40 minutes in Pisa on our way to Florence

We spent all of 40 minuti in Pisa. I've never been to Pisa before so it was really on my to-do-list for this trip to visit the Leaning Tower, before we traveled on to Florence.

Do at least one thing new: Check!

In a way, it was meant to be, because when I was searching for low-cost flights to take us from Paris to Firenze (Florence), I could only find flights to Pisa which is only an hour away by bus or train. As I was surfing some more, I also managed to book myself a confirmed seat on EasyJet using my miles from Emirates without paying for anything. I swear, not even taxes! This happened even before I confirmed my tickets to Europe, so you can say it's the free flight that triggered it all. So I just did the research to find out how to get from Pisa Airport - to the leaning tower - to the Pisa central train station - which took us directly to Firenze SMN (central train station in Florence).

Arial view of Tuscany before landing.

Pisa International Airport from the plane.

Once you arrive at Pisa Airport, all you need to do is go to the Bus Stop and take the LAM ROSA (Red Line local bus). Tickets can be bought at the airport information counter for Eu1,10 or or the bus for Eu1,50, but I am not sure if they can provide change.

When we arrived this was the line for tickets at the airport.
They also sell tickets going to to other destinations.

Some of my friends were tempted to just rent a car to drive us to Florence with a detour to the Leaning Tower, but for Eu195, I didn't think it was worth it.

We just went directly to the bus stop and bought tickets on board.

The bus ticket is valid for 70 minutes so you actually have the option of going down at Pisa Centrale (Central Train Station) five minutes away, leave your luggage in the lockers, then go back to the bus stop and take the next LAM ROSA bus that will take you to the Tower another 10 minutes away using the same ticket. We opted to just take our luggage with us, so we went directly to the Tower (we didn't go down at Pisa Centrale) and this took around 15 minutes from the Airport.

This is Pisa Centrale.

You know you're there when you see the Duomo and this wall.

It was funny because at first all I saw was the Duomo.
I actually asked my friends where the Leaning Tower was.

I didn't realize it was right behind the Duomo.

I was expecting it to stand alone looking like this.
Look at all the tourists attempting to push it.

Shot in vivid.

We took group pictures.

Pictures with Tim.

and with Jem.

Then with all our luggage,
and then we started heading back.

The tower in vivid.

There were also shops across the tower but we didn't have time to browse.

We just caught the next LAM ROSA bus using the same ticket and we were back at Pisa Centrale in 10 minutes. 

Arno river shot from the bus.

Our timing was so good, we just had time to buy tickets and jump into
the next train. We didn't even have time to eat.

Just for information, the cost of the train ticket from Pisa Centrale to Firenze SMN is only EU 7,80. It's even cheaper if you take the bus from Pisa Airport because that only costs EU 4,99 but it will not give you the option to see the leaning tower.

Visiting Pisa was a great experience for me. It was very efficient because you don't spend or waste a lot of time, yet to accomplish what you set out to do which is visit the Tower. It was also easy enough to do even though we had our luggage with us. If you ask me, I'd say it's the best Euro1,50 I spent on this trip! just saying.