The DON'Ts of Visiting Pisa, Italy

Hey there, fellow travelers. Mark here with Walter's World. Today we're in Pisa, here in Italy. And today what we have for you are the don'ts of visiting Pisa. Specifically, if you're gonna be doing a day trip from Florence, because some things you should know before you come, so you can have a great time. I want to start off with this one. Don't forget to pre-book your tickets so you can go up the tower. Yes, you can go up there for some cool views. But just to say you were up the Leaning Tower of Pisa, right there, totally worth it. So don't forget that. And another don't I have for you is don't feel bad about trying to get your picture holding up the tower. That is a quintessential part of being a tourist in Italy. You're here, you do that. I know there's people like, oh, I walked through and ruined people's picture. Oh, what tourist losers doing that? No, you're tourist winners, because that's what tourists do. We go and enjoy fun things like getting pictures of holding up the Leaning Tower. So make sure you don't feel bad and you do do that. And the thing is, when you come here to Pisa, this is a fantastic place for a day trip or whatever. But honestly, seeing the tower is one of those things when you come to Italy, you really feel like I've been to Italy, I saw the Leaning Tower. But don't think it's just the Leaning Tower because you do have the cathedral, you can go to it as well. But for me, for me, the best part is actually going to see the baptistry or at least the outside of the baptistry for me is my favorite part, the most beautiful part here. And you can do that if you go in with the acoustics, it's just a really great thing. All right, so I want to do that. But I got to tell you, don't think that Pisa is just the Leaning Tower, because there's so much more here. Now the thing is, I want to warn you when you do come here to Pisa, don't be surprised if it gets overrun with tour groups coming through here, especially during summertime. So be aware of that and don't get overrun by them because it can happen because I have seen the tour groups not seem to care about anyone else except for their tour group. So be careful with that. But also I would tell you is don't get hassled by the vendors here, there'll be people wanting to sell you stuff, there'll be people wanting you to come to their restaurants and all kinds of things. And they can be a little bit high pressure-y. Don't let them get it to you. And you'll see people selling stuff on the street trying to get you like, oh, where are you from? Don't don't fall for those. Just say no, thank you and walk away. That's going to be your best bet for that. Also, when you are here, since there's so many tourists, and the tourists really love coming here, they love getting their picture, and they're so focused on getting their picture that sometimes you don't notice that there are some pickpockets that are here, there are some nefarious folk that are not enjoying the view as much as the tourist wallet. So do be aware of that. And honestly, one of the things that's probably the biggest ripoff-y thing when you're here is I'm gonna tell you this, don't eat where you get a view of the tower. Because if you got a view of the tower, the price is gonna be much higher, and the quality level probably is gonna be a bit lower. And I'm not gonna lie to you, when I came here with Jocelyn the first time with her, Caleb asked us, Dad, could you go eat pizza and pizza for me? I was like, okay, buddy, I'll do that. And we actually ate pizza, here in Pisa, where you can see the leaning tower. And it was literally the worst pizza I've ever had in Italy. So do be aware of that. So just know, like, if you're gonna be eating where you can see the tower, you're gonna be paying for that. So if you want to go have some of the good local food that's here, maybe explore a bit more. Because otherwise, you're gonna be kind of disappointed. It's kind of like when you go to Venice and go, wait, Italian food's not that good. No, you just went to where a lot of tourists are, and therefore they don't try quite as hard. But that's it, is don't forget to eat when you are here, because there are some really good foods here in Pisa that you can't have. When you come here, you're going to see Cantuccini, these little almond cookies. They're very dry, but they're very tasty. But I want you to know is when you get it for dessert, don't forget, you get the Vincenzo, and you're going to dunk them in, because that sweet, this is a dessert wine, and it's going to really help soften it up and make it so much more tasty. What are your favorite desserts in Italy? Let me know. Now, if you're going to go up the tower, I got to tell you, don't think you can take your backpack or luggage or anything like that up there. But by the ticket office, there is actually a left luggage place, you can go to a cloakroom here, where you can leave your stuff. So you can leave it there, it'll be safe. And then you can go up and enjoy the