Visiting Pisa

Just about all there is to see there is the Leaning Tower and a beautiful church. Many travelers don't feel it's especially worth the time and trouble to detour there.

But the Pisa Airport is very popular and the largest airport in the area. We went thru that airport and took the 1 hour train over to Florence vs. a direct flight into Florence's airport.

You'll love visiting Lucca.

For just focusing on the main sites in Pisa two hours is a very generous amount of time and more than enough unless you plan on climbing.

I was on the Heart of Tuscany tour this April and I would suggest visiting Pisa after the tour. We ended our guided walk in Lucca close to noon and I used the free afternoon to walk the wall. Also, we had an early happy hour to hear some Puccini opera before our last dinner. From some recent reviews, this seems to have become part of the itinerary now. I flew in and out of Pisa for this tour and the evenings there were very pleasant and crowd-free. I didn't experience Pisa during the day, which I hear is much different. I visited Cinque Terre (which wasn't very crowded in April) the day the tour ended and made it to Pisa that night.

We very much enjoyed our half-day in Pisa. We thought it would be a total tourist trap but our kids wanted to go so we went. We were very pleasantly surprised. We did not climb the tower, but we did climb the baptistery opposite which presents really good views of the tower. We also enjoyed going in the church there. PS – be very aware of belongings in Pisa, do not put a backpack down even for a second. A woman next to us had her bag stolen from right next to her and none of us saw the perpetrator do it.