Day trip to Pisa from Florence?

Have you previously been to Florence?

I took our family of four there WAY back in 2002, when our sons were teenagers. We spent a full day in Florence and took a jammed commuter train to PISA in the late afternoon. There were pick pockets on the train. One son got 'hit' but no problems. We got there in time to wander the church and go to the top of the tower and I think a son bought something from one of those ubiquitous hawkers (watches, sunglasses and purses). My poor memory - I know we went back to Florence for supper but don't recall why -> i.e. if it was the train schedules or .....
For me, we were in Pisa long enough. An hour wandering around on the church grounds, plus going to the top of the tower.

It's a 1 hour train ride from Firenze SMN station to Pisa Centrale. Then a 20-30 minute walk. Or you can take the Lam Rossa bus to Piazza dei Miracoli. Takes 10 minutes runs every 10. €1.

I do however wonder when you will have time to experience Florence.

I should have mentioned that we have never been to Italy, or Europe. Sorry! We will get to Florence from Venice on our first day, and have that afternoon and evening. The next day we have a tour of the Uffizi and Accademia, but have the afternoon and evening free to explore Florence. Just wondering if it is worth the brainpower to figure out how to get to Pisa without getting pockets picked, etc. and if it will be enjoyable, and more than just a neat Instagram post. Thanks everybody, y'all really know what your'e doing, so I know asking the right people.

I didn't fall in love with Florence myself - but I'm not a museum person. So I did day trips from Florence too - including a day trip to Pisa. The tower is just iconic for some of us - something we learned about as grade school kids. It's just one of those things I felt compelled to see, and I'm sure others feel the same way.

An alternative by train might be to take a direct train to Pisa San Rossore station instead of to Centrale from Florence. Most direct trains from Florence are to Centrale station. You might find the occasional direct train from Florece to San Rossore, and the walk to the tower is much shorter from there, if all you want to see is the tower. But be prepared for an obnoxious tourist-trap environment around the Field of Miracles (where the Tower is).

As Gerri has suggested: With so much to see in Florence, perhaps you'll want to think about whether with only 2 days in Florence you want to schedule a day trip, leaving only 1 day for Florence. I think many travelers say Florence has more sights, certainly per square foot, than most destinations.

You'll need to watch out for pickpockets all over Italy (and Europe) FYI, not just on the train to Pisa. Otherwise, the trains are really easy in my opinion. If you take one of the frequent trains to Pisa Centrale, you could always take a taxi one way to save time and avoid hassling with the bus...and walk back.

FYI, be careful with regional trains in Italy and validation. Unlike trains with reserved seats, if you buy a train ticket for a regional train at the station or from a machine, you MUST validate it (stamp it) in the yellow validation box before getting on the train! The fast train with reserved seats from Venice to Florence won't require this.

So how have you finally allocated your days?

In an earlier post you mentioned 3 nights Venice, 3 nights Florence, 4 nights Rome.

Now this comment-- We will get to Florence from Venice on our first day

About Ostia Antica, yes, it it easy to get to from Rome and provides insight on how Romans lived 2000 yrs ago. Worthwhile if you have the time.

We spent 2 nights in Florence and a night in Pisa in mid-June. On our first day in Florence we saw Michaelangelo’s David, the Duomo, the Uffizi Gallery, and the outdoor leather market. In the evening we took a train to Pisa, about 50 minutes, checked in to our hotel, and took a quick taxi to the tower. We spent more than an hour at the tower, it was actually a very enjoyable relaxed visit. Stayed that night in Pisa, left early the next morning by fast train for Cinque Terre. Returned that evening to Florence via Pisa, about 2 hours. Went to the Piazzale Michaelangelo that night, from where you get a panoramic view of Florence.

It’s super easy to get train tickets on Trenitalia, just take a few minutes to find the fastest connection on their website. What you want to do is absolutely doable. One thing to consider is that in Italy many tourists feel obligated to visit several museums, churches etc which they may not be particularly interested in. We definitely wanted to see David and it was interesting to spend some time at the Uffizi gallery, but personally I enjoyed the trip to Pisa and Cinque Terre, more than the time spent at the cultural attractions in Florence.

I think the tower is open 9 to 6pm.
The closest station is Pisa San Rossore. From Pisa Centrale it’s a longer walk (but you can take a taxi or a bus).
No matter what, budget at least 3 hours r/t to get there and back, between train and taxi (or a bit more if you walk) plus at least an hour or so for visiting tower and cathedral and baptistery, taking photos, souvenirs, etc
Whether it is a good use of your time or not, I don’t know.
Personally I don’t think that anyone would bother to visit the tower of Pisa if it weren’t crooked. Who would want to see the “straight Tower of Pisa”?
On the other hand it is such an iconic symbol of Italy, like the Eiffel Tower in Paris or the Statue of Liberty in NYC, that most feel compelled to visit it, even if for just a photo opp.
Do as you please, but rest assured that by the time you are back in Florence you will tell yourself: “Here it happened again. I’ve wasted another perfectly good 5 hours of my life visiting another B.S. tourist trap”.

