Another “going to Pisa” question

Darlene, it is feasible. But keep in mind you may have a 45 min. vaporetto ride if you're not close to the station. Add to that 20-30 minutes if you need to buy tickets.

Venezia SL-Pisa Centrale. 3H29m. 1 ch Florence.
Dep 9:35. Arrive 13:04. Ch 13 min.

Train #1000 945/. #23357. Left luggage Pisa.

Darlene,

You can certainly travel to Pisa for a day trip. You’ll take the train from Venice (Venezia Santa Lucia) to Pisa Centrale with a train change in Florence.

You can leave your luggage at Pisa Centrale station.

If you plan to go up the tower, make sure you book tickets in advance.

Have a wonderful trip!

I wouldn’t take the luggage to Pisa.
Since you must change trains in Florence, you might as well leave the luggage at the Florence station (Deposito Bagagli=Left Luggage) then take the train to Pisa. Just make sure you come back before the luggage depot closes (at 11pm). The cost of storage is 6€ per piece for the first 5 hours, then 0.90€ per hour thereafter. I think 5 hours is enough to go to Pisa, do a quick visit, and be back in Florence.

http://www.grandistazioni.it/cms/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=86470fc45fa4b110VgnVCM1000003f16f90aRCRD

And now a famous tongue twister regarding Pisa:
Il Papa pesa e pesta il pepe a Pisa, e Pisa pesa e pesta il pepe al Papa
(The Pope weighs and grinds the pepper in Pisa, and Pisa weighs and grinds the pepper to the Pope).
Once you know how to read this in Italian fast, you are fluent enough to visit Pisa.

Thanks for all the quick replies. The 18€ (3x6€) is probably a small price to pay to actually see and do something in that dead time between rentals.

Do yourself a favor and don't bother going to Pisa unless (A) you happen to be driving by the city or (B) you happen to be flying out of their popular airport going to a larger European gateway airport.. There are so many important travel sites in Tuscany to see.

David, for some of us, the Tower of Pisa is an iconic, must-see site from childhood, even if it doesn't make sense to some people. I had to see it, too.

Darlene, better visit it now, as recent news is that it is beginning to un-lean.

David,

Did you really read what the OP wrote. She has a teenage daughter that wants to see the leaning tower. Having had 4 children and multiple teenage grandchildren, if something that can be reasonably arranged will make them happy for a trip like this, I would do it in a heart beat. I am sure there are many things the OP is going to see and do the teenage daughter is not happy with.

I too wanted to see the leaning tower despite the many other magnificent sights in Italy.

When my mom and I visited Pisa, I wanted to go to the top of the tower but my mom did not.

Once I had descended from the tower. I asked my mom why she hadn’t wanted to go up with me. Her reply; “what if it the tower fell over when I was up there!” Ha!

Enjoy!

David, you have an opinion but not a law.
In MY opinion, go to Pisa :-)

It is easy and you can fit it in easily.

And for those in your party that may not be that enthused about the leaning tower, but interested in art, there’s always the cast bronze doors on the duomo as an attraction, if such an attraction is of interest. When I went to Pisa, the tower was the draw, but I spent at least 5 times as much time viewing and taking pictures of the fabulous and intricate duomo doors as I did viewing the tower. I think Pisa is worth the visit for the duomo doors alone, let alone the tower.

Thanks Bob and others too; all opinions appreciated. My daughter is 16 and I’m trying to have her take some ownership in the planning. I already have a hefty gelato budget set aside to get her through some of the art museums I’m looking forward to.

When we were in Nashville this past August she actually suggested a visit to the Parthenon. Not because it’s totally cool and from the world’s fair, but because it was in the Percy Jackson movie based on the books she loves. So we all had an enjoyable morning. Going to look into a Percy Jackson themed tour in Rome. It will be a fun way to end our trip.

I concur that you should go, even though the tower itself may be just a tourist trap.

Besides last week the scientific authorities monitoring the tower reported that, after the concrete injections in the soil and the counterweights installed in the early 1990s, the tower has gradually registered a significant progress toward becoming straight.

And if in the future the Leaning tower of Pisa is no longer leaning who would want to visit the straight tower of Pisa?

Darlene this could be an option for my family as well. I posted a similar question about going to Pisa from Florence a few days ago. We are going from Venice to Florence, and I guess we could put our luggage in safekeeping at the train station for a few hours as suggested. We will be checking in to another flat/apartment in Florence and can't check in to it until 2 or 3p also.

The way I thought we could do it is use half of one of our two whole days in Florence. Teenagers want to see the leaning tower of Pisa! I want my teenagers to have some say in what we do too. We have plenty of museums and basilicas already on the agenda.

My kids were teenagers when we first went to Italy and we also went to Pisa. But just don’t go to the tower to do the “pisa lean”, go into the magnificent Basilica and talk about Galileo and his pendulum in the church, go to the Campo Santo also. It’s the beautiful “sacred ground” cemetery and masoleum. The roof caught fire in WWII and was burned to the ground. There are rooms dedicated to telling the story of the resiliency of the Italians.

And don’t go there with luggage, it would be too much. Ask your hotel if you can drop it off or check at SMN in Florence.