Pisa in 1 Day: all you need to know

Pisa is mainly known for the buildings located in Piazza dei Miracoli, including the Leaning Tower and the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta, but it also has many other sites to offer, including the Marina area, which has some of the best beaches.

Some of the best things to see and do in Pisa to see the city in 1 day include touring the Leaning Tower, seeing the Cathedral, walking through the monumental Camposanto, having lunch in Piazza Garibaldi, cycling to the Marina, taking a walk through the medieval Borgo Stretto district and watching the sunset on Ponte del Mezzo, before closing your visit in a restaurant in Piazza delle Vettovaglie.

The Leaning Tower is undoubtedly the main attraction of the city and one of the most photographed buildings in the world, so I suggest you start the tour of the 58-meter bell tower that is characterized by the inclination generated by the instability of the ground, since it was built in 1173.

On your visit to the Leaning Tower you can do the tour on your own or choose, at extra cost, an expert local guide to accompany you during your visit. The top of the bell tower can be reached via a staircase with more than 200 steps in a climb that you will have to do on foot, as the tower does not have elevators for the public.

If you opt for guided tours, you will not only learn about the history of the construction, but also about the relationship that the bell tower had with some of the most prominent figures in the history of Pisa, such as Galileo Galilei and Leonardo Fibonacci, the popular mathematician who was born and lived during the construction of the tower.

Keep in mind that the Leaning Tower of Pisa is usually very crowded and the number of visitors is limited to favor the preservation of the building, so I advise you to book your tickets in advance to ensure your place during the visit.

Details of interest

• Price: the entrance ticket to the Leaning Tower of Pisa has an initial cost of approximately 25 euros per person.
• Hours: daily from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm.
• Location: Piazza del Duomo, Pisa.

If it were not for the Leaning Tower, which absorbed the fame of the rest of the buildings of Pisa, the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta would be the most popular of the city's buildings, not only for being located in the center of the Piazza dei Miracoli, but also for its architectural design that delicately combines Romanesque and Gothic styles.

The Duomo took almost 300 years to build, so the crossover of styles is very evident, something common in religious buildings of the time. However, the Cathedral underwent extensive modifications during the Renaissance, which nourished it with frescoes, sculptures and works of art inside, making it one of the most famous temples in Tuscany.

The Cathedral is located in front of the bell tower and you can enter for free if you first buy the ticket for the Leaning Tower, so you can not miss this building that marks one of the cultural landmarks of Pisa. Note that if you are fond of religious tourism you can also visit the picturesque Church of Santa Maria della Spina.

In addition, you can also visit the Baptistery, which is usually included in the itinerary of the best tours of Pisa and is recognized as the largest Catholic baptismal building in the world, with a famous perspective from the outside due to the circular construction of its base. Like the bell tower, but to a lesser degree, the Baptistery is also leaning due to the swaying of the ground.

Interesting details

• Price: the entrance fee for the Cathedral and the Baptistery has an initial cost of approximately 25 euros per person, although you can enter for free if you first buy the ticket for the Leaning Tower.
• Hours: daily from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm.
• Location: Piazza del Duomo, Pisa.

The next stop will keep you in Piazza dei Miracoli, as you will get to know the Monumental Cemetery, which is the least known of the religious buildings in the tourist epicenter of Pisa. This cemetery, which was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site, houses more than 600 tombstones and sarcophagi of some of the most prominent Pisan personalities of the Greco-Roman era.

The price of the visit to the Monumental Cemetery also includes the visit of 3 chapels, a central courtyard and large gardens, which serve to understand the architecture of the period in which it was built and the importance of the people who were buried there during the more than 200 years that lasted the construction of the cemetery.

Please note that you must visit the Monumental Cemetery independently, as it is not included in the tickets for the Cathedral, the Baptistery and the Leaning Tower, nor is it listed in any of the tourist cards of the region.

If you plan to visit Pisa during Christmas time, you will be able to fulfill the tradition that after Christmas Eve you should tour the cemetery to invoke good fortune and ward off death.

Interesting details

• Price: the entrance to the Monumental Cemetery has an initial cost of approximately 5 euros.
• Hours: daily from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm.
• Location: Piazza del Duomo, Pisa.

Once you have finished the tour in Piazza del Miracoli I suggest you take a break with a lunch stop in Piazza Garibaldi, which is one of the main centers of Pisa's gastronomic tours. You can reach the square on foot for 8 blocks or on line 5 buses.

In Piazza Garibaldi you can quickly find some of the best restaurants and bars in the city, where you can try traditional local dishes, such as Tuscan soup, race stew, pizzas, pastas and white beans with sausages, which is a very famous dish of the region because it is prepared with Pisan sausages.

