Pisa

Lump

Hello all,

Randomly decided to head to Pisa at the end of Jan - 3 nights inc flights = £200

Anyway, I'm not expecting great weather and I know there's lots to do in Pisa but was wondering if anyone on here had been there before and can remember anything great that stood out. I have been there before and basically the 3 days is for me to totally relax, I am going on my own and intend to sleep late and just chill out Anyway if anyone has tips for interesting things to do great.

John

wandering_star

hey i lived there for a year, i know it's a bit late for the OP but if anyone else is thinking of going there PM me,
pace.

Lump

I haven't gone yet.... tell me stuff

faceman

i believe there isnt much to do in pisa once you've seen the leaning tower but its worth getting a train to florence (firenze) and spending a day there.

Lump

Yea, I've been to florence too, I might do that if I get bored lazing around Pisa. I've been looking online and got some tips. Starting to worry about the weather though, I might just end up sitting in the hotel 6 degrees this week

wandering_star

What days are you going, and where are you staying? what do you want to do, get drunk and party or do cultural stuff?

Map

Here's a few things I can think of at the moment, if there's anything else you want to know about specifically let me know.

As far as I can remember, the plane gets in at midnight. Public transport stops at 8pm, but there is a nightbus that'll take u to the central square, but you'll literally have to run from the plane to get it, otherwise you'll be getting a taxi. Italians don't understand the concept of queueing, so give as good as you get. You can walk from the airport to the town-I did it on several occasions, it's only about a 30min walk-but if you're not familiar with the area and dont speak italian, I wouldn't advise it.

If you want to get back to the airport, the Lam Rossa (red bus, will take you there, you'll need to buy a ticket before hand from a tabaconist though,(you can pay on board, but it can be a bit messy)

Just a word of warning, not many people will speak english, unless you're around the Tower, and to be honest I'd try and avoid eating around that area-the food is ****, and you're being ripped off...another area to avoid is around the train station, it's a bit dodgy, you're best off staying around the old walled part of the city close to the river, there are some nice enough chinese restaurants there though.

It's a pretty big student town, so you'll see students literally every where at night time, depending on how cold it is, they'll be sitting along the river banks or in the main squares. Another thing, most people don't go out until around 11, and people have dinner at 8-9, and you'll find that a lot of places will be closed from midday-4.

Via Santa Maria, walk away from the tower, and you'll notice how the street changes to be more student friendly, there's a good place just up from the Languages Department (it's a bit feck off building next to the botanic garden (which is open 9-12-ridiculous hours, but worth a peek), you can't miss it), that does sambos for 2e with a drink, big jolly fella serves them, cheapest and best in the town.

Also if you want to use the internet, if you're in an internet cafe you'll need to have your passport with you-anti terrorism laws, alternatively if you have your laptop with you go to the english department, sit in the garden out the back and get free wi-fi... you can tell I was a broke student :rolleyes:

Gelato-the Bottega on Pizza Garibaldi.

There isn't very much to do unless it's a friday or a saturday to be honest, you'd be better off if you're going during the week doing what we'd do, get a train to Florence, go to a club, then get the first one back at like 5am, great craic if you don't mind not sleeping. But check this out anyway

There might also still be an exhibition going on of a load of old Roman boats that they found a few years ago, I can't find any links in English, but if you ask at the Tourism office at Piazza XX Septembre they'll be able to help you out.

There's a limited amount of shopping that can be done on Corso Italia and Borgho Stretto if you've a lady-friend with you keep your credit card close by...also if you're there on the first weekend of the month you'll catch a market which takes over the whole of the northern part of the town, pretty cool.

There's a really good restaurant called Numero 11, which I think is on Via S. Bernardo, but it maybe be Via Carmine, I got one of the best steaks I've ever had..and for 8e... also what ever road numero 11 is on, if you go to the opposite side, there's a bar/club that's called Leningrad which plays some pretty cool tunes, chilled, comfy sofas and you can play board games, the crowd look a bit dodgy, but they really are grand.

There's another good restaurant on Via Mazzini, I can't remember the name of it, it's sardinian, but I do know that I went there a lot, it has a pink neon sign and the owner/chef is an absolute mentaller, and a good pizzeria called the Pomo d'Oro- if you only go to one restaurant go to this one, is to be found on Via della nunziatina, just off Corso Italia.

