Pisa, Italy
69%
69%
What's Hot
Weather, Culture, Sightseeing, Getting Around
Weather, Culture, Sightseeing, Getting Around
What's Not
Partying, Shopping, Things To Do, Eating Out
Partying, Shopping, Things To Do, Eating Out
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Pisa Reviews ( 49 reviews )
| Pisa Reviews |
by Antonio3
| 8 May 2007 | 80% |
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Pleasant city in western Tuscany, great monuments, good atmosphere. Once a Marine Republic (like Venice, Amalfi and Genoa), Pisa (western Tuscany) is world famous for its Leaning Tower but it also offers other attractions and sights. In the world famous “Campo dei Miracoli” (also known as “Piazza dei Miracoli”) you will also find the Duomo (Cathedral) and the Battistero (Baptistry). Try to head somewhere else in the city centre though if you are looking for good restaurants and shops, as the ones that surround the big square are touristy and pricey, and the quality is low. Try for example Via Santa Maria, Via Cavalca, Piazza delle Vettovaglie, Via San Martino and Via San Frediano. Pisa is also renowned for its old and prestigious university, established in 1343. The historic city centre (centro storico), on the north bank of the River Arno, is still surrounded by city walls. To relax, try the “Orto Botanico di Pisa” (Botanical Gardens), not far from Piazza dei Miracoli, in Via L. Ghini. Now they are part of Pisa University, but they were founded in 1540s and are the oldest in Europe. The University is located along the quays (called Lungarno) so the bars, pubs and restaurants in the surrounding area are usually packed with students and young people. After a tasty meal, don’t forget to try “Cantucci al VinSanto”, a typical Tuscany dessert (delicious dry almond biscuits soaked in VinSanto, a dessert wine). |
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by pksel
| 26 Jun 2006 | 80% |
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I liked Pisa a lot, mainly because I arrived at night and then strolled into the piazza to see the tower, the cathedral, and the duomo, and had the eerily stunning architectural cock-ups more or less to myself. By day, this piazza is full of tourists and all the things that go with them, but by night it had a beautifully surreal atmosphere. I also liked the student atmosphere, and found groups of slightly bohemian youngsters out in the piazzas until 5am playing Bob Dylan and The Beatles and getting to know them made me feel slightly less like just another one of the tourist masses. |
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by louisebe9656
| 27 Aug 2006 | 60% |
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there is very little to do in Pisa. The tourist attractions are expensive. However there were some good restaurants and nearby Lucca is beautiful. Florence is also a great place to go |
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by klday
| 10 Apr 2007 | 80% |
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GREAT QUIETER CITY WITH SO MUCH TO OFFER!!! A TANDOM BIKE RIDE AT DUSK WA SPERFECT TO SEE THE TOWER AND SURROUNDS...LOVELY RESTAURANT AND SHOPPING WITHOUT ALL THOSE HONKING HORNS! MOST PEOPLE CYCLE ABOUT...A SURPRISE. PISA SHOULD NOT BE LEFT OFF THE ITINERY!!! WE'LL BE BACK AND ESPECIALLY AT WELCOME B&B!!! WONDERFUL HOSPITALITY BY ANTOINETTA!! |
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by sonya3176
| 24 Apr 2007 | 40% |
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See the tower and leave. There are so many other places to spend your time. |
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by 17700
| 2 Dec 2006 | 80% |
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Although Florence is nearby, Pisa is also worth a visit. One or two days is enough, I would say. |
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by azza
| 2 Oct 2006 | 60% |
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Nice place with decent amount of history and culture. Big university town heaving with students in afternoons so plenty of places to eat at good proces. |
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by Shendy
| 2 Apr 2007 | 60% |
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Pisa is very nice city, I wish I stayed there longer! It is not so interesting but really you feel like at home. |
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by Barbita
| 2 Feb 2007 | 60% |
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Reason: Not very well sign posted.... The top up petrol stations are a rip- off. They don't accept credit cards and coins, only notes 5-10-20, no 50-s...and they don't give back change. If you are renting a car make sure you find a petrol station where you can pay with a Cr card for the exact amount. |
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| 25 Jul 2006 | 40% |
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pisa is nice to look at but couldnt spend more than one day here. night life is dead except for w/e. |
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by fuad
| 8 Oct 2006 | 60% |
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People are helpefull despite the fact that they speake weak English. It is pleasant to shop. God variation in food supermarkets if you want to cook your own food selv. |
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| 11 Jul 2006 | 60% |
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Its hard to review Pisa, because in actual fact its a review of the leaning tower and the immediate surrounding area! There really is very little else for tourists! To climb the tower it was relatively espensive and very busy (booking required!). It was 15e and you are limited to 30 minutes. |
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by jpvani
| 31 Jul 2006 | 80% |
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Public transport easy to use. Trains run regularly to other areas, ie Cinque Terra. Not really much to do in Pisa, but the tower is worth seeing and going up. A little pricey though. Lots of markets and fake things to buy. Pisa is an ok base for exploring other areas around Tuscany. |
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by larissad
| 4 Sep 2006 | 80% |
