Pisa, Italy, Travel Guide – EVERYTHING You Need To Know Before You Go!
| Attraction | Peak Hours (Mar–Oct) | Ticket Price (2026) | Essential Tips |
|---|---|---|---|
| Leaning Tower | 8:00 AM – 8:00 PM | €20 (Timed entry) | Book weeks in advance. Strict 30-minute time slots. Children under 8 are not permitted to climb. No bags allowed inside. |
| Pisa Cathedral (Duomo) | 8:00 AM – 8:00 PM | Free (Ticket required) | Masterpiece of Pisan Romanesque design. You still need to download a free pass online or pick one up at the desk. |
| Pisa Baptistery | 8:00 AM – 8:00 PM | €5.50 | The largest baptistery in Italy. Known for its remarkable acoustics and massive dome. |
| Camposanto Monumentale | 8:00 AM – 8:00 PM | €5.50 | A beautiful, quiet monumental cloister cemetery featuring Roman sarcophagi and historic frescoes. |
- Spring (April–June) & Autumn (September–October) offer mild weather and manageable crowds.
- Summer (July–August) brings long daylight hours, but hot weather and peak tourist prices. If visiting in summer, check out Arno Vivo, an open-air riverfront venue featuring live music and food.
- By Train: Pisa is incredibly well-connected. It is 1 hour from Florence, 2 hours from Bologna, and 2.5 hours from Genoa. Tip: Use Pisa Central Station for city access, or Pisa S. Rossore if you want to hop off right next to the Leaning Tower.
- On Foot: Pisa’s historic center is flat, compact, and completely walkable. You can walk from the central train station to the Leaning Tower in under 25 minutes.
- Driving warning: Avoid driving into the historic center; it operates under a strict ZTL (Restricted Traffic Zone) system. Park outside the city walls to avoid heavy fines.
- Pisa is generally very safe, but the dense crowds around the Leaning Tower are a primary target for pickpockets. Keep your valuables secure, ignore aggressive street vendors, and use your hotel safe for spare cash.
Here’s our Essential Pisa🇮🇹 Travel Guide, giving you EVERYTHING you need to know to travel better on your own Italian adventure! In just 24 hours we jumped into finding out all the essential information about visiting this beautiful place! Why should I go to Pisa, I hear you ask? … What else in Pisa apart from the leaning tower?! … How much is this trip going to cost me?!… Well, it’s all here for you in your essential guide to PISA!
Want to learn more about travelling to Pisa? Visit our Pisa Travel Hub: https://www.holidayextras.com/destinations/pisa.html
Italy Travel Hub: https://www.holidayextras.com/destinations/italy.html
Useful links!
Pisa Tourism – http://bit.ly/2inlQQy
Pedi Cab Pisa – https://www.facebook.com/PedicabPisa/
Leaning Tower – http://bit.ly/1KxOjsY
Travel Insurance – http://bit.ly/2v1fZ9f
Airport Hotels and Parking – http://www.holidayextras.co.uk/
Transcript:
Hi I’m Abi with Holiday Extras Travel Guides, and this time we’re in Pisa. We’ll be giving you all the essential information that you need to Travel better. Covering tips on money, language, getting around, and of course the iconic leaning tower.
But first here’s bit about this small but historic city.
Once a powerful maritime city state, modern Pisa is a small town packed full of culture, with a long and interesting history. Although it’s iconic leaning tower made it world famous, there is much more to Pisa than this one landmark.
Friendly locals, great food, and classic architecture, make it one of our favourite places to visit in Italy.
Pisa has one airport that’s only one short hop from the City centre, and it’s here where our guide starts
Pisa airport is the main gateway into Tuscany, and receives almost 5 million passengers every year. It’s really close to town, and transfers are available by public bus, taxi or the Pisa Mover service. When taking the bus look out for the big blue City bus signs. Taking the Lam Rossa line towards Pisa, Tickets cost €1.20, buses leave every 10 minutes and the journey takes 6 minutes to Pisa Centrale.
A taxi should cost around €10, with an extra €3.55 charge on Sundays and public holidaysNew in 2017 the Pisa Mover shuttle service costs €2.70 each way and gets you into town in just 5 minutes. It’s defiantly our recommended way to get into the centre.
Pisa is a small city and one that’s best enjoyed on foot, infant it’s usually quicker and easier this way. For example a walk from Pisa Centrale should take no more than twenty minutes.
The bus service in Pisa uses three main lines; red, green and blue. The red line, ro LAM Rossa, is the one that takes you to the Leaning Tower. Tickets are available in tobacco shops, the station and airport. Buy your ticket before you travel and then validate as you board.
Bear in mind that after 9pm the buses switch to a reduced night service until midnight.
Tickets are available in 70, 120 and 240 minute variations and the 70-minute ticket is also available in books of 4 or 10.
Driving in Pisa is similar to other popular Italian cities, in that it has a limited-traffic-zone, called the ZTL. Driving in this zone will incur a fine between €60 and €100 each time you pass a traffic camera (meaning you can get fined multiple times for driving along the same street).
The Leaning Tower is one of Italy’s most iconic sights, and is what Pisa is best known for, here are the key facts:
The Towers characteristic lean is caused by a combination of it’s small foundations and the soft soil on which it was built. After a programme of structural strengthening was completed in 2001 the tower is now safe to enter.
When buying tickets you’ll be given a time slot to return to enter to the tower. This could be up to 3 hours after purchase.
So we think it’s well worth booking your tickets in advance to avoid the long wait.
Only 40 people are allowed inside at any one time, and children under 8 are not permitted at all.
No bags at all are allowed in the tower. You can take a camera, but your bag must go in the free security deposit.
You’re allowed 35 minutes inside the tower after entering.
Opening times are varied, we’ll link to the official website in the description to the official website.
