Pisa: Guide, Hotels, Map & Photos
English|
EUR 54 - 122 Hotel Terminus & Plaza
EUR 40 - 130 Hotel Soggiorno Athena
 Hotel Soggiorno Athena is in the city centre, just 300 metres from the famous Leaning Tower of Pisa. It offers parking facilities, free Wi-Fi access, … MoreEUR 49 - 119 Hotel Touring
 The Hotel Touring in Pisa is a modern building set in the centre of the city, 1.5 km (one mile) from the famous Leaning Tower, Piazza del Duomo, the c… MoreEUR 65 - 170 Hotel Verdi
 Hotel Verdi offers a quiet location in the centre of Pisa. You can walk to the Leaning Tower in 15 minutes or make use of the bus links available.
Ve… MoreEUR 59 - 120 Hotel Villa Kinzica
 Hotel Kinzica is set in an imposing villa of the mid 18th century, within walking distance of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. All rooms have air conditioni… MoreEUR 38 - 117 Hotel Santa Croce In Fossabanda
 Hotel Santa Croce In Fossabanda provides a unique setting for your stay in Pisa. Once a monastery, all guest rooms overlook the large courtyard. It ha… MoreEUR 60 - 120 Hotel Roseto
 Hotel Roseto is 120 metres from Pisa Centrale Train Station, and walking distance from Pisa’s city centre. The property features air-conditioned roo… MoreEUR 70 - 105 Hotel Novecento
 Hotel Novecento is a delightful period residence situated in the historical heart of Pisa, just a short walk from the Leaning Tower. Enjoy comfortable… MoreEUR 45 - 110 Hotel Moderno
 Hotel Moderno is located 150 metres from the bus and train stations and a 20 minute walk from the Leaning Tower. Its en suite rooms have been recently… MoreEUR 85 - 485 Hotel Relais Dell´Orologio
 Free Wi-Fi and breakfast served on the garden patio are reasons to stay at the quiet and central Relais D´Orologio. The Leaning Tower of Pisa is… MoreEUR 44 - 200 Hotel Repubblica Marinara
 Hotel Repubblica Marinara is a modern hotel just 2 km (1.2 miles) from Pisa Centrale Railway Station and providing a convenient transfer service to an… MoreEUR 46 - 150 Hotel Roma
 Hotel Roma is set just 100 metres from Piazza dei Miracoli and offers panoramic views of Pisa’s Leaning Tower from its comfortable rooms. Relax in t… MoreEUR 45 - 130 Hotel Villa Primavera
 Hotel Villa Primavera is surrounded by a graceful, green garden. The Leaning Tower, Pisa University and the hospital are within walking distance.
Vil… MoreEUR 39 - 149 La Pace
 La Pace is a friendly hotel with helpful, multilingual staff. It is located 50 metres from Pisa´s train station and around 15 minutes´ wal… MoreEUR 30 - 150 Royal Victoria Hotel
 The Royal Victoria is the only hotel in Pisa historic centre overlooking the River Arno. Take a short walk across charming, mediaeval streets and you … MoreEUR 90 - 220 Residence San Rossore
 With a quiet location 5 minutes´ drive from Pisa´s historic centre, Residence San Rossore offers self-catering villas set in extensive gar… MoreEUR 67 - 390 San Ranieri Hotel
 Enjoy a stylish hotel in Pisa, providing unique architectural solutions, a modern façade and great facilities. Welcome to San Ranieri Hotel.
San Ran… MoreEUR 69 - 399 Villa Argentieri
 Villa Argentieri is an elegant example of a traditional 18th century villa. It is close to the famous Leaning Tower of Pisa, the tennis club and the n… MoreEUR 30 - 105 Villa Leaning Tower
 Just 10 minutes´ walk from the Leaning Tower of Pisa, Villa Leaning Tower offers free bike rental and excellent public transport links to Pisa … MoreEUR 50 - 100 Residence Isola Verde
 Whether you are looking for an elegant guest room or a self-catering apartment, Residence Isola Verde is an excellent choice just outside of the histo… MoreEUR 40 - 120 Relais Under The Tower
 Step out of the Relais Under The Tower and you will be right in the Court of Miracles, where you can appreciate the unique view of the world-famous Le… MoreEUR 58 - 277 NH Cavalieri
 The NH Cavalieri is in the centre of Pisa opposite the main railway station. Airport shuttles stop in front of the hotel. You will have free breakfas… MoreEUR 59 - 245 My One Hotel Galilei
 My One Hotel Galilei is a 5-minute drive from Pisa Galileo Galilei Airport, close to the A12 motorway junction. It offers a free shuttle bus and free … MoreEUR 62 - 150 Park Hotel California
 Park Hotel California provides comfortable accommodation surrounded by parkland in the countryside just 10 minutes’ drive from Pisa. Perfect for a r… MoreEUR 35 - 109 Relais Centro Storico
 In the centre of Pisa, Relais Centro Storico offers free Wi-Fi and air-conditioned rooms. Pisa Central Train Station is 800 metres away and the Leanin… More | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pisa: Guide
Pisa is a city in Tuscany, Italy with a population of some 90,000 people.
