Self drive trip to Pisa from Florence
I am posting here a story written by my husband a year ago "in hot pursuit", but never posted anywhere. Perhaps it will help someone in an independent journey.
Brief background. Resting in Florence, we decided to devote 1 day to a trip to Pisa. More precisely, we got to Pisa itself from the suburbs of Florence (Signa), where our hotel was located. Below is the author's text.
Near the hotel there is a railway station, from which to Pisa by train - 50 minutes. Train tickets can be bought from vending machines - you just select the destination and indicate the number of tickets (English is present, Russian is not), after which you pay (the machine returns the change). Tickets are perpetual, there are composters on the platform in which you need to “mark” the ticket (the date, time and departure station are affixed). Only after that the ticket is valid. The trains are quite comfortable (compared to ours), but there is one difference from ours: tickets for class II are without a seat (unlike our electric trains), and if there are no seats, you will have to stand. In order to have a guaranteed seat, you need to buy tickets in I class (they are 50 percent more expensive).
In Pisa, from the railway station to the Square (Not a field, as many say) of Miracles, walk about 40 minutes (slowly). It is impossible to get lost - a street runs perpendicular to the station, without turning along it, straight ahead, across the bridge, straight ahead, and turn right in front of the square itself (you will already see the famous tower, it will be a landmark).
On the territory of the Square of Miracles, in addition to an external inspection of the tower, cathedral and other structures, you can:
1) Climb the leaning tower (ticket 15 euros, entry in groups at a certain time).
2) Visit 5 museums that are part of the complex (among them the Cathedral and the Baptistery of the 11th century). Ticket prices: 1 museum - 3 euros, 2 museums - 5 euros, all 5 museums - 10 euros.
We were too lazy to climb the tower, but we went to all the museums (and they are worth it).
A good addition to the day was lunch at a restaurant overlooking the Square. Two medium pizzas and two glasses of wine cost us 16 euros.
Thus, we (for two) spent on visiting Pisa (11.4 euro tickets from Snia to Pisa, 20 euros for museums, 16 euros for lunch - pizza and wine, 14 euros tickets from Pisa to Florence).
In the evening we went by train to Florence, where we wandered around, bought wine, parmesan cheese, other goodies and souvenirs. Then we returned to our hotel in Signe.
