Best Things to Do in Pisa

Located in the Tuscany region and south of Cinque Terre, Pisa is one of the most visited cities in the area near the Italian Riviera and that is largely because of the Leaning Tower, which is its main attraction and also one of the most photographed buildings in the world, but also because the city has many other activities to offer.

Among the best things you can see and do to get to know Pisa are walking around the picturesque historic center, visiting the Piazza dei Miracoli, seeing the Cathedral and the Baptistery, discovering the sunset on the Mezzo Bridge, touring the Carrara marble canteens and visiting the Leaning Tower, which is part of the best tours of Pisa.

Pisa is world famous for the Leaning Tower, which is also one of the most photographed buildings in the world. The construction of this tower, which is actually the bell tower of the Cathedral but can be visited independently, began in 1173 and an error in the calculation on the instability of the ground generated the original inclination. Since then, the architects have been working to prevent its collapse.

During visits to the Leaning Tower, which you can do on your own or with the assistance of an expert local guide, you can learn about its history and visit the interior. You can also take the classic photograph holding the bell tower and learn about the myths and legends of the city, which are hidden behind the particular building and involve famous people of the city such as Galileo Galilei and Leonardo Fibonacci.

Keep in mind that the Leaning Tower of Pisa is the main attraction of the city, so it is usually very crowded and also offers a limited number of tickets per day to favor the preservation of the building, so I recommend you to book your ticket in advance, especially if you plan to visit Tuscany during the high season.

Interesting details

• 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.

The Leaning Tower is the great attraction of Pisa, but the city has much more to show, and a tour of the historic center of the city, which hides some of the ancient wonders of the region, is one of the best alternatives to leave the main circuit formed by the Piazza dei Miracoli, the Cathedral and its bell tower.

On these excursions you can visit the picturesque medieval district of Borgo Stretto, which was influenced by the Medici family during the Renaissance years, the Mezzo Bridge, which is the most famous bridge crossing the Arno River, and also learn about the stories that led Pisa to become a brave warrior city and a key site in the Italian reunification promoted by Giuseppe Garibaldi in the nineteenth century.

During the tours you will also visit the Church of St. Michael, which was one of the main Catholic seats during the medieval papacies, the houses where the Pisan inventor of the telescope Galileo Galilei lived and the Piazza dei Cavalieri, which is one of the most beautiful squares in Pisa.

As these excursions, which last about 4 hours, usually start or end in Piazza dei Miracoli, where you can visit the Cathedral and the Leaning Tower, they are ideal to get to know an alternative profile of the city even if you are planning a short stay. If that is your case, here are the best alternatives to get to know Pisa in 1 day.

Piazza dei Miracoli is the tourist center of Pisa and the open space that brings together the main attractions of the city, including the Cathedral, the bell tower of the Leaning Tower, the Baptistery and the monumental Cemetery, making it one of the most famous sites in the region of Tuscany.

In Piazza dei Miracoli you can also find the monument to the Capitoline Magnifying Glass, the she-wolf that saved and fed Romulus and Remus, the brothers who are pointed out by mythology as the founders of Rome. From any corner of the square, moreover, you can see the brilliance of the buildings, which were mostly built with Carrara marble, which is the emblem of the regional industry.

In Piazza dei Miracoli, you can also take some of the best pictures of your trip and, if you want to find unmissable night views of the city, you can take a walk after sunset to discover the illuminated buildings, which is one of the best things to do in Pisa at night.

The absolute and sudden fame of the leaning tower completely overshadowed other buildings in the city, but in reality the most famous attraction of Pisa is only the bell tower of a much larger building, which is the Cathedral, located in the heart of the Piazza dei Miracoli and is the most representative Romanesque Duomo of this architectural style in the world.

The construction of the Cathedral took almost 300 years, so the crossover of styles on the outside and inside is very noticeable. During the Middle Ages and the Renaissance the Duomo was adding frescoes and works of art that serve to demonstrate the medieval economic power that Pisa had and that is manifested in the paintings, mosaics, sculptures and coffered ceilings that merge Byzantine, Islamic and European styles.

During your visit to the Cathedral you can also visit the Baptistery, which is the largest Catholic baptismal building in the world and is famous from the outside for being the circular construction that adorns the skyline of Pisa. In addition, you will be surprised that, like the Bell Tower, the Baptistery is also slightly inclined, as it also suffered the ups and downs of the terrain.

You can visit the Cathedral and the Baptistery on your own or as part of a guided tour and you can also choose to include the leaning tower in the tour, although they can be visited independently.

Details of interest

• Price: entrance to the Cathedral and Baptistery has an initial cost of approximately 25 euros per person.
• Hours: daily from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm.
• Location: Piazza del Duomo, Pisa.

