Pisa visit timing - cathedral worth the stop?

With all the attention given to the Leaning Tower, we were very pleasantly surprised by the Cathedral and baptistry. With your time constraints, I don’t know if I go there, though.

It's hard to say without knowing approximately how much time you might have to see them. I guess if you can only manage 1 hour in Pisa I'd say don't bother but if you have, say, between 2 and 4 hours possible, then I would say yes, it's worth the stop. I was blown away by the cathedral and baptistry and I would suggest at least 1-1/2 to 2 hrs to see them both, then add the walk from and to the train station. Of course, it's been quite a few years since we were there and I'm not sure what the crowds are like for those buildings these days - or if there's lines for both of them or not. There weren't any lines when we went, only for the tower, but like I said, that's been about 15 years.

How long are you planning to stay in Lucca? If it's a reasonable amount of time, perhaps you could go directly there and get settled, then take the short train ride over to Pisa and back on a different day.

Personally, I don't remember a lot about the cathedral at Pisa because I was so "wowed" by the acoustics demonstration in the baptistry. On the hour and half hour they close the doors and the attendant sings a few notes that the baptistry echoes back and seems to multiply. Doesn't sound like much in my description, but it was very moving. Whether that would be worth a stop would be up to you.

I did bapistry only, gorgeous carved marble, etc. My only problem with the plan was I never did find any public restrooms
My friends who did the tower had a couple of chances at restrooms

Pisa has a beautiful cathedral - IMO well worth visiting - but I wouldn't try and do it on your La Spezia -> Lucca journey.

There are luggage facilities at Pisa, I've used them several times, but it almost always takes longer than 5 minutes (more like 15 depending on queues). The walk from Pisa Centrale to the Cathedral is probably closer to 20-30 minutes than 10-15.

There are many trains daily from Lucca to Pisa, and nearly all stop at Pisa San Rossore station, which is probably < 5min from the Campo dei Miracoli - so I'd consider backtracking once you are booked in - the rail journey is less than 30 minutes.

Yes, the cathedral itself is very much worth a visit! I was very moved by the intricatly carved marble pulpit, the way only great art can.

I have been to Pisa twice, and walked up the leaning tower the first time in 1990 when a lot fewer people were there.

The cathedral and baptistery are worth a visit. You can do it in an hour, but that is not the best choice. Recommend spending about two hours there.

I've visited the cathedral and found it beautiful and interesting. That said, luggage storage might be an issue unless there's larger luggage storage available at the Field of Miracles. There might be only day bag size lockers there.

Going from La Spezia to Lucca, it would make the most sense to go to the Pisa S. Rossore station from where it's just a short walk to the Field of Miracles. There's a very high probability that will be where your La Spezia to Lucca tickets will have you change trains anyway. If you go to the Pisa Centrale station where there is luggage storage, then you'll have either a 30 minute walk or a taxi/bus ride to the Field of Miracles. If there's no large luggage storage at the Field of Miracles, I would go straight to Lucca and then plan a side trip to Pisa. By the time you check/retrieve your luggage (you can't take it inside the cathedral) and travel between Pisa Centrale and the Field of Miracles, I don't think a side trip from Lucca would take much more time and you wouldn't have to deal with your luggage.

Thanks so much for all the replies, they are so very helpful. We arrive in Lucca the evening of Friday the 16th and leave early Monday morning. And we've got a cooking experience booked for Saturday night from 4-8. So basically we'll just have Saturday until mid afternoon and then all of Sunday in Lucca, so definitely wouldn't want to use any of that time for a quick trip to Pisa.

I should have specified in my post that we would have 2-3 hours in Pisa on way down if needed. Of course that's when I thought Pisa Centrale station was the nearest (so thankful to learn that Pisa San Rossore is actually the closest one).

So I suppose if we REALLY want to see Pisa this time, we could go from our La Spezia arrival at 3:21 to Pisa Centrale, store our luggage, jump on a train to Pisa Rossore, and then we'd have at least 90 minutes to see the Cathedral and Baptistry before we'd need to do it in reserve to get from Pisa Centrale to Lucca no later than 8:30. I'll just need to decide if that much train hopping will be worth it after being en route from Bellagio since early morning that day. My suspicion at this point is no, especially given Rick's maxim to "assume you'll be there again in the future." But in our case there are so many other places we want to visit in Europe, I seriously doubt we'd get to do it later.

Both the Giant fresco in the Cemetery and the ancient ships Museum are worth a visit, too.
It took 50 years and modern technology to find a way to restore the fresco, in 1944 they saved it and Then they kept on trying for decades.

City buses will take you closer to the Field of Miracles than the train. A taxi ride shouldn't be terribly expensive if you want to be even more efficient one or both ways.

The point I was trying to make is that if you went directly to Lucca and then backtracked to Pisa S. Rossore, it would likely take about the same amount of time as going to Pisa Centrale, checking your bags and commuting to the Field of Miracles. I know it seems counterintuitive, but the train ride between Lucca and S. Rossore is only 20-25 minutes and you could easily spend 50 minutes on the Pisa Centrale option. Just wanted to offer you an alternative to having to deal with your bags.

The Pisa Cathedral and baptistery are well worth a visit, but be aware that the cathedral can also extremely crowded. We visited it a couple of years ago in early April and it was mobbed. I can't imagine what it might be like during the summer season, but I wouldn't expect a quick in and out visit. If you are spending time in Lucca, why not take a day trip to Pisa and give yourself plenty of time for the cathedral and baptistery?

hey hey emilie
i think you are cutting it too close to travel from varenna to pisa to lucca. that's a long ride. when you read 10-15 minute walk and storing/claiming bags is 5 minutes should be x 2or3, it's your first time there and confusion can set in after your train trip, time changing trains and if they are late, storing bags, seeing pisa and back to lucca, WOW to top it off, a persnickety host at airbnb. don't upset hosts, they set their rules and you need to accept them, they want a reasonable time for checkin that suits them. if you are late and she charges you will you be upset at that fee? been there done that, which makes for unhappy trip.
my 3 cents is to go to lucca, check in, relax, walk the piazza, have a glass of vino and dinner and people watch. get up early, bright eyed and busy tailed, take the short train ride to Pisa, get there at opening time as it should not be busy and crowded, spend about 2 hours, train back to lucca and enjoy the day until evening cooking class.
vacations don't always go the way we want, lots of hiccups happen, go with the flow, relax and slow down, enjoy and say i'm in italy yeah. you & daughter will have a fabulous and fun adventure with great memories, wish my mom was still here. happy travels
aloha

The cathedral is on a timed entry system that limits crowds. I was there mid-July last year and we pre-bought Baptistry tickets online (I believe 5 euro/pp) and that also gets you skip-the-line access to the cathedral. Even though the cathedral is free if you get tickets the day of, you have to walk to a point across the square and get a time-stamped entry ticket, which depending on crowds, could be a longer wait until your “time” than you like. We really enjoyed both and also just liked looking at the tower. Well worth the 1.5-2 hours you can do it in.

Frank, I totally missed the context in your original post, now that I get it, it makes perfect sense. We'll go straight to Lucca and check in and then if we have the energy, there will still be plenty of time to make the quick trip to Pisa. Fortunately in summer it doesn't close until 8PM and maybe the crowds would be less in early evening too. We could of course go early the next day instead, but with only 2 days in Lucca we're thinking we'll want to savor the town.

And Kelly, thanks for those details, very helpful if we do make it there!

Thanks again to all, this forum is such a great source for sage advice from seasoned travelers!

Emilie