) climbed during this stay. To the point that it became a daily joke throughout the trip, and we waited with anticipation for our daily batch of “steps”. But back to the Leaning Tower of Pisa… What an incredible sensation to climb a staircase while having the impression at times of being pushed forward and at others backward… The experience is in any case far from mundane, and the feeling is truly very strange. Our center of gravity is completely disoriented, and we lose our bearings entirely inside the tower when we can no longer see the outside.
Otherwise, for the historical side of the visit, it must be known that this tower is actually the bell tower of the cathedral located right next to it. Its construction began in the 12th century, and apparently, the tower began to lean very quickly. This is notably explained by the very unstable subsoils on which it is installed. Between 1998 and 2001, major work was carried out to stabilize the tower and allow it to continue to be visited.
_
The Cathedral / Duomo
This impressive cathedral with its four floors of arcaded galleries sits at the center of the square. Its construction (between the 11th and 13th centuries) embodies the domination of the city of Pisa over the Eastern Mediterranean at that time. And it is true that it is imposing with its polychrome marble figures typical of the Romanesque-Pisan style and its magnificent Byzantine-style mosaic located in the apse.
My little tip: in the cathedral and in the baptistery, if you are a woman and it is hot (which is often the case when visiting Pisa), you might end up adorned (like me in the photo) with a very stylish blue fabric bag, of the most beautiful effect… And yet I had my shoulders covered, but shorts really don’t pass… On the other hand, men in shorts, that’s no problem… No comment…
_
The Baptistery
Large-scale, this baptistery, whose construction began in the mid-12th century, was interrupted for more than a century before being resumed by two important architects and sculptors of Pisa, Nicolas Pisano and his son Giovanni. Its circular base is Romanesque in style, while the upper part is Gothic. This heterogeneity is explained by the length of time taken for the construction of the building. Furthermore, the dome was only completed at the end of the 14th century.
_
The Camposanto
Do not miss the visit to this monumental Gothic cemetery built in the 12th century to house the remains of illustrious inhabitants of Pisa. This place is full of interest because one can also discover a very beautiful collection of Roman sarcophagi reused in the Middle Ages. Finally, one must also go there to admire the magnificent frescoes painted on the walls that date back to the 14th century, including the famous “Triumph of Death”.
_
The Museo delle Sinopie
This is unfortunately the only place we didn’t have time to visit. Indeed, I had booked a somewhat late time for the Leaning Tower of Pisa (5:30 PM), and we didn’t have time to do everything before the sites closed. If you want to make the most of your ticket, I advise you to plan for half a day instead.
These Musement tickets include entry to 5 places, all located around the
Campo dei Miracoli:
- Skip-the-line access to the Leaning Tower of Pisa
- Entry to the cathedral (Duomo)
- Entry to the Baptistery
- Entry to the Camposanto
- Entry to the Museo delle Sinopie
Rate: €26 per person for the combo ticket_
Where to eat an ice cream in Pisa? Il Gelato Di Toto
You should know that we were accompanied by a big (big) ice cream eater… We discovered it during this first evening in Pisa, when Borey, around 11:00 PM, absolutely wanted to eat an ice cream, and then throughout the stay it was one of the leitmotifs of this trip: eating at least one ice cream per day! In short, all that to say that we discovered a pretty decent ice cream parlor in Pisa, and I recommend it to you if you are also one of those “gelato-addicts”.
Il Gelato Di Toto Borgo Stretto, 15, 56127 Pisa PI, Italy
_
Where to dine in Pisa? Trattoria Il Campano
A bit by chance, while wandering through the streets of Pisa, we sat on the terrace of the restaurant Il Campano to sustain ourselves. In the evening, the place and the square are really not lacking in charm.
Ristorante Pisa Trattoria Il Campano Via Domenico Cavalca 19, 56126 Pisa Price: for the three of us, sharing our dishes and each with a glass of wine, it cost us €59
_
Strolling through the streets of Pisa at night
After our dinner on the terrace, we took advantage of the mildness of this end of August to stroll a bit randomly through the streets of the city. That’s how we discovered the ice cream parlor I mentioned above at the turn of a street. The favorite photographer obviously took the opportunity to capture the nocturnal and almost secret life of the city that was still awake. In any case, regarding security, you can walk through the streets without worry because they are quite full and lively during the tourist season.
_
Where to sleep in Pisa? The NH Pisa
This hotel is very well located, as it is right in front of the Pisa train station and not far from the airport either (we came on foot from the airport and it took us about 20 minutes) if you are not too heavily loaded, of course. Likewise, from the hotel, you are a 15/20 minute walk from the main monuments of Pisa to visit, which I was telling you about above.
Our room had a small balcony overlooking the station, which is quite nice. The bedding is top-notch, as in all the NH hotels that I have been able to test so far. And the very appreciable plus: there is good double glazing on the windows, which meant the room was quite quiet once the windows were closed. And this despite the fact that it overlooks a very busy square. Finally, I particularly appreciated the little personalized touches in the room, like the little note on the closet that I found super sweet! Honestly, I test quite a few hotels for the blog, and it’s the first time I’ve had this kind of delicacy.
Regarding breakfast (thanks to Claudia and Maria for the preparation), it is quite classic and fairly international, and it perhaps lacked a few Italian products. But we were ready for the day, and that’s the main thing!
NH Pisa
Piazza della Stazione, 2, 56125 Pisa – Italy
Link to book a room
_
Thanks to Musement and the NH group for their invitations.
I hope that with all this, I will have made you want to discover or rediscover Italy, the Tuscany region, and Pisa. And if you also have your own tips for this destination, feel free to share them in the comments!
Find all my articles on Italy below:
⇒ All my articles on Italy
MY STOPS IN ITALY
⇒ Weekend in Rome
⇒ The Aosta Valley
⇒ Tuscany
MY ITINERARY IN TUSCANY (2019)
⇒ Stop 1 Pisa
⇒ Stop 2 Lucca
⇒ Stop 3 Florence
⇒ Stop 4 Siena
⇒ Stop 5 The Valdichiana Senese
Photo credits: Nicolas Diolez and Melle Bon Plan Photos are not royalty-free, photographer authorization mandatory before any use