As the others have mentioned, the trip from Florence to Pisa by train is very easy, about one hour. You can see all the solutions on the Trenitalia website, although Regionale trains for June 2019 won't be shown yet. The schedules likely won't change too much, so just check solutions in the next week on the same day-of-the-week you'll be travelling.

Although Pisa S. Rossore station is closer to the tower, trains to that station take longer and may not be as frequent. I'd probably use Pisa Centrale. If you don't want to walk to the tower or take the bus, just use a cab. Transportation options are listed in the RS Italy guidebook.

If you're planning to climb the tower....

"Climbing to the top of the leaning tower of Pisa is a unique experience and it offers a very beautiful view of the town. The base ticket price is 18 € if bought on site. Reservations are strongly advised if you want to guarantee your place in line to climb to the top of the Tower."

As mentioned in a previous reply, locally purchased tickets for Regionale trains MUST be validated prior to boarding the train on the day of travel. Failure to do so can result in hefty fines, which are collected on the spot! That also applies to Metro, local buses and the Vaporetti in Venice. Tickets for the high speed trains don't have to be validated, but these are specific to train, date and departure time, so the tickets are only valid on the one train listed on the ticket. If you board the wrong train by mistake, you'll again be subject to hefty fines!

It's a half-day trip, leave early. If you want to climb the tower, allow another hour and book tickets in advance. I didn't do the climb but friends did. It's an interesting experience, walking up a ramp on a tilt. The church and grounds are lovely and the baptistry is especially worth seeing. With 4 people, taking taxis to/from the Pisa station makes sense.

With only two full days in Florence, you should stay in Florence and do Pisa on another trip. You are going to the museums, but you haven't planned to see the Douro, Ponte Vecchio, the Basilica of Santa Croce (the toombs of Galileo, Machiavelli, Rosinni and Dante are there)
https://italyxp.com/en/florence?utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=firenze-usa&woo_campaign=btk_firenze_usa&woo_medium=cpc&woo_source=bing

I should have mentioned that we have never been to Italy, or Europe.

You don't have two full days in Florence. If I'm reading you right, you say you'll be arriving from Venice on your first day. You don't say what time. If this is after flying from the States, you will be jet lagged. You won't be hitting on all cylinders, so day 1 will be pretty much a wash. Spend it just taking in the sights.

You'll eat up much of the second day at the Uffizi and Accademia. That leaves you precious little time to see the other wonderful things Florence has to offer. You can't afford the time to scoot off to Pisa, especially since you'll be there in the middle of the high season and it will be crowded everywhere.

I have this bad habit of posting a question and then going to bed shortly thereafter then getting a lot of responses! @joe32f I planned out the 3 days in Venice/3 days in Florence/ 4 days in Rome. This works out to first day is the partial/travel then settle in/see what's nearby day, and two full days each in Venice and Florence. For Rome it's three full days. I have one tour in Venice that covers St. Mark's and Doge's Palace. One tour in Florence that covers Uffizi and Accademia. In Rome I have a Colosseum tour and another Sistene Chapel/St. Peter's tour. So with all those tours, I would like to find some fun things. So I'm just thinking of what that might be.
In Florence we will be staying near the Uffizi/Palazzo Vecchio. We would be interested in climbing a bell tower. (Palazzo Vecchio and the campanile?).
Sounds like we can think about going to Pisa and decide later. I only dove into planning because I wanted to book the tours since I read about the Walks of Italy tours being on sale through today.

Yes, the travel is SO easy that you can decide when you're there. It was wonderful just walking around Florence and seeing even the sites others wouldn't care about -> I doubt either of my sons remember seeing Savanarola's church, but I'm glad to have been there -> "Bonfire of the Vanities!"

You can do Florence in one day... if & only if you’re not very much interested in museums. We were there early November, arrived late Saturday afternoon. Explored Florence Sunday, spent Monday in Pisa & Lucca then left for Venice on Tuesday morning. We visited both Accademia & Uffizi early Tuesday morning before our train to Venice. Note that if you’re into art, then I won’t advise doing that because you won’t have enough time to explore both museums.

@MAK2323 I am sort of in to art; I was an art major in college. I sat through many, many art history classes in the dark, looking at slide after slide of all of the great works in Italy. But I feel like I have the required art history covered in the tours I've booked. If we can get to more on our own, that is great but I want the whole family to have great memories of our first visit to Italy. So I'm open to going to Pisa to see the tower, since my kids want to see it. And I would be interested in hiking to the top of we can, since I can still do that sort of thing! It might be a while until I get back again.