Pisa Travel Guide
From Wikitravel
Pisa [1] is a city in Tuscany, Italy with a population of some 90,000 people.
Contents |
Understand
Pisa is best known for the world famous Leaning Tower, but those who come here with their mind already made up that the Tower is the only thing to see here may miss the other architectural and artistic marvels of this beautiful city.
The long walk from the Campo dei Miracoli to the train station is along a pedestrian mall with many interesting sights, shops, and restaurants.
Pisa is also quite safe place where, you won't need to worry about your property or person (but if you stay in a very cheap hotel take your valuables with you).
Get in
Pisa has regular trains to and from Florence (usually every half an hour), to and from Lucca (usually every hour) and is also accessible by bus, and has an airport.
Pisa Airport "Galileo Galilei" [2] is the main destination for Tuscany and central Italy (after Rome), and is served by several airlines operating hundreds of weekly flights to national and international destinations. Numerous companies offer charter flights to and from a number of European and non-European destinations. Flying to Pisa is really cheap and easy: the most important low cost flights companies reach Pisa, and the airport is 5 minutes away from the center of the town by bus, train or taxi.
You can reach the city via bus, taxi or train for no more than five or ten minutes. You can purchase tickets for bus or train at the information office, which is situated in the arrival hall. The trains are the fastest way to get to the city. The tickets cost only a Euro and the ride takes a couple of minutes. However, the trains are not very frequent. There are only two ones per hour. The bus has a regular service every 15 minutes and it takes another 15 minutes to get to the city. The bus runs to Piazza dei Miracoli and the central station. Tickets can be purchased either at the machines at the bus terminal or at the arrival hall's information desk. The price of the ticket is only 80 Euro cents. The ticket needs to be validated in the ticket machine when you get on the bus. Note that you need to have all necessary tickets before you get in the bus, or you will have to pay double. The bus terminal is situated close to the parking garage in the left part of the airport. Once in the city, its main sights are easy to locate and are all within walking distance.
Get around
There are regular buses around town, including from the train station to the Field of Miracles. Attractions are within a half hour walk of each other. Local bus tickets are available at the bus stops at both the airport and train station & Tobacco shops.
See
- The Piazza dei Miracoli or Field of Miracles is to the north of central Pisa and contains its most famous sights:
- Leaning Tower (Torre Pendente) [3] Originally the cathedral's bell tower, construction began in 1173 and began leaning due to subsidence of the ground underneath it soon after. A project to keep the tower from leaning more and tipping over finally reached a successful conclusion in 2001, and the tower is again open to those wishing to climb it. Climbing the tower requires a reservation based ticket for 15 Euro. Expect 45 minutes to 2 hour wait, but there is lots to see while you wait.
- Duomo di Pisa, the splendid Cathedral, contains artwork by Giambolna, Dela Robbia, and others. Fine Romanesque style with double aisles and cupola, huge apse mosaic partly by Cimabue, and fine pulpit by Giovanni Pisano in late Gothic / early Renaissance style.
- Baptistry large round Romanesque dome with more sculptured decorations and a fine view up top; climb this if you want a great view with the Leaning Tower visible in your photos. Arabic-style pavement, pulpit by Nicola Pisano (father of Giovanni), and fine octagonal font.
- Campo Santo a huge cemetery building with much interesting art, including a collection of ancient Roman sculptures and splendid pre-Renaissance murals by the "Master of the Triumph of Death".
- Museo del Opera del Duomo has sculptures and paintings formerly in the Pisa Cathedral. Some of the more unusual are bronze griffins from Syria captured by the Crusaders.
- Museo delle Sinopie Skipped over by many visitors, this museum is a treat for art lovers. After WWII many of the surviving murals and pieces of murals from Pisa's Campo Santo were detached from the walls to try to preserve them. It was unexpectedly discovered that the artist sketches underneath survived. These were moved to this museum.
- Santa Maria della Spina small Gothic church built to house a thorn from Jesus's crown
- Piazza dei Cavalieri old town square with a famous elitary school (Scuola Normale Superiore) with elaborate facade
- Lungarno Mediceo
- Santo Sepolcro Romanesque octagonal church with conical spire by Diotisalvi, who also built the baptistery - a Templar church, striking and forceful
- fine Romanesque churches - San Paolo a Ripa d'Arno, San Michele in Borgo, San Paolo with a sculpture gallery inside, Sant'Andrea - not all are open every day
- Museo di San Matteo, piazza San Matteo, 1, lungarno Mediceo Tel. +39 050 541865
- Keith Haring mural [4]
Pisa is divided into 4 historical quarters. There is much more than the Leaning Tower in the city and several different walking itineraries are possible.
Do
On June 16th there's a Pisan festival (Luminaria), held for the patron saint's day (San Ranieri). It consists of sports events, firework shows, and other.
Another summer attraction is the Gioco del Ponte (Game of Bridge), a historical manifestation held yearly for the last Sunday of June, in which the two sides of the city (Tramontana and Mezzogiorno, geographically split by the Arno river) participates to a historical procession, with 709 walk-ons, then challenges each other to a physical match in which their teams, each composed by 20 members, try to conquer the "Ponte di Mezzo" (the main bridge in Pisa) pushing a trolley in order to let the rival team out of the bridge itself.
Learn
Pisa is replete with cultural institutions. Of course, learning Italian is a worthwhile activity while in Pisa.
- Istituto Linguistico Mediterraneo, [5], Via C. Battisti, 3 I-56100 Pisa, tel +39 050 500399, fax +39 050 48157, info@illm.it. Founded in 1981, was one of the first schools of Italian in Italy and in Tuscany. Offers courses on Italian language for foreigners, semester and summer study abroad programs. Also features intensive courses, individual tutoring, and classes in cooking and art.
Buy
Every two weeks there is a bazaar with quite cheap books, records and old stuff.
Eat
Near the Leaning Tower, in via Roma, there's a very good Indian Restaurant, very cheap, with a beautiful atmosphere and really good dishes. In Piazza dei Miracoli, there's a good restaurant-pizzeria, cheap enough, the Kinzica, and you get good service. Don't miss Salza, in Borgo Stretto, with high prices but absolutely gorgeous chocolate, sweets and candies of all kinds. Don't sit down inside, though, because you end up paying 10 Euros for two coffees. As a general rule, try not to eat near the Leaning Tower where prices are high and quality low, on the contrary head to the central area (5 minutes walking from Piazza dei Miracoli) near the food market: you can find very good and cheap typical restaurants there. Also Via San Martino, next to the south bank of the river, offers some places with good quality and low price. And there are excellent, friendly and reasonably priced cafeterias in the busy small vegetable market, Piazza delle Vettovaglie. There's a good pizzeria near the Youth Hostel, too, on the road that leads to the Leclerc, on the left then you must go in the tunnel.
Drink
During summer nights, everybody stays around the banks of the rivers, sipping drinks bought from the several bars in the area. A few of very good wine-bar are also available for colder, winter night.
Sleep
Get out
- Lucca. You can travel by train to this other beautiful Tuscan city.
- Florence. Very easily reachable by train from Pisa Centrale.
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