I'm heading back to Italy in October for my honemoon and the Mrs. PointsAreMyLife to be insists that we go to Pisa so she can see the beloved tower (much to my complaining about not wanting to go)...but anyhow...my plan is to take a train from florence to pisa in the afternoon see the tower, stay the night and then get up and train it to Rome. So a few questions...
1. What time does the Tower close?
2. Where should I stay since there don't appear to be any hotel chain hotels there? So i'll just take a nice place thats in a good location and reasonably priced.
3. Should I even stay in Pisa or should we just train in there see the tower and then go stay somewhere else on our way to Rome? If so where should we go.
4. If we do stay in Pisa, what else should we do or see that night? Restaurants?
5. There are direct trains from Pisa to Rome correct?

Thanks!

Don't bother staying from what I hear - get there, spend the 10 minutes taking pic of the tower, & then head on. That's what most have told me anyway...

My sister was going to do the overnight thing last year & I looked at hotel reviews on tripadvisor.com to get an idea of what was near there/which would be ok. There appeared to be a couple that are ok. I think she/friends ended up just stopping by long enough to take pics & continued on to (can't remember where).

Cheers.

I would say that I agree with the previous reply. We did it as a side trip from Florence. I say staying a couple of hours (max) is more than enough. Would not want to stay there overnight. We looked at the Tower, walked around the square, ate lunch and headed back to Florence. Have fun and congratulations.

Agree with the previous posters. We stayed in Lucca (which is lovely and not too far from Pisa) and went to Pisa for half a day. We saw the tower and surroundings then ran out of anything to keep us in Pisa any longer. It's not an attractive city. Can't remember how long the train took but I think it was about half an hour from Lucca.

Earlier this year my Dad ignored our advice and insisted he wanted to stay in Pisa to see the tower. He stayed one night and said afterwards that he wished he'd listened to us and not bothered staying there.

If Florence is too far away for you to travel to Pisa then try Lucca.

We enjoyed Pisa the couple of occasions we have stayed the night(early am plane). Their mall(pedestrian street) was nice.

stayed at the Cavalieri, which has a great breakfast. probably the best hotel in town. is expensive for what you get.

stayed at the D'Azeglio. had a room with full view of the keith harring.

both very close to train station.

the hotels seem to be full most of the time we have tried unsuccessfully to book at other times

had a great meal at Il Nuraghe on via Mazzini. This is a Sardinian restaurant.

1. What time does the Tower close?

October
Leaning Tower:9.00 - 19.00
Cathedral:10.00 - 19.00
Baptistery, Monumental Cemetery, Opera Museum, Sinopie Museum: 9.00 - 19.00

It is strictly forbidden to access the square from 23:00 to 07:00. Normally, walking along the street - Via del Duomo is allowed.

To enter on tower reservations required. If you want to reserve go straight to the ticket office behind the Tower. You choose a time slot (30 min) for your visit at the time of purchase; it will likely be a couple of hours before you're able to go up, but the wait should be much shorter if you arrive at the beginning or end of the day.

Additional information on web: http://www.opapisa.it/index.php?id=16&L=1&T=2


2. Where should I stay since there don't appear to be any hotel chain hotels there? So i'll just take a nice place thats in a good location and reasonably priced.


I think that the better place to stay is Florence.
Trains to Pisa are often 2 times each hour (you can check on http://www.trenitalia.com/en/index.html). You can also take train from Pisa to Rome.

Nice trip,

Ddoliwa

I think my sister & friends went on to Lucca & stayed there, & then headed to Florence for last couple of days...

Cheers.

I couldn't agree more with those who say see the tower and surrounding structures, get your photos, then leave for your next destination. I was there a few years ago when the tower interior was still closed for reinforcement, and don't think that I missed anything important (I have no intention of going back). I was driving from Genoa to Florence, so it was an easy detour.

I'm heading back to Italy in October for my honemoon and the Mrs. PointsAreMyLife to be insists that we go to Pisa so she can see the beloved tower (much to my complaining about not wanting to go)...but anyhow...my plan is to take a train from florence to pisa in the afternoon see the tower, stay the night and then get up and train it to Rome.
Thanks!

We just made the day trip from Florence to Pisa, and were bored after 3 hours, and that was including lunch.

I would suggest a day trip from Florence by train, or do Lucca and Pisa by Lazzi bus from Florence. Lucca is much more interesting. Depart for Rome the next morning from Florence.

Taking your luggage from Florence to Pisa (not much room for it on the local trains), then going to Rome might work, but where would you store the luggage for a few hours while visiting Pisa?

, but where would you store the luggage for a few hours while visiting Pisa?
There is a baggage storage area at the Pisa train station. As you are looking from the train platform at the station, the storage facility is to your right. No signs that I remember, but walk about 50 feet, and turn down a side alley to your left.
We made a quick stop at the Leaning Tower on the way from Rome to Venice, and thought it was very much worth it to see. You can pre-purchase tickets to climb the tower using the web-site mentioned previously, so that you do not need to wait so long (if you are going during the busy season, or want/need to reserve an exact time).

Paging Gargoyle

We stopped for a few hours in Pisa on our way from Florence to Cinque Terre. Put our bags at the train station lockers and hopped on the bus. Don't bother staying there over night (definitely worth seeing though!!). Highly recommend staying on the coast instead.

A couple of hours are enough. This is a very small city.

Paging Gargoyle

Beware of what you ask!

Once you find him, you may not be able to get rid of him. :p

Pisa is a day trip. You can stay in Florence instead.

Paging GargoyleI just fly in and out of the Pisa airport every two months, but I don't hang around in town there; I just get in and out as quick as possible. It's sort of a "been there, done that" town. We climbed the tower about 5 years ago, worth doing once. (for me it was very interesting, because each column capital is a different design, but not many people notice that) The baptistry is much more interesting, as is the Duomo museum. Inside the church itself is too dark and crowded to see much.

The San Rossore train station is much closer than the main station (Centrale). It's about a mile walk from San Rossore, signage is poor but ask anyone (if you don't speak the language, just ask "dov'e il torre?")- you walk through part of the university campus.

Local friends go to Lucca all the time, to Montecatini, to other places... they go to Pisa if they are studying at the university, otherwise they never have any interest in going there. Pisa is like Starbucks- fantastic marketing, but the product itself doesn't live up to the name.

As ChgoBob knows, Gargoyles are very picky about which Cathedrals they frequent.

I am planning on going to Pisa as a day side trip from Florence next August. Just want to go for the picture. I have read the warnings on renting a car in Florence so was thinking of just doing the train. But were I to rent a car, could I see Pisa early in the morning, drive around Tuscany during the day, and be back in Florence at night? Or does this sound like too much? Only doing 3 days in Florence and want to make sure I get in as much as possible. I will be able to relax on other segments of the trip.