view from up there. So don't forget, the cathedral actually has a front side here, which literally no one ever notices or sees because we're too busy going to check the tower. But don't forget to go into the cathedral because it is beautiful with the art that's inside, with the stonework that's there, the ceiling. I mean, it's really a cool place to go. Also, again, in that heat, another great place to go to just kind of relax to get out of it and that summer heat. So you can have that or the winter chill, you know, so think about that. But definitely go in there. It is beautiful. And the thing is, I don't want you to think that Pisa is just the Piazza di Mercole, you know, the, the tower and the baptistry and the cathedral, because the city does have other things to offer. One of my favorite things to do is to actually just to wander around along the Arno, just walk along the Arno, you got beautiful architecture, you can come in. And honestly, if you're going to be coming in and use Google Maps, they're gonna have you like shoot off the side or whatever, I would walk straight out of the train station, go down the Corso Italia, where all the shops are, which is nice. And you come out on the Arno. And what's beautiful about is you have all these buildings, but also you have like the Palazzo Blue right there, you can go and visit that. You have another Palazzo here you can visit with the museum. The Museo di San Matteo is down that way. I mean, there's a lot of other things you can do when you're here. So that's what I want to say is don't feel bad if you make Pisa, you know more than a day trip. I mean, yes, it can be a day trip, it can be a half day trip to be honest. I mean, if you only want to come see the tower and go, you can do that. But if you want to spend more time, you can do that. So don't feel bad because they do have things to offer. Now I wouldn't spend more than one or two nights here. But it is something you could do when you're here because there are other things to see than just getting your picture at the tower. So continuing on after the cathedral and the tower and everything, come to the Campo Santo. And when you come in, you want to check out the walls where they have the painting of the frescoes on there that show stuff. I mean, look at this. This is the Last Judgment. And it's just, it's very graphic, but it's like you can just appreciate the artwork, how intricate it is. And just, wow, like you can see how people were really scared back in the day about certain things. And but when you come in, you have all this in here to kind of check out. So it really is more than just seeing the tower. When you come here to see the tower, just really make sure you're trying to explore more when you're here. And that's why it can take more time or less time when you are here. It's up to you. So I tell you, when you come to the tower, there are a lot of different ticket options that are here. And it looks really confusing, but actually it's not. Basically, what you need to know is, do you want to go up the tower or not? Because you want to go up the tower, it will be more okay. And you want to be careful with that because it will be a much more if you don't want to go up, it's okay, you can get a ticket without that. And each one of the parts here because this the Piazza di Miracoli actually has a couple of museums, cemetery, it's got the Tower of Baptistry, all these things, and everything needs a ticket. Okay. Now, the thing is, the only thing that's free is actually going in the cathedral, but you still need to get a ticket to see the cathedral. So don't forget to get a ticket for the cathedral. If you don't go up the tower, go in the baptistry, but I would go up the baptistry, as I said before. But it's one of those things I think it's a little confusing there. So just know that. And if you are thinking about eating here, don't forget, there are some local specials you can have when you're here. Probably two of my favorites, you might want to get the risotto ai frutti di mare, which is basically a seafood risotto, which is really good, or the spaghetti with clams. That's fantastic. And you'll see other kind of things you see throughout Tuscany here, you know, the chickpea pasta flatbread, they have that you could get the stockfish stew, which is, you know, you're like stockfish cod, you mean? Yeah, like codfish, because you know, because the history here in the sea nearby, I mean, there is seafood things that are going to be here you can enjoy. So you do have options when you're going to grab lunch here for a day trip. It's not just having pizza and pizza, because like I said, wasn't my best experience, but there's some good stuff here too. But you do have some local food you can grab when you are here. Now, if you've seen the tower, you've done the baptistry, you've done the cathedral, you saw the palazzos, you went to the museums, well, you're thinking, Mark, what else can I do? Well, aside from wandering around and enjoying the streets and the