Much of the economic power that Pisa has had in the Middle Ages was due to the fact that it was an important Marine Republic, which managed the control over the Arno, the navigable river that crosses the city and that not only gives rise to a hectic river trade, but also gives some of the best postcards of the city. From the Mezzo Bridge, the most important bridge in Pisa, you can discover these landscapes.

One of the best alternatives to see the best side of the Arno is to approach the river to watch the sunset. The Mezzo Bridge is ideal for watching the sunset, as its almost 90 meters long is crowned with a giant arcade and an open view without tall buildings nearby, which will not only avoid visual pollution, but will also allow you to take some of the best pictures of Pisa.

The Mezzo Bridge also serves a cultural function in the city, as it was the place where the northern and southern armies met before every battle and is therefore a historical reference. If you plan to visit Pisa during Christmas, you can see the bridge illuminated at night with Christmas decorations and lights, which are automatically turned on after sunset.

If you are an architecture buff or just a trained observer, in Pisa you will be amazed by the structure and texture of most of the main buildings, especially those in the Piazza dei Miracoli, which are different from the rest of the facades. This is largely due to the material used in Pisa in the Middle Ages, which was mostly San Giuliano marble and Carrara marble, the pearl of the regional industry.

If you want to learn about the history of the marble canteens, which is considered the white gold of Pisa, you can take an excursion outside the city to visit the quarries of the Apuan Alps, where the marble is extracted from caves and moved to Cinque Terre, Lucca, Siena, Florence and many other nearby sites.

On these excursions, you will usually also learn about the history of the local economy and the importance of white gold in the industrial development of the Italian Riviera.

These excursions, although they include the transfer to the outskirts of the city, have an approximate duration of 5 to 6 hours, so they are ideal to get to know an alternative site even if you are planning a short stay. If this is your case, here is a list of activities you can do to discover Pisa in 2 days.

The Marina of Pisa is the best kept secret of the city, because there you can find some of the best beaches in Tuscany, which are usually overshadowed by the fame of the Leaning Tower or the paradisiacal beaches of Cinque Terre. However, this sector of the beach of Pisa has very beautiful landscapes to offer and the best alternative to get to know it is on a bike tour.

During your tour you can opt for a tour with the assistance of an expert local guide or a self-guided tour, but in any case you can easily reach the Marina di Pisa by a specially designed bike ride along the Navicelli canal that will take you to the shores of the Tyrrhenian Sea

These panoramic tours last about 4 hours, but you can also discover the Marina di Pisa on your own or by other means of transport. Among the best beaches of the city are also Calambrone, Tirrenia and Bocca d'Arno.

Outside the traditional circuit of Pisa, you can find the Church of Santa Maria della Spina, a small but very beautiful Gothic building that not only has a particular religious decoration inside, but also holds a fascinating history, since among its relics treasures one of the thorns of the crown of Jesus of Nazareth that the Catholic Church recognizes as authentic.

Other interesting details of the Church of Santa Maria della Spina, is that it is located on the banks of the Arno, so you can reach it in a quiet walk along the river to the outside of the building, which houses a Gothic sculpture of the Madonna of the Rose, which also makes it a place of worship during Holy Week.

Admission to this building, which is considered a small Gothic Cathedral, is free. This church is open every day, modifying its schedule only during the dates of patron saint festivals or during days of religious worship.

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.

The Monumental Cemetery is the least known of the buildings in Piazza dei Miracoli, but it is no less interesting for that. This cemetery, which was declared a World Heritage Site by Unesco together with its entire complex, houses 600 tombstones and sarcophagi from the Greco-Roman period. In addition, its interior is decorated with frescoes by Italian Renaissance artists, which enhances the importance of the main building.

The complex is also composed of three chapels and a central courtyard, a large garden area and a wall with 43 arches and two huge entrance gates, so it not only bears witness to its era, but also to the importance of the personalities who were buried in it during its slow construction, which took almost 200 years.

The Monumental Cemetery must be visited independently, as it is not included in the tickets for the Cathedral, the Baptistery and the Leaning Tower.

Details of interest

• 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.

Italian cities stand out for many aspects, but one of the main ones is gastronomy, so one of the best alternatives to get to know Pisa is to take a tour to get to know the local and regional flavors, which are characterized by the variety and richness of their preparations.

During these excursions, you can taste the trodden sausages, regional wines, Tuscan soup and ribollita, race stew, beans with sausages and gourmet ice cream, which is very prominent in the Italian Riviera, especially in Vernazza, in Cinque Terre. You can also discover all these dishes on your own, although I recommend a gastronomic tour so you can get to know the best places that the local guide will advise you.

Gastronomic tours are popular throughout the season, although at certain times of the year you can combine your experience with a visit to the Christmas markets, during Christmas Eve, or to the vineyards, especially in September and October, which is harvest time, when the wineries become the protagonists of the best tours from Pisa.