Understand
Pisa is best known for the world famous Leaning Tower, but those who come here with their mind already made up that the Tower is the only thing to see here may miss the other architectural and artistic marvels of this beautiful city.
The long walk from the Campo dei Miracoli to the train station is along a pedestrian mall with many interesting sights, shops, and restaurants.
Pisa is also quite a safe city. You won't need to worry about your property or person (but if you stay in a very cheap hotel take your valuables with you).
Get in
Pisa has regular trains to and from Florence (usually every three per hour), to and from Lucca (usually every hour) and is also accessible by bus, and has an airport.
Pisa Airport "Galileo Galilei" is the main destination for Tuscany and central Italy (after Rome), and is served by several airlines operating hundreds of weekly flights to national and international destinations. Numerous companies offer charter flights to and from a number of European and non-European destinations. Flying to Pisa is really cheap and easy: the most important low cost flights companies reach Pisa, and the airport is 5 minutes away from the center of the town by bus, train or taxi.
You can reach the city via bus, taxi or train for no more than five or ten minutes. You can purchase tickets for bus or train at the information office, which is situated in the arrival hall. The trains are the fastest way to get to the city. The tickets cost only a Euro and the ride takes a couple of minutes. However, the trains are not very frequent. There are only two per hour.
The bus has a regular service every 15 minutes and it takes another 15 minutes to get to the city. The bus runs to Piazza dei Miracoli and the central station. Tickets can be purchased either at the machines at the bus terminal or at the arrival hall's information desk. The price of the ticket is only 80 Euro cents. The ticket needs to be validated in the ticket machine when you get on the bus. Note that you need to have all necessary tickets before you get in the bus, or you will have to pay double. The bus terminal is situated close to the parking garage in the left part of the airport. Once in the city, its main sights are easy to locate and are all within walking distance.
Get around
There are regular buses around town, including from the train station to the Field of Miracles. Attractions are within a half hour walk of each other. Local bus tickets are available at the bus stops at both the airport and train station & Tobacco shops.
See
The Piazza dei Miracoli or Field of Miracles is to the north of central Pisa and contains its most famous sights:
Leaning Tower (Torre Pendente) Originally the cathedral's bell tower, construction began in 1173 and began leaning due to subsidence of the ground underneath it soon after. A project to keep the tower from leaning more and tipping over finally reached a successful conclusion in 2001, and the tower is again open to those wishing to climb it. Climbing the tower requires a reservation based ticket for 15 Euro. Expect 45 minutes to 2 hour wait, but there is lots to see while you wait.
Duomo di Pisa, the splendid Cathedral, contains artwork by Giambolna, Dela Robbia, and others. Fine Romanesque style with double aisles and cupola, huge apse mosaic partly by Cimabue, and fine pulpit by Giovanni Pisano in late Gothic / early Renaissance style.
Baptistry large round Romanesque dome with more sculptured decorations and a fine view up top; climb this if you want a great view with the Leaning Tower visible in your photos. Arabic-style pavement, pulpit by Nicola Pisano (father of Giovanni), and fine octagonal font.
Campo Santo a huge cemetery building with much interesting art, including a collection of ancient Roman sculptures and splendid pre-Renaissance murals by the "Master of the Triumph of Death".
Museo del Opera del Duomo has sculptures and paintings formerly in the Pisa Cathedral. Some of the more unusual are bronze griffins from Syria captured by the Crusaders.
Museo delle Sinopie Skipped over by many visitors, this museum is a treat for art lovers. After WWII many of the surviving murals and pieces of murals from Pisa's Campo Santo were detached from the walls to try to preserve them. It was unexpectedly discovered that the artist sketches underneath survived. These were moved to this museum.
Santa Maria della Spina small Gothic church built to house a thorn from Jesus's crown
Piazza dei Cavalieri old town square with a famous elitary school (Scuola Normale Superiore) with elaborate facade
Lungarno Mediceo
Santo Sepolcro Romanesque octagonal church with conical spire by Diotisalvi, who also built the baptistery - a Templar church, striking and forceful
fine Romanesque churches - San Paolo a Ripa d'Arno, San Michele in Borgo, San Paolo with a sculpture gallery inside, Sant'Andrea - not all are open every day
Museo di San Matteo, piazza San Matteo, 1, lungarno Mediceo Tel. +39 050 541865
Keith Haring mural
Ussero Café founded on 1775, lungarno Pacinotti 27, http://www.ussero.com
It is a monument to Italian culture in the 1400's Palazzo Agostini, on Lungarno. In 1839, it was seat of the meetings of the first Italian Congress of Scientists
Pisa is divided into 4 historical quarters. There is much more than the Leaning Tower in the city and several different walking itineraries are possible.
Do
On June 16th there's a Pisan festival (Luminaria), held for the patron saint's day (San Ranieri). It consists of sports events, firework shows, and other.