views, you also have tons of churches you can visit when you're here. And what you want to do is go inside and take them in because some of them are kind of austere. And some have kind of cool art inside like here, this one by the university. If you go inside there, there's like this really detailed like desk scene. It's kind of intense, but it was interesting to see. But there's lots of churches around probably the one you're definitely going to stop by and see when you're here. That you know, you're when you're walking backward to the cathedral, the tower, leaning tower, it's going to be the Santa Maria della Spina, which is a little tiny on the Arno River, like Gothic Church, go in there. It's small, it's tiny, it's worth seeing. But there are a lot of other churches when you are here in town. I mean, it's Italy, they're all over and they're always open. So I got to tell you this, don't be surprised how hot it can get here in the summertime. And if you need to get a respite from the heat and the crowds, don't be afraid to go into a church, okay, to get out of that heat and get kind of cooled down again. Because it can be something you want to kind of think about. But the churches, well worth seeing as well. If you're looking for a piazza to come to, don't miss on the Piazza dei Cavalieri. I mean, this is just a beautiful, beautiful piazza here. And you'll be very jealous of the buildings at the university the schools have here because yeah, this is an incredible square. You're gonna want to check out when you're here. All right, so don't miss it out. That's what I gotta say. Don't be afraid to go wander around Pisa, go see more than just the direct pathway to the Leaning Tower, then back to the train station because you get fantastic architecture like this, that you're just like, unbelievable. Oh, can you hear the planes? I'll talk about those in a bit because there's a lot of low cost airlines here. Now if you're looking to get some shopping in and maybe the Florence shopping scene is a bit overwhelmed with the number of crowds that are there and things, don't forget you can actually shopping here, go to Corso Italia, that's the main pedestrian shopping street here. If you're coming out of the train station, you just go straight through this little circle square, you keep going straight, it's right there. This is not near the Leaning Tower. That's not anywhere near that. So this is kind of a way so you don't have as many of the tourists coming here. But if you want to get normal shopping, if you got to go to the pharmacy or something, you're gonna get some makeup, you want to get some clothes, you could you can do that here without like being overwhelmed. Also, as I'm, you know, going around, I do have to warn you when you come here to Pisa, since so many people do this as a day trip, pickpockets and stuff, know that hey, this is a place where tourists are just gonna come, they're gonna have everything on them in a day pack or something. So we can get a lot for one pick, one pocket, one bag. Okay, so don't forget to be aware when you are here of that situation. Now, if you're coming in the fall or the winter, it's not really anything you have to worry about. But in the summertime, when there are a lot of tourists here, do be aware of that. Also, if you're thinking about flying to Italy from other parts of Europe on budget airlines, don't forget Pisa is one of the kind of Italian hubs for low cost airlines here in Italy. So you can actually fly in here from a lot of places in Europe and just visit for the day and then go explore because there's trains that go straight down to Rome, they go to Florence, they go up to Genoa, Torino, all kinds of things. So you do have options when you get here. So something to kind of think about when you're thinking about your Pisa souvenirs, don't be afraid to get one of the little tchotchke kind of things. There's actually some pretty good artwork here you can get that could integrate the Leaning Tower into art and make it something more fun for home, like we have in our kitchen. Hey, also, don't worry, if you don't want to walk all the way to the Leaning Tower, the public transportation, the bus will actually take you all the way there. So you don't have to worry about it. And if you're wondering how often the trains are, don't forget, there's basically a train to Florence, one of the regional trains, every half an hour or so. So you can get back and forth to Florence, no big deal. If you just want to make this a day trip from Florence. Oh, and another thing that's going to help you with a day trip is this. So don't forget, they actually have a left luggage here at the train station in Pisa. So if you want to just make it a day trip, you're going through if you take that train from Genoa, down to Rome, it actually passes through here, you can just kind of break it up, you can put your stuff here, it's open from 8am until 9pm, five euros per bag. So something you might want to think about if you're looking to do a day trip here.