PISA Italy

[SgtElias]

*gloating

[cherub85]

We went to Pisa in Feb this year. Was a strange trip as we booked it Friday morning and flew Saturday! This was due to the extreme storm that was due to hit England Saturday lunchtime. We were going to Sardinia but easyJet recommended changing flight so we moved to Pisa as the flight went out very early before the storm was due! It worked well as our flight to Sardinia was cancelled.
Our hotel owner was amazing and gave us loads of tips for things to do we. We went by train to Florence, Lucca and Via Reggio. All beautiful. He also told us about some hot springs near by that looked amazing, and a town where they have a very famous horse race. Sorry can’t remember the names of them.
Pisa was our last trip abroad this year! Covid almost hit Italy while we were there. We knew nothing about it really going, and were shocked to be treated at airport by staff in full PPE and had our temperature checked. Then on getting back we soon found we had crossed into the so called red zone when we went to Florence. My work sent me home and I had to ring 111, if we had come back 1 day later we would have had to self isolate for 14 days. How long ago that now seems!
Hope you enjoy it, it was our first trip to Italy and we fell in love with it!

[d1gger]

We did Pisa, but wasn't that impressed - its a big tourist trap. There is a nice spa village about 30/60mins outside called monticante terme - that is really nice. And to add others views - Florence is beautiful and definitely recommended.

[SgtElias]

“We did Pisa, it’s a big tourist trap” what a strange thing to say. Surely that applies then to blackpool, Bahamas, Florida, Florence. We all go to these places on holiday, the businesses there want a cut of our spending money, that’s how it works. What makes Pisa different ?

[Gunna]

We went to Pisa last February - we stayed in a small hotel called ‘7 Rooms’ which is about 5 minutes walk from the tower. We just stayed one night before taking the train to Florence.

During the day it was busy, understandable as the tower is a bit draw. We booked our tickets to climb the tower later in the day and timed it perfectly as we caught the sunset. It was beautiful. I’d also recommend going in the church, baptistry and campanile nearby.

Our hotel was lovely and we walked south of the river for pizza in a local place called Pizza Galileo on the evening which was away from the main tourist places and really good.

I found in the evening Pisa was really quiet and peaceful and we enjoyed it. Lovely little place, it’s busy during the day but you get a lot of day trippers in for the tower. For me it was worth an overnight stop for sure.

[Geordieprincess]

OP, hope you had a great time. Please let me know what it was like. As Portugal and Spanish islands didn’t open up this week I’m more inclined towards Pisa. There are some lovely Air BnB in the hills but I’m torn between trying to avoid busy places/people and the extra hassle of having to hire a car and drive places. Interested to know how busy the campsite and it’s pool were, Pisa itself and where else you visited. Thanks

[SgtElias]

Hi GP, we are back home after a successful trip,I will try and give as much information as possible, if you need to know anything else please ask.

We flew from Manchester, 2 hours with Easyjet, about 20 minutes from the airport to the campsite, 15 euro including tip.

Our accomadation wasn't ready when we got there at 11am, however the lady on reception was very helpful, showed us where we could store our cases and we just got changed and went by the pool for a couple of hours. The pool works on a booking system of 2 hour slots, usually very quiet on a morning. You can only book one 2 hour slot at a time to give everyone the chance to have time at the pool. However, we would book the 11am to 1pm slot, then on the morning of that slot we would go to reception and book the 9am till 11am slot, hence getting 4 hours pool time. I am sure this would work with most slots, the pool area is well maintained, lifeguard who ticks you off as present, little bar, we didn't have food but I had some coffee and Peroni, lady in there is very friendly.

Our accommodation was fine, we were in a "superior" cabin, opened the sliding doors, in front of you is a double bed and to the right a single bed (there were 3 of us) to the left is a door into kitchen, with fridge, hob and well equipped with cutlery, pans, plates and dishes, no kettle or toaster. to the right is the bathroom, with efficient shower, sink with big mirror and loo, air con in the room, seating area outside where we had breakfast, no complaints about our accommodation at all.

Turn left out of the site and no more than a 15 minute walk, you do go through an underpass, I noticed a couple of people commented about this on trip adviser, we went through at all times, no issue at all, only people we met were other tourists and a few locals, at the end of the underpass, about 100 yards on, take a right and there is a supermarket called PAM, everything you need in there.

The same route (but get to the end of the underpass road and turn right) will get you to the area with the tower and other sights, this is no more than 20 minutes from the site.Always lots of people taking pics with hands up in the air holding up the tower, its really nice on an evening in particular.

You will see a street leading away from the tower and this is where you will find most of the restaurants, we never had a bad meal, I won't recommend any as tastes can differ, last night for example, I had a starter, 3 mains, 1 dessert, 1 beer, 2 cokes and a coffee came to 60 euro which I don't think is too bad. Be aware of the various breads that they bring out, this isn't free and you can be charged 2.50 euro per head, one of my girls is gluten free and the other doesn't really eat bread, so I just said "no covers please" when ordering.

The train to Lucca wasn't running when we were there so went by replacement bus, this was fine, Lucca is really nice, we didn't walk all the way round but what we did was nice, lots of nice little shops, alleyways, eateries etc. We did get the train to Florence from Pisa Central, this was around 50 euro return for the 3 of us, its an amazing place, I would imagine you could spend a couple of days there and not see everything, we didn't go into the cathedral, you do need to book, I wish we had as I could see people on the top of the roof on a walkway, the views must be amazing. There is a irish bar to the side of cathedral, ran by an italian guy who was very friendly, we only had drinks there which were very reasonable considering the prime location, but we did look at the food menu and was surprised at the prices due where it is.

Definetly have a trip to both places.

We also went to the beach at Marina de pisa, we got a taxi there (30 euro) and the bus back, that was very enjoyable also.

Just be careful with the lucky lucky men, they are quite in your face, particularly when eating, I told one of them 6 times no before he moved off, they seem to operate on the basis of giving you a free gift, then when you think they are leaving, the pitch starts with asking for money to send home to their families, I noticed a family of four who had all taken the gifts get a real hard time when they realised he wanted money and he wasn't going to leave without it, the daughter was in tears.

Also in Florence, there are very in your face people asking you to sign a petition, but they then, very forcefully ask for a donation, with both of these things just be firm and keep walking or ignoring them.

In summary, we had a great trip, my girls 22&19 really enjoyed it, I would stay at the accommodation again, the ladies in reception are very helpful, printed my boarding passes today without issue, phoned taxis etc, Pisa is really nice.

[Geordieprincess]

That’s great thank you, glad you had a good time... I’m still pondering, hubby is reluctant to stay around too many people, there are some nice AirBnBs in the middle of nowhere but then it’s the hassle of hiring a car if we go down that route. We need to talk about it more.
I passed through Florence 26 years ago when I was interrailing round Europe as a student and always said I’d like to go back.

[SgtElias]

I usually hire a car wherever we go, but having seen some of the driving in the area I am glad I didn't, it would have been more convenient and saved on taxi fares, but there doesn't seem to be any other driving than fast and aggressive, and as far for zebra crossings, you step out on those things and take your life in your hands ! I didn't think the camp was overcrowded at all , lots of people seem to rock up in their tourers for a night or two and move on, they are not going to be sitting by the pool in my opinion, they want to see what they came for in that area then move on.