Ryanair offered 99p flights, so we decided to have a 4 day break in Pisa. We arrived at Pisa airport which was only a mile out of town. I expected to find leaflets packed with info at the airport - but no. So we wandered outside and found the bus stop & I had already found out that is was apparently easy to get a bus into the centre. We tried to buy a ticket from a machine, but it wouldn't give us tickets so we asked the driver of a bus that drew up and he tried to help & had a problem, so he sold us a couple of tickets for 1.50 Euros. I was starting to feel that Italy didn't really want Tourists to find out anything! Anyway we saw a sign to our hotel, hopped off the bus and a few yards down the road was the hotel.
They were brilliant, they checked us in at once- at 10am in the morning! There were signs all over Pisa to indicate where different hotels were. Its quite a small place, most places are within easy reach. The first day we went round Pisa, the Leaning Tower and Duomo etc which were swarming with tourists even in May. I lost count of the number of times we were approached by guys trying to sell watches, it became irritating to some extent. At the end of the first day I did wonder what we would do for 4 days - We went to the station to see where we could go by train as I had tried to get info before we went but I obviously wasn't looking in the right places... & I ran out of time. . The train station offered no leaflets, neither did the Tourist information centre -the first time we tried to ask for help at the tourst office the girl was very unhelpful & just said we should buy tickets at the train station. Eventually we decide to go to Lucca the next day and braved the bus station. We got a ticket for a 'Lazzi' bus to Lucca & we were told the bus was blue and the time of the next one, & a wave over to the side ' get on over there , not here' . So we went to have a look - but which way to the stop & which side of the road? What about the tourist office - we tried again and this time a really friendly girl told us the name of the road where the stop was, and came outside to show us.
Success- a nice blue coach came along and off we went. The journey took about an hour, and cost 5 Euros each for a return ticket. Lucca was a lovely place, lots of churches and squares, and places to sit outside and eat & drink. I could have spent two days there as I felt it was generally more interesting than Pisa.
Next day back to the train station, and a ticket for Florence. On the station were little machines where you had to push in the ticket to validate it. They had station announcements in English which was helpful. The toilets on the station weren't called toilets- they were called Baths or something! You had to pay 0.50 Euros for a ticket and they were like blue ultra violet lights inside - weird. Pisa to Florence return cost 10 Euros each, and the journey was about an hour. We walked into the centre, found some markets, looked in lots of shoe shops, looked in all the designer shops, and took a horse drawn carriage ride to do some comfortable sight seeing. Food & drink was nice, but it was packed with tourists again, so it must be bad in high season. Could have spent lots more time there.
On our last day we took a train to Livorno on the coast - after we had problems with the cash machine which made us late. Again the tourst office was very helpful, as we didn't know whether to go by bus or rail. Rail was 20 minutes. We got a CPT orange bus into the centre,( one euro 60 for both of us} and took note of the way we went. It was quite interesting, we went down to the harbour and the marina and then as we had no information on where to go decided to take a leisurely walk back to the stationThe ice=creams were lovely, so many flavours. The CPT local orange buses were cheap, and we discovered you could buy a ticket at any tobacconist - you had to have a ticket before you got on the bus. As the bus to the airport went past our hotel we got a ticket for 80 Euros each ( that would last an hour from when you put it in the machine as you got on the bus) and hopped on the bus. If I ever got a cheap flight there again I would need to do more research before I went to plan what to do, but I would probably only go for a couple of nights - just a quick break.
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Tuscany is such a great region of Italy, there are so many places to visit. I was there about 7 years ago and stayed in a untouristy town called Poggibonsi. It was great to be able to travel around, but return and spend some time away from the tourists.
JoePoirot 19.05.2005 13:12
Pisa is a nice place but easily done in one day.
Bollinger28 19.05.2005 08:58
I went to Pisa a couple of years ago and was really disappointed. The tower was so much tinier than I imagined and the place was absolutely swarming with tourists and nasty gift booths selling cheap plastic tat. I don't think I'll be going back. Lexy
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Advantages: Great location, great transport links, great food, great holiday Disadvantages: could run out of things to do on long holiday as its a small city
pocketsize 12.05.2008 ·
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Review of Pisa (Italy)
Advantages: It's Italy, so you can expect good weather, nice people and amazing food, plus a well located airport served by budget carriers Disadvantages: There's very little to do there
zoe_page 07.01.2003 (07.01.2003)
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Review of Pisa (Italy)
Advantages: Great location, great transport links, great food, great holiday Disadvantages: could run out of things to do on long holiday as its a small city
pocketsize 12.05.2008 ·
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Review of Pisa (Italy)
![Global Treasures Pisa Italy [DVD] [NTSC]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/84159085.jpg "Global Treasures Pisa Italy [DVD] [NTSC]")
May 18th, 2005
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