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mosquitos!!!! killer mostquitos everywhere, make sure you take some repellent with you! |
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by Tawney
| 14 Jul 2006 | 80% |
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We were only there for a couple of days, but what we saw was wonderful. One of the days was spent at the beach (highly recomended) and the other we kicked back at a traditional tuscan pasta resturant. |
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by chrissie1869
| 22 Jul 2006 | 40% |
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Not a very stimulating city! Amazing to see the tower but otherwise so many better places in Tuscany. Cities or countryside you can relax or party in the finest places so move on from Pisa quickly!!! |
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by Sammy6238
| 16 Aug 2006 | 80% |
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I have just stayed at the Camping Village Torre Pendente in Pisa and thought that it was good in more ways than one!! It is within walking distance to the Campo dei Miracoli (800 metres to be exact) which proved to be cheap because I didn't have to keep buying bus or metro tickets!! It was relatively easy to find, although we nealy melted in the heat....it takes about 10/15 minutes walk from the centre to the campsite. As soon as you walk into the campsite you feel at home!!It has a reception and shop opposite each other, and a swimming pool, bar, clothes/souvenir shop, and volleybal court all situated pretty much next to each other. We stayed in a Twin room with bathroom, which proved to be perfect..It was cosy and had a kitchen on the outside of it! We were provided with 2 sets of kitchen utensils as well (2 forks, 2 knives etc) several pans,bottle openers,plates,glasses...etc! It also had a list of everything that should be there so that if you didnt have it you could go and collect it from reception. The neighbours are all friendly and we smiled at each other everytime we went past each other, which was nice! We even got invited to dinner one night, so it is easy to make friends!! At nightime, the bar was fun but it was a bit quiet for my taste. Don't get me wrong, the bar was relatively cheap (which is next to the pool) and the music was good, but I think it was more family orientated as there were not a large number of younger people. The shop on the campsite was run by a friendly woman, who was more than willing to chat for half hour breaks! |
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by greggi3439
| 29 Jul 2006 | 80% |
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just what you need in the middle of your trip to recoup and get some rest in a beautiful small town. |
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by mellow4363
| 14 Sep 2006 | 80% |
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Expected line of taxis in rank outside airport. One turned up now and again but waited well over an hour. Buses seem to stop running early, around 8pm. Pisa fun, amazing yet crazy when you see how much buildings lean. In one day squeezed in main sights. But 2 full days would be good for pacing it out and exploring more. |
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by gesbr
| 23 Sep 2006 | 60% |
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Lovely place to visit and good bus and train service to elsewhere. Plenty of places to visit. |
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by lisaste2651
| 29 Aug 2006 | 40% |
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Pisa was a little disapointing - the town is quite scruffy and the restaurants and snack bars only really average compared to every where else we visited in italy. The leaning tower is to be honest the only real thing to see there and you only really need to spend an hour or so to take it in. my advice would be to spend a day at most in pisa and then move on to siena or florence or san gimigano near by which are all much more worth while tourist destinations. |
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by etsch
| 7 Sep 2006 | 60% |
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Pisa was just a stopover for us... we just selpt one night in Pisa, so I really can't rate fair!!! Sorry |
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by jules78
| 28 Sep 2006 | 20% |
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Pisa - not stacks to do but a nice place to hang out and bargain clothes shops with a twist |
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by rusty4974
| 10 Oct 2006 | 60% |
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loved the city small and reasonably quite lots of young italians around due to uni... just not alot of night life more momunental sight seeing |
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by ManuRobinson
| 8 Apr 2007 | 20% |
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Really Pisa only has this one tower and this is all what one want's and can see in this town. Good for a one night stop on a tour around Italy |
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by timohsia
| 31 Dec 2006 | 20% |
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So they built the tower of Pisa. But they were so inept that now its leaning. Italy is full of racists. So if you are a person of color steer away or expect to be a) ripped off and b) stared at. Not an enjoyable experience. I will definitely tell people of color to stay away from such a racist culture. |
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by kylemair
| 10 Nov 2006 | 40% |
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Very boring city if your sociable however the leaning tower was pretty cool. Can see the most interesting things in less than an hour. Go by train for the afternoon if your in Florence but dont bother staying there unless you like to be in bed by 8pm |
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by bigalbis
| 22 Jan 2007 | 60% |
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we found that by walking round to as many historical sites,we had a very enjoyable day, although there wasnt too much for one to do in the evenings,in the city area... |