The square, named after Giuseppe Garibaldi, who was the peacemaker and unifier of Italy in the 20th century, is also the starting point for many of the city's best gastronomic excursions and is one of the local epicenters of Pisa's nightlife.

Piazza Garibaldi is also the starting point for the vast majority of guided tours of Pisa, so sooner or later, unless you choose to do a complete tour on your own, you will have to pass through this square to meet your guide or to start some of the best excursions in the city.

Pisa, in the heart of Tuscany, stands out for its white marble and granite buildings, so the rest of the attractions go somewhat unnoticed, although the Marina of Pisa is a place worth visiting, even though many of its beaches are overshadowed by the paradisiacal seaside resorts of Cinque Terre.

The best alternative to visit the Marina di Pisa is to take a bike tour, which can be on your own or with the assistance of an expert local guide, and which will take you along the Navicelli canal promenade, which was designed especially for cyclists. During this ride you will get to know some of the most beautiful landscapes of the city and the best beaches of Pisa.

These tours last about 4 hours and in addition to the main beach stretches of the Marina of Pisa, you can also visit Bocca d'Arno, Tirrenia and Calambrone, which is one of the last Pisan sites before the beginning of Livorno, which is often included among the best destinations to visit from Pisa.

Note that if you plan to visit Pisa in summer, you can reserve some free time to take a swim, but if you plan to travel in winter, you can take a walk to get to know a different profile of the city, located on the Tyrrhenian Sea coast.

Outside the Leaning Tower and the buildings of Piazza dei Miracoli, the historic center of Pisa is one of the most visited sites in the city, especially along the stretch of the main artery called Borgo Stretto, which gives rise to the neighborhood of the same name.

Borgo Stretto, which starts at the Mezzo Bridge and ends in Via San Francesco, is one of the oldest medieval neighborhoods of the city, but also a great option to visit some of the best bars and restaurants in the city, so you will love to know it, walk through its narrow streets and visit the small cafes that are hidden among its houses.

In Borgo Stretto, you can also visit the popular Church of San Michele, taste some of the best artisan ice cream in the city such as Il Gelato di Toto and La Bottega del Gelato and if you plan to visit Pisa during Christmas, you can admire the Christmas decorations in the streets.

Note that you can reach Borgo Stretto by public transport on the LAM Rossa bus line or also by car, although there are very few parking lots and being a historic district with very narrow streets, it will be difficult to move freely in a vehicle.

On one side of Borgo Stretto and a few streets away from the Mezzo Bridge, you can make a brief visit to the Church of Santa Maria della Spina, which does not have the tradition of the Cathedral, but it does keep one of the most important relics of Catholicism, which is one of the thorns of the crown of Jesus of Nazareth.

The Church of Santa Maria della Spina, which is located on the banks of the Arno, should be reached after a peaceful walk along the banks of the river. Inside the temple you will find a Renaissance sculpture of the popular Madonna della Rosa.

The Church of Santa Maria della Spina is considered a small Gothic Cathedral and admission is free. Please note that the busiest times of the church are during Holy Week.

Details of interest

• Price: the entrance to the church is free.
• Hours: every day from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm.
• Location: Lungarno Gambacorti, Pisa.

You cannot leave Pisa without watching the sunset from the Mezzo Bridge, located at the beginning of the Borgo Stretto district. This bridge, which historically marked the boundary between the north and south of the city and was the rallying point for the armies of the entire Republic before every battle, also serves as a witness to the golden age of the city's river trade along the Arno River.

The Mezzo Bridge is located in a wide and open area and there are no tall buildings nearby, so you can enjoy a great panoramic view of the city's skyline, especially during the summer, when the sky is clear and the weather is more pleasant, favoring the spectacle of Tuscan sunsets.

This bridge is over 90 meters long and is usually included in the best tours of the city, so you can visit it with the assistance of an expert local guide or on your own.

In any case, whichever way you decide to visit it, seeing the Mezzo Bridge during sunset is one of the best things to do in Pisa outside the main tourist epicenter circuit.

To close the day of your intensive tour of the city I suggest you return to the Borgo Stretto area and visit Piazza delle Vettovaglie, which is the main site that gathers the night parties of the city and where you should go if you want to find activities to do in Pisa during the night.

There you will find bars and discos, but also restaurants where you can opt for a quieter plan if you do not want to party or prefer to have dinner and go to sleep, although during your last night in the city you will not want to miss the activities of the local market and food stalls.

In any case, you can choose to say goodbye to Pisa enjoying its dishes and flavors and also the good service provided by the Pisans, even if you are too exhausted to party, because in Piazza delle Vettovaglie you will find options for everyone.