Pisa
I'd originally planned to fly to Palermo, Sicily but when I realised that the flight that was best for me was via Pisa airport I couldn't resist the urge to spend some time in Pisa and finally see the famous leaning tower for the first time.
Completion of the tower took a staggering 199 years from 1173 when the faulty foundations were laid and the tower began to lean in 1778 during construction of the second floor which led people to get their pictures taken while pretending to push against it (after the invention of photography of course - unless it was done earlier with paintings 😁)
Getting there
The quickest, cheapest and best way to get to the city from Pisa airport is to take the Pisa mover monorail, the way is signposted and easy to find.
When I arrived at Pisa central station I decided to walk the twenty minutes to the tower instead of searching for a bus. The taxi's there are very expensive, especially compared to many other places in Italy. If you decide to walk, most of the way there is through residential areas and when you turn into the final corner you will suddenly see the tower and the piazza in all it's glory. I arrived at night and the lighting there made it look all the more impressive to me.
From the tower it was less than 2 minutes walk to the Hotel Il Giardino, if you decide to stay there I suggest you book what they call a “superior room”. I stayed in one of their budget single rooms and it didn't have a window and wasn't that good. For 5 or 10 Euros you will have a much nicer stay. They have a pleasant roof terrace with a very nice view and the location is perfect for visiting the tower and local restaurants.
And speaking of the local restaurants, there are quite a few, just around the corner there's a nice little restaurant and very fair prices especially considering that it's in the middle of a touristy place is Pizzeria Trattoria La Buca, Via Santa Maria, 171. It has mixed reviews on Tripadvisor but the pizza that I had was delicious and not at all expensive, beer and wine (yes, I had both) were affordable too and very good. There are also little leaning towers on the tables, kitschy but kinda cute That was late in the evening just after checking in to the hotel
That was about it for the first night, fell asleep soon after laying my head on the thinnest pillow ever and woke up refreshed the next morning
A walk around Pisa and a delicious lunch
I skipped breakfast and had a late morning stroll around the touristy area. It's a pleasant place with tourists from around the world and of course local visitors. It's safe to walk around the area day or night but I suggest that you stay wary of scammers, they'll either try to sell you something straight away or offer you a gift “no money, it's free” and if you accept it they will ask you for a donation. It happened to me, I accepted the so called gift but refused to donate this time.. I'd left my wallet in the hotel. The guy took the gift back and walked away.
I continued walking around to soak in the atmosphere. Then returned to my hotel room to get my wallet.
Lunchtime 😋
Ristorante Enoteca Il Toscano , a good place to eat and/or drink. You can find it at Piazza Arcivescovado, 12, 56126 Pisa, a few minutes walk from the tower.
I decided to eat there because I'd seen people eating there the previous evening and a lot of them seemed to be locals, always a good sign and I wasn't disappointed, without exaggerating I can say that it was the best spag bol that i’d ever eaten until then. The prices are fair too. I ordered a spaghetti Bolognese.. it's called spaghetti Ragu so if want any “Bolognese” dish in Italy please remember to ask for Ragu.
Marina di Pisa - Calambrone
I'd seen pretty much everything that interested me in town so decided to take a trip around the surrounding area before continuing the journey and decided on a whim to have a look at the marina and the village of Calambrone. It's easy enough to get there from the bus stop across the square from the hotel. If you're looking for the bus just go through the stone archway to the left of the plaza where the tower is at Battisti bus stop and get the bus to Via Crispi.
Walk to the other bus stop on the opposite corner of a small square field (Sesta Porta is on the sign) and the next bus will take you to V. Morivoni , from there it's only four minutes walk to the marina. There's a few cafe's there, they look slightly run down but have good enough food and aren't expensive.
There's a little rocky beach there but not much else to see so I hopped on u bus that continues in the direction I was going and found a nicer beach and some cafe's and restaurants that were unfortunately closed. If you go there in the holiday season it might be more worthwhile.
Despite most bars and restaurants being closed at the time, it was a pleasant place to be and get a change of scenery. Anyway, enough said about that 🙂
L'Ostellino, Piazza Felice Cavalotti
For the last meal on this short trip I found this place, ordered lasagna and it was delicious 😋
A few tips.
Buy your bus tickets at the machines by the bus stops. On the first bus that I got on I asked the driver about tickets but he couldn't understand English and my Italian isn't good at all. He just told me to get on and I thought it was free (some cities do have free public transport). It's unlikely that you will be controlled but still better to get a bus ticket.
Use the Pisa mover monorail.
It's the cheapest and fastest way into the city.
Beware of scammers.
It's likely that you will be offereda “free gift”. It's not free and you will be asked for a “donation”
Eat the local food.
Please for your own sake avoid the fast food chains. Almost every local cafe and restaurant has good food for a fair price.
