Pisa in one day, what to see and do besides climbing the leaning tower

There is no trip worth its salt Italian Tuscany that does not include the visit of Pisa.

Seeing the inclination of its famous tower in person is an attraction that will be difficult for you to resist, and you also have it just a stone's throw from Florence, which has allowed me to live the experience of climbing it.

But, apart from the tower, do you know what to see and do on your trip to Pisa?

With our experience after a couple of trips to this emblematic Italian city, below you have information that will help you plan your visit to Pisa, With the best tips and the corners that you should not miss.

Where is and how to get to Pisa

At the outset you should know that in summer you can get to Pisa en direct flight from Spain, and the airport is very close to the city.

If you wish, you can reserve your reservation here. private transfer from Pisa airport to the center of the Tuscan city.

Excursion to Pisa from Florence

The Pisa monuments you can also visit from Florence on an excursion that will take you 85 kilometers to the west, which will take you a little less than an hour and a half by car.

If instead of going on your own you prefer to sign up for a organized tour with guide in spanish, you have several options excursions to Pisa from Florence.

For example, this five and a half hour excursion takes place early in the morning, and after visit the monuments of Pisa, With the option to climb its famous tower, and at 14,45:XNUMX p.m. you will be back in Florence.

The best things to see and do in Pisa in one day

I also tell you that it will be a very simple and comfortable visit, since all the tourist attractions of this small city in the Toscana en Italy are concentrated in a single space, the great square of miracles.

Therefore, Pisa It is a city that can perfectly visit in one day.

The aforementioned square of miracles It is a huge green meadow over which the impressive monumental ensemble whose center is the Duomo cathedral, although its most popular corner is the famous leaning tower.

I detail below what monuments you can visit in Pisa.

Cathedral Duomo of Pisa

It is the monumental heart of the square of miracles, around which the other religious buildings are arranged.

El Duomo of Pisa It began to be built in the year 1064 in the so-called style Pisan Romanesque, although inside you will see artistic influences Byzantine and even islamic.

The façade highlights the mosaic of the porch and the four levels with open galleries with rows of columns.

With five naves, inside you will be struck by the large mosaic of the apse of the cathedral, the coffered ceiling of the central nave and, above all, the enormous pulpit with great decoration, which he made Giovanni Pisano in 1310.

Pisa's leaning tower

On the east side of the Miracle Squares, behind the apse of the cathedral, is where you find the famous Tower of Pisa.

At 56 meters high, construction began in 1173, although the works lasted for 200 years because instability problems began to arise from the beginning due to the characteristics of the soil on which it is built.

Reopened since June 2011 after the latest strengthening works, I advise you that if you are interested in climbing its almost 300 steps, the first thing you should do when you arrive at the square of miracles is to go to buy the ticket for the Tower of Pisa (here you have another option to buy tickets).

There they will assign you a specific time to climb the Tower of Pisa, and until then you will surely have enough time for if not all, some of the other monuments in this square.

Here we give you our best tips for climbing and visiting the Tower of Pisa, and the different options for avoid the lines.

Pisa Baptistery

El Baptistery It is the large circular building that you find in front of the main façade of the Duomo.

It is not as famous or artistically rich as that of Florence, or even that of Siena, but with whose visit you will complete your vision of the monuments that are concentrated in the aforementioned Pisa square.

El Baptistery of the Pisa cathedral It was built in 1152, once the construction of the main building of the duomo was completed, and before the famous bell tower was built.

It is said that the Baptistery has a clear influence of Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem.

Romanesque in style at its bases, the building was completed during the 14th century with the incorporation of Gothic elements in its dome and upper floor.

When you visit its interior, you will see that it does not have the pompous decoration of the Florence Baptistery, although its dimensions are really enormous.

In it you will only see the baptismal font in the center of the building floor, of 1246, and a pulpit sculpted by Nicolas Pisano in 1260.

I advise you to go up to the second floor of the Baptistery, from where you will have some excellent views of the Plaza de los Milagros, with the facade of the Duomo in the foreground.

El Baptistery It is part of the monumental complex of the Plaza de los Milagros, so the price of admission It will depend on the formula you choose when purchasing it, because for different prices you can see from one to five monuments of said square, without including in any case the tower of Pisa.

Pisa Cemetery

No doubt the Cemetery It is the least known monumental corner of the square of miracles.

When you arrive at the square you will recognize the building of the Cemetery for its long marble wall with 42 blind arches that close it on its north side.

And also because in said building, in front of the tower of Pisa, find the ticket offices to buy the tickets that will allow you to visit these monuments.

As you can imagine, the Pisa Cemetery It is a large and peculiar cemetery, which has had numerous vicissitudes throughout history, and now during your visit you can only intuit the grandeur that it undoubtedly had in the past.

Construction of the Camposanto began in 1278, but was not completed until almost 200 years later.

The building is actually a huge rectangular cloister, with a meadow in the center and long, very high galleries with beautiful Gothic arches, which gives it enormous grandeur.

At the Pisa Cemetery Initially it housed sarcophagi from the Roman era, which were scattered throughout the cathedral, and which had been used by citizens of Pisa for their graves.

These sarcophagi were placed outdoors, in the central meadow of the cloister, while the floor of the interior galleries were occupied by more modest tombs.

In the following centuries the most illustrious Pisans were buried, as teachers of the University of Pisa or family members doctors.

Since the 14th century, the large walls of the Camposanto galleries were decorated with paintings of religious themes, such as the Triumph of Death, the Universal Judgment o Old Testament Stories.

Finally, in the 19th century it became one of the first public museums in Europe.

However, during the Napoleonic era, many of the sarcophagi and frescoes of this great cemetery were transferred to France, which accelerated the process of degradation and decay that the monument had already been dragging on, and of which, as you will see during your visit, barely has recovered.

Of course, the biggest blow that the Pisa Cemetery in this degradation process were the effects of an incendiary bomb dropped by the Germans during the Second World War, in 1944, which dramatically affected the projects to recover the frescoes that were then underway.

With this visit you will close the circle of monuments to visit in Pisa.

Tours in Spanish to visit Pisa

As I mentioned, if you are in Florence and instead of doing the excursion to Pisa on your own you prefer to join a organized group to visit and climb its famous bell tower, you can sign up for this Spanish tour to Pisa.

Here you have another option to do this excursion to Pisa from Florence.

If on your trip to Florence, even if you are pressed for time, you do not want to miss the opportunity to get to know, even quickly, the most interesting Tuscan cities from Florence, you can sign up for a Tour to Pisa, San Gimignano and Siena.

If, however, you are already in Pisa and you want to make the most of your visit, you can sign up for this guided tour of the cathedral and Baptistery, with a duration of two hours and the company of a guide in spanish, and the option to climb the tower.

This is another option of the same visit of the cathedral and the Baptistery of Pisa.

Finally, if you go to Visit Pisa in a group of family or friends, you have the possibility of signing up for a private tour of Pisa with guide in spanish and several options.