September 18-19, 2022. I had not planned to visit Pisa. I’d heard it was boring with only the tower to see. However, when I started searching for ways to get east to Albania or Bulgaria, the cheapest flights were from Pisa. There was also an overnight ferry that was cheaper and seemed like a unique experience but their website didn’t like my American credit cards (spoiler, the payment went through and I received confirmation over 24 hours after attempting to book…thankfully I was able to cancel for a partial refund). Anyways, I booked a flight from Pisa and a train from Naples to Pisa for a reasonable amount.

The train was lovely. I had a window seat and got to watch the beautiful Italian countryside pass. We started along the coast then turned inward to pick up more passengers in Rome before continuing on to Pisa. The trains were clean, air conditioned, and on time. Yay!

I arrived in Pisa around 1 pm. My hostel was close to the train station so I dropped my bags off before walking into town. Pisa is a pretty city. It was so different from Naples. Calm, orderly, clean. I missed the chaos of Naples but enjoyed exploring Pisa. There is a river that divides the town, colorful buildings, Roman ruins, and of course the tower. The leaning tower of Pisa was more impressive than I had expected. It really is leaning a ridiculous amount. Engineers have stabilized it, but it looks like it should fall over. The tower is part of a complex with a large church and baptistery. They were much bigger and grander than the tower. Please enjoy my attempts to take the tourist pictures.

After seeing the tower, I enjoyed a leisurely lunch of Tuscan specialities- pasta with truffles and mushrooms, bruschetta, and red wine. I may have also savored a large dish of tiramisu. So good!

I made a point to avoid the main roads and explored the small streets. There were lots of places where the houses were built over the street which created tunnels to walk through. It looked beautiful.

Pisa is small and a day is really enough to see the main sites. That being said, it could be a great base to explore the rest of Tuscany and the nearby Cinque Terre. I’m glad my alternative travel schemes gave me a good reason to spend a day there.

I stayed at Safestay Pisa and it was a good hostel. Basic rooms but walking distance from both the train station and the airport. I actually walked to the airport which was a first for me.