A Day in Pisa: Tuscany, Italy

During our stay at Parc Albatros this Summer we had big plans to explore as much of Tuscany as possible, starting with somewhere we have always wanted to visit – Pisa! With us having a hire car it made visiting the surrounding cities far easier and yet, as is always the case with large cities, our main concern was a) where to park and b) was it going to cost the earth? After scouring Trip Advisor for advice, we found a small service station offering free parking just a 10 minute walk from the centre square surrounded by stalls selling the Leaning Tower of Pisa memorabilia.

As you walk through the archway you are immediately met with Piazza del Miracle, the Square of Miracles, with the Baptistery, the Cathedral, the Monumental Cemetery and of course, the Leaning Tower itself in full view. I think there is always the fear when you visit somewhere you have always wanted to go that it may not live up to your expectations but here, it completely and utterly surpassed them. It really is beautiful!!

The Cathedral is the most stunning example of Pisan-Romanesque architecture, built from white and grey marble and, I’m told, utterly beautiful inside. You can enter all of the buildings for an entry fee and, should we have visited without the children we would definitely have gone inside and really enjoyed admiring each of them. At 6,7 and 8 our children are far happier to take it all in as we walk around and with the weather so lovely, that suited us just fine!

With visiting during a world pandemic, Pisa was far quieter than you would expect in peak season which for us was a real bonus. We were able to leisurely walk around the square and admire the different buildings without the usual crowds of tourists.

Obviously the main attraction at the Square of Miracles is the old bell tower, otherwise known as the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Construction for the tower began in 1173  and was leaning from the outset. The ground beneath the tower was deemed too soft and as a 14,500 tonne building, it was never going to stand straight. Obviously before our trip I had seen photographs of the tower but the thing that really surprised me from seeing it up close, and that doesn’t show the same in photographs, was just how dramatic the lean is!!

I’m pretty sure anyone who has visited the Leaning Tower of Pisa has taken a photograph of themselves holding up the tower and we certainly weren’t going to leave without doing the same. It’s so funny because everywhere you look people are doing the same and as someone who loves to people watch I loved sitting back and watching the many funny and inventive ways that people got their souvenir shots!

 The Square of Miracles is definitely somewhere you can go and spend the whole day just watching the world go by. The square is surrounded by places to eat and drink, guided tours by horse and cart, statues and monuments to admire, and of course the Italian sunshine to enjoy. We spent a good couple of hours in the square but with us only having one day to see Pisa, we were keen to explore further!

As is the case everywhere you go in Italy, there are  Gelateria’s on every corner and it took all of our will power not to stop at each one. We find that when we are doing a sightseeing day with the kids like this it’s important that they don’t get too hot and tired, so we find ice cream stops always give their little legs a boost before we can carry on exploring.

One of the things we were hoping to do in Pisa was to walk the Medieval walls taking you 3km around the city with some amazing views below. Pisa’s walls are one of the few in all of Italy that are almost completely preserved, so the perfect opportunity to get a good idea of what a medieval wall looked like! Unfortunately due to COVID the walls were closed on our visit but with entry just 3 euros it is definitely worth considering for those who visit at a later date.

Away from the main square Pisa was incredibly quiet, almost eerily so in places. Many of the locals we spoke to said it was unheard of to be so quiet at this time of the  year and it really hit home just how much these tourist spots are suffering due to the pandemic. For us it was a real luxury to have the streets to ourselves and also felt incredibly safe without swarms of people.

There are various tours you can do of Pisa, both walking tours and via horse and cart, and yet with the children we always find our favourite way of exploring is to just walk the streets and see what we can find! We enjoyed discovering several of the famous statues, including Galileo, and just admiring the architecture and history of the city.

Despite having wall to wall sunshine for the whole two weeks of our stay, as we stood in the square at the Garibaldi statue the heavens literally opened and I have never seen rain come down so fast. The children thought it was hilarious (me, not so much..) but we soon spotted another Gelaterie and it felt like the sensible choice to pop inside and have a second gelato, purely for the sole purpose of staying dry….

Once the rain had cleared and the sun returned, we made our way across the Ponte di Mezzo, the middle bridge of the city and also the oldest bridge too. Reconstructed after the second Word War, it connects the two sides of the city and as you cross, the two sides have a very different feel.

The river Arno runs right through the centre of Pisa although is most commonly associated with Florence which it also runs through. The River Arno is considered one of the most important rivers in Italy and for those visiting Pisa, a  walk down the river is highly recommended.

Across the river we found the shops were far more commercial with many high street shops we recognise as well as larger banks and chain restaurants. It had a much more modern feel and yet at the same time still had those beautiful yellow and terracotta old buildings.

Despite there being so many lovely restaurants in Pisa, having spent the week eating Italian food, our kids spotted a fast food stand selling hot dogs and our lunch plans went out of the window! As much as Gaz and I love to enjoy a leisurely lunch when we travel, with a six, seven and eight year old we often find ourselves grabbing food on the go.

Churches in Italy appear to be everywhere although we loved that everywhere you go, they are all very different. We enjoyed going inside several (masks were enforced in all indoors spaces) and admiring the art work and statues which are just beautiful.

The children were fascinated by the differences between churches they are familiar with in the UK and churches in Italy. As much as it was fun for the kids to visit historic churches such as this, it was also really educational. During a year they have already missed so much schooling, I love incorporating learning experiences into all of our travels.

We made time to visit the large statue of King Victor Emmanuel II in the square which felt like another tick on our Visit Pisa bucket list and the children enjoyed learning more about the first kind of Italy who later become a central figure of the movement for Italian unification.

 Just off the square we found a small playground which the children instantly leapt on and I did laugh to myself that despite visiting a city with such history and interesting landmarks, they were equally just as excited to play in the sunshine on an old rusty climbing frame. It was a good opportunity for Gaz and I to sit down, rest our feet and enjoy a cold drink!

Although we were very lucky that due to the pandemic Pisa was exceptionally quiet, we found it was even quieter still down the back lanes and the outskirts of the city which were equally fun to explore. The children enjoyed looking at the graffiti on the walls, the quirky Italian back street cafes and we found despite us covering such a huge distance on foot, with so much to look at the children were more than happy to keep going.

We absolutely loved visiting Pisa and seeing the Leaning Tower of Pisa itself, and had such a lovely day exploring with the kids. Although Pisa may not be as picturesque as some of the Italian towns and cities we have visited, it has so much to offer in terms of historical landmarks, museums (COVID restrictions allowing) and culture and I know both we and the kids will always remember the very first time we saw the Square of Miracles and just how magical that moment felt.