Another summer attraction is the Gioco del Ponte (Game of Bridge), a historical manifestation held yearly for the last Sunday of June, in which the two sides of the city (Tramontana and Mezzogiorno, geographically split by the Arno river) participates to a historical procession, with 709 walk-ons, then challenges each other to a physical match in which their teams, each composed by 20 members, try to conquer the "Ponte di Mezzo" (the main bridge in Pisa) pushing a trolley in order to let the rival team out of the bridge themself.
Learn
Pisa is replete with cultural institutions. Of course, learning Italian is a worthwhile activity while in Pisa.
Istituto Linguistico Mediterraneo, , Via C. Battisti, 3 I-56100 Pisa, tel +39 050 500399, fax +39 050 48157, . Founded in 1981, was one of the first schools of Italian in Italy and in Tuscany. Offers courses on Italian language for foreigners, semester and summer study abroad programs. Also features intensive courses, individual tutoring, and classes in cooking and art.
Buy
Every two weeks there is a bazaar with quite cheap books, records and old stuff. If you like buying souvenirs you won't have any problems to find them. There are lots of small kiosks near the leaning tower selling all kinds of souvenirs from small statues to time-glasses- of course the motive is the leaning tower!
Eat
As a general rule, try not to eat near the Leaning Tower where prices are high and quality low, on the contrary head to the central area (5 minutes walking from Piazza dei Miracoli) near the food market: you can find very good and cheap typical restaurants there. Also Via San Martino, next to the south bank of the river, offers some places with good quality and low price. And there are excellent, friendly and reasonably priced cafeterias in the busy small vegetable market, Piazza delle Vettovaglie.
This said, near the Leaning Tower, in via Roma, there's a very good Indian Restaurant, with a beautiful atmosphere and really good dishes. And in Piazza dei Miracoli, there's a good restaurant-pizzeria, cheap enough, the Kinzica.
In anycase, don't miss Salza, in Borgo Stretto, with high prices but absolutely gorgeous chocolate, sweets and pastries of all kinds. Don't sit down inside, though, because you end up paying 10 Euros for two coffees.
Finally,there's a good pizzeria near the Youth Hostel, too, on the road that leads to the Leclerc, on the left then you must go in the tunnel.
Here are some good spots for eating:
- Numero 11, Via San Martino: quite cheap price and good food in an informal setting. You can find any kind of food there.
- Vineria di Piazza, Piazza delle Vettovaglie: it serves very few dishes but they are good and cheap. You can find very traditional food here.
- Il Montino, Via del Monte: great place to get fine pizza and excellent focaccine at a very cheap price. You can eat there or take away the food.
- La Stanzina, Via Calvalca: close to Piazza delle Vettovaglie, it has very good food at reasonable price in a cosy enviroment. Many of the recipes come from southern Italy.
- Osteria dei Cavalieri, Via San Frediano: very close to Piazza dei Cavalieri ,it is quite expensive but very good. You can find typical and traditional recipes from tuscany.
- La Mescita, Via Cavalca: very close to Piazza delle Vettovaglie, it is an expensive but very good choice. They serve both traditional and more sophisticated food.
Drink
During summer nights, everybody stays around the banks of the rivers, sipping drinks bought from the several bars in the area.
A few of very good wine-bar are also available for colder, winter night.
Pisa Cafè dell'Ussero: a Rendevouz for Artists. It is a monument to Italian culture in the 1400's Palazzo Agostini, on Lungarno. Its walls are covered with glorious memories from its most famous visitors of the Risorgimento when they were students: Carlo Goldoni, Gacomo Casanova, Vittorio Alfieri, Filippo Mazzei, John Ruskin, Domenico Guerrazzi, Giuseppe Giusti, Renato Fucini, Giosuè Carducci, Cesare Abba, Giuseppe Montanelli. In 1839, it was seat of the meetings of the first Italian Congress of Scientists. Caffè dell’Ussero - Lungarno Pacinotti, 27 – Pisa (Italy) - http://www.ussero.com
Sleep
The area of the Pisa hills was already an attraction for enlightened travellers in the first half of the 1700s with the growth of the thermal spa of San Giuliano, which became a fashionable spot for the well-off classes. The mansions on the road along the hills, already renowned as places of gentle idleness and relaxation in the heart of the countryside and also for their small industrial facilities for the transformation of agricultural products, soon assumed the characteristics of true leisure resorts, just like those narrated by Carlo Goldoni and which we can continue to enjoy today. The stay at Bagni di Pisa (health giving waters are still offered to an international clientele) and visit Pisa during one of the city’s festivals, staying at the Agostini Palace to enjoy the best view of the festivities. The Villa http://www.villacorliano.it has hosted many illustrious guests such as Gustavus III of Sweden, Christian II of Denmark, the Royal Family of Great Britain, Benedict Stuart Cardinal of York, General Murat, Luigi Buonaparte, Paolina Borghese, Carlo Alberto of Savoy, the poets Byron and Shelley, and various other personages from the history books.
Get out
Lucca. You can travel by train to this other beautiful Tuscan city.
Florence. Very easily reachable by train from Pisa Centrale.
This "Travel Guide" section is drawn from the Wikitravel article "Pisa". We hope you will edit and improve it. It is available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.5 license.