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by poomoo
| 4 Apr 2007 | 60% |
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Travelling by train (you will want to for nearby Lucca & Florence): make sure you leave at least half hour before your journey in order to translate/cope with the difficult self-service ticket machines. Pisa centrale station does have English instructions though, but Pisa San Rossore (smaller station near to Torre Pendente campsite) doesn't. You're supposed to validate your train tickets via the yellow stamper boxes. If you do stamp it make sure you have the correct ticket/travel on THAT day as no refunds are given. However if you don't stamp it / 'forget' and more often than not the train conductor doesn't punch it, then the ticket's valid for a month! (We gave our Pisa-Florence tickets to someone else to use after we did). Train conductors are v. relaxed & often late arriving/departing so don't cut it fine. Beware you have to buy single tickets for multiple stations - they don't do 'vias'. Also be aware that if you are using multiple stations, there is only 1 big timetable for that particular stations arrivals/departures - i.e. you can't pre-plan a trip from another station unless you're at a main station with an attendant and fancy a big queue. If you're using one of the god awful self service ticket machines try to use change as if you use a note it'll only give you back max 4.95 euro and the rest as a credit note - again you'll have to travel to a main station with a 'biglieteria' to get you're change credit note cashed. Yes a little complicated at first but after a couple of days you should start to get used to thier bizzare system! P.S. It goes without saying, don't be an idiot and walk across train tracks to other platforms like the Italians do - I was afraid I was going to see people being horrifically splattered on holiday, not a nice thought! P.P.S. Pedestrian crossings don't exist in Pisa, only Zebras, so beware or be brave, once you're foot's out go for it, otherwise if you dither you'll have cars, scooters and bicycles on top of you! Hope that helps, have fun & good luck! |
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by oliveiralv
| 29 Jan 2007 | 100% |
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I think Pisa was a nice city.. I went thinking it was just about the tower, but it has some great squares and also some great churches.. |
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by amy9151
| 4 Mar 2007 | 80% |
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People in Pisa have already seen too much tourists. So they try to get their money for less effort. Eating out is not as good as in other italian cities. But our Hotel "Francesco" is highly recommendable! Nice monuments, lots of very friendly students around, grumpy taxi-drivers. The city is okay for a short stay, then go on to the real nice places, like Orbetello, 5-Terre, Sardegna and so on. |
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by irisma8959
| 16 Feb 2007 | 80% |
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El centro de la ciudad no es muy grande y no ofrece mucho, máximo un día. El campo dei Miracoli, donde está el complejo de Catedral, Torre inclinada y Baptisterio, es digno de ver. Espectacular. Al día siguiente marchamos a Florencia. El aeropuerto está en el centro de pisa, muy bien comunicado con la estación. |
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by Beckside510
| 31 Mar 2007 | 80% |
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Value of things (food, drinks, souveniers) varied widely depending on what part of town you were in. We did okay but also had a 6 euro glass of wine near the train station! Since the bill is accumulated and paid for after all is said and done, make sure to look at the menus before ordering. We weren't really there for shopping, but if you have money to blow and a keen fashion sense, there were plenty of shops to satisfy. Mostly Pisa seemed to be a pretty small, relaxed town. I was into it but I can see how Firenze, a much bigger, bustling, city with a lot more tourists could be fun too. |
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by Gillian
| 16 Oct 2007 | 80% |
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Small place with not a whole lot to do. Good start to a holiday after travelling because it is very laid back place. Chill out in the garden surounding the tower and watch the world go by. Lively at night time on the main street |
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by SantaKlaus
| 25 Oct 2007 | 40% |
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Pisa is a pleasant small town with some nice little squares. There´s exactly one thing really worth a look - the tower. Admission 15 Euros - bommer. |
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by b4bexy
| 27 Feb 2008 | 40% |
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This hotel was great. For first night travelling alone in italy; I ate and drank at the hotel then Gavino took me to see tower and surrounds by evening light. Staff are friendly and lovely place to stay. VERY central, VERY clean! alot of personality to the hotel. I will be back! |
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by Panionios
| 27 Feb 2008 | 80% |
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Piazza dei Miracoli is great!! but there is no more to see in the city.. maybe a little bit dark and lonely in the night |
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by photodaviesa
| 24 Mar 2008 | -60% |
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the campsite had motorhomes to stay in and they were nice and new.. the beds are deciving they feel comfy at first touch but after about 20 minutes like concrete floor. when its cold turn the heater on right when you get there cause it takes ages to warm up the place. about 10min walk to the leaning tower and lots of good food places. the bar is a cafe not a bar so no partying and very family oriented from the looks.. no pool table... the pool was drained no where heated to really just hand out.. slow internet.. it was ok just to sleep clean and close but no fun. |
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