Exploring Pisa in Just One Day!

Here's what we experienced in the charming little town of Pisa! It's definitely smaller than Florence, and the main highlight is the Square of Miracles with the famous Leaning Tower. But don't let that fool you—there's plenty more to explore! My top tip for visiting new places is to do a bit of research on the must-see spots and grab tickets in advance, but also leave some time to just wander around. When you stroll through the streets without a plan, you're sure to discover something cool.

Official ticket link to see the tower & museums: https://www.opapisa.it/en/tickets/prices/

We started our trip by making our way to the Santa Maria Novella train station in Florence. This place is super easy to get around, with a big screen showing all the arrivals and departures in the main station area, and most of the platforms are right behind the info screens! We snagged some cheap tickets on the website Omio.com and took the TrenItalia train; it was only a one-hour ride. The seating was first-come, first-served, but since it was a double-decker train, there were plenty of spots available.

Mural of Galileo outside of Pisa Central

First picture with the Leaning Tower of Pisa!

When we got there, we decided to head straight to the tower. We snagged early train tickets, from 8:05 am to 9:10 am, so it wasn't crowded yet. We managed to get some awesome photos and early access to the church and museums!

(*NOTE: If you're wearing a tank top, bring something to cover your shoulders, or if you're wearing shorts, make sure to cover your knees! I wore a long dress and tied a shawl to my purse to throw on when needed for the churches.)

Duomo di Pisa

The Baptistry of Saint John

After that, we checked out the Camposanto Monumentale, a monumental cemetery decorated with massive frescoes all over the walls. We watched someone restoring the ancient paintings! The place was almost empty but totally stunning—definitely worth the visit!

The building is an open-air corridor filled with grave markers on the floor

The inner courtyard had vibrant green grass, beautiful roses, with the most beautiful gothic architecture

The last museum we checked out was filled with Sinopia drawings. Sinopia is basically a mixture of red clay soil and water that was applied with a brush to sketch out the frescos, before painting! These are the original drawings used to paint the frescoes in Camposanto Monumentale!

After that, we were starving, so we grabbed some lunch and headed down to the water for a sweet treat! With no more plans, we just started wandering around. We stumbled upon a few churches, a little park, and eventually found a way to walk on top of the ancient Pisan walls! This was definitely my favorite part of the trip.

The Leaning Tower is peeking over at us!

View of the Field of Miracles from the wall

All in all, Pisa is a lovely little city that's super easy to get around. Unlike Rome or Florence, there aren't as many tourist-trap restaurants, but you'll still find plenty of souvenir shops. The people are really friendly, and it's a great place to walk around. If you have the chance, Pisa is definitely worth a quick day trip! There are lots of quirky little things to discover, so take some time to explore and enjoy!