We plan to visit Pisa on a day trip this summer. Our kids will be 12 and 7 (turning 8 in October). I had read that children under 8 can not climb the leaning tower. I assume they are not IDing the children as they enter. I would plan to buy tickets for all of us to climb the tower. There is no doubt my 7 year old can handle it after climbing various steep structures in worse states of repair in Montenegro and Bosnia last summer, but I just want to be sure that they are not actually requiring some king of proof of age...thanks.
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
16133 posts
The requirement to prohibit entry to children under 8 and to require an accompanying adult for those under 18 has nothing to do with the ability to climb the 250 stairs, it has to do with safety because the tower has limited safety stair rails and fences, so they don't want to see children splashing on the ground if they fall down the tower, since kids and teenagers tend to act stupidly sometimes. I think that it is kind of excessive caution, since the path is now mostly in the interior, but in the old days when they allowed to walk on the exterior was kind of dangerous.
Having said this, I think they let kids up if they turn 8 during the year, so if your child turns 8 in October, they might let your child in, but I'm not sure.
Posted by
1105 posts
The rule is….. and you should follow it. Who are you to make exception due to some personal reason and violate it? There are usually rules for a reason, and why they may not apply to your unique (everyone has their unique situation) situation, you should be polite and obey the rules. I am sure someone has a 6 year old could handle it, and perhaps a 5 year old. And so on.
If there is no calling for proof of age, what will you do?
Integrity is what you do when no one is looking.
Posted by
Central US
144 posts
Also, I found climbing the Leaning Tower to be more challenging than I expected - since it tilts, it can affect your balance. I didn’t notice it very much while climbing it - was aware of the tilt and adjusted - but coming out of the tower I felt off balance. Not terrible, but discombobulating. I wasn’t the only one staggering a bit after climbing down.
Posted by
Minnesota 🎒
16621 posts
From the official website:
https://www.opapisa.it/en/tickets/a-few-words-of-advice-before-you-buy-your-ticket/
"For safety reasons, children who will not have turned 8 by the end of this year are not permitted to enter. Under 18s must be accompanied by an adult. ID may be requested to certify the age."
So because your child will turn 8 before the end of this calendar year, he/she apparently may be allowed to make the climb. Bring their passport for proof of age (actually, you all should have your passports on you while sightseeing).
Posted by
OP
52 posts
Ah - thanks for pointing that out. I had overlooked that when I was browsing the information about entry. All clear, we will proceed with integrity intact :)