There's a bar called Millibar which is on via palestro, where you'll probably meet a lot of foreign and english speaking students, which might be handy if you don't speak the lingo. But have a look around, there's another one that I really liked called the Orso Bruno, which was nearby, bit of a fair trade type pub, brewed their own beer, good atmosphere.

Football- check out if there are any matches on, you can't really go to Italy and not see a match, whether it be in Pisa or in Firenze.

Friday nights there's a club called Borderline, which is in the lane-way behind the Odeon cinema, on the northern side of the town, which has alright music, jeans and t shirt, Pisa isn't a dressing up kind of town, rock music, reminded me a bit of Doyles, not bad, Saturday I think there's a blues night, but it might have changed since I was there. There's another club called Aquaketta, and out of sheer desparation I have visited that place...it's like Q bar...avoid.

If you're looking for a supermarket while you're there, on the south side there's a small Pam just off corso italia, just before you get to Piazza V. Emmauel.

At night time try and avoid Piazza Vettovaglie, it's a bit dodgy, and if they know that you're a tourist, which can be spotted a mile off..however at about 3am the bakery opens up, and when you're drunk and have the munchies, you can get some good pizza there.

The Tower imho is a bit of a rip off, it's 15e to go up it, then another 10 to go see the church-but it's like going on a gondola, you can go up it and then say-hey i've been up the tower, the view is pretty cool though...

Baezeel in Piazza Garibaldi is a good place to go for apperitivo-basically buy a drink and get loads of free (!!!) (like I said, I was broke student:D) pasta and pizza, different nights they have different types of dishes, like a sardinian night, a tuscan night etc. There's another bar called Caino, which is off the main street, Corso Italia, on the corner of via carmine I think..it's a bit classier than Bazeel, but still both are grand.

Depending on whether you're interested or not there are a few good record shops there, and a friend of mine went mental over a model shop that he found there, there's also a pretty good tattoo parlour, let me know if you want more info.

If you like walking, or want a cheapy day go to Cinque Terre, I think you can get a return train (get the train to La Spezia) for less than a tenner, and it's sooo beautiful, possibly one of my favourite places in the world.

Another place to visit would be Perugia, it's in Umbria, and about 2hrs away on the train (get up early, go have a wander, amazing ice-cream, and great chocolate, there's even a chocolate factory there that you can go on a tour of...ohm..), and Siena is also beautiful, like Florence in some respects, but without all the tourists, smaller, and with more students You may have to change trains though to get here, but if you check it out on Trenitalia's website, it'll give you the times and that.

There are 3 irish pubs, unless you want food poisoning or are looking for drugs-especially avoid the one on the north side, i'd suggest avoiding them, the scarecrow however isn't as bad as the others, but, you've been warned.

But it is a nice little town, apologies for the rambly nature of the post let me know if there's anything else that you want to know about.

Lump

Hey, in pisa now, cheers for the long long post, was good to see that you can walk to the airport. I'm heading back tomorrow and will have some time to kill, so might head out the the airport by foot. Thanks for all the other stuff too, I had heard about Numbero 11 - Was closed when I walked by yesterday, although it was fairly early (6) but will have a look at a couple of the other restraunts tomorrow. THe hotel I'm in is quite a distance out of the city, saying that I walked in to town and back both days. Day 1 was spent doing cultural stuff, day 2 wa spent in the shopping area wandering around and having a coffee etc. Haven't really done much drinking while I've been here. ALso I'm here on my own (which is grand) but since I speak Zero Italian I'm not much of a socialiser. I feel a bit rubbish not being able to speak the language, although I've gotten by.

Didn't go up the tower, I'm not a big fan of queuing to pay €15 to wander up a tower Also it was quite busy even though it's off season. I spent my time wandering around trying not to batter one of the blokes that tried to pimp me a dodgy watch or belt.

As I say I head back tomorrow, but the flight isn't until 6pm, so when I check out I'll head back into town and do a couple of other things on the list.

Esquilax5

Anyone know a bar in Pisa that will be showing Southampton v Man Utd on Sunday?