In this guide
💡 The Short Version: Go by train. The fast regional from Firenze Santa Maria Novella takes 51 minutes to Pisa Centrale and the slower regionals 1 hour 11 minutes to 1 hour 25 minutes, from €9.80 each way. The Leaning Tower is a timed slot at €20, which includes the Cathedral; €27 adds the Baptistery, Camposanto and two museums. It has 251 steps, takes about 30 minutes, and admits nobody under 8. Buy the slot at opapisa.it before you travel, because late arrivals are refused without a refund. The