An Enthralling Day trip to Pisa from Florence

Florence was our base for exploring the Tuscan zone of Italy. We did a day trip (more of a half day trip) to Pisa from Florence.

There is no need to pre-book train tickets. After a filling Florentine sandwich lunch, we headed to Firenze Santa Maria Novella (SMN) railway station. We bought our tickets at the Trenitalia kiosk (all major credit and travel cards accepted). The journey takes approximately an hour to reach Pisa Centrale train station. There were many empty seats and the journey was comfortable.

The number of English speaking people reduced as we approached Pisa. But nevertheless people were very friendly and helpful. We took the LAM Rosso bus from Pisa Centrale [Ticket: 2€]. Get down at the Torre 1 stop. If you have enough time in hand then instead of the bus you may walk [2km, 25-30 mins] from station to the Field of Miracles. Follow the route: Pisa Centrale> via Francesco Crispi>cross Arno river>Via Roma (don’t miss the Tuttomondo mural by Keith Haring)

The Pisa Cathedral, Pisa Baptistry, Leaning Tower and the monumental cemetery are the main attractions in Field of Miracles. The Leaning Tower, famous for photo fanatics, is really worth gazing for hours. Go near the base of the tower to understand how much the tower has tilted from its base foundation. You may buy a ticket [18€] for climbing to the top of the tower 9we didn’t do it) but you must have time in hand as there are queues and only few people are allowed at a single time.

In this Instagram Hotspot, we spend almost 2 hours just to get the correct poses.

For return we took a bus from the stop right across the road to reach Pisa Centrale. We bought tickets from the Tabacchi at the station. The return train was double decker and we were super excited as it was the first time for all the four of us. The sunset at the backdrop of the far stretched Tuscan fields and orchards was mesmerizing. The view from top deck felt even more awesome.

We reached Firenze SMN station after an hour. We still relish every moment of this beautiful day trip.

Tips and Highlights:

• Since Florence has the main attractions, therefore make your base in Florence for visiting Pisa.

• There are both daily buses and trains running throughout the day between Florence and Pisa

• Both the buses and trains start from Firenze SMN station and Pisa Centrale station resp.

• The site I prefer to search and book travelling tickets is Omio: https://www.omio.com/

• The best way to travel between major cities in Itay is Italo Treno. You need to pre-book your tickets: https://www.italotreno.it/en

• For travel to small locations you may avail Trenitalia or the numerous bus services available

• There are no tickets to enter the Field of Miracles. Yu have to pay only to enter the respective monuments

• Keep change (in €) for getting bus tickets in Pisa

• Tickets to climb to the top of Leaning Tower are limited, so get an estimate of the availability before you plan. Book online: http://www.towerofpisa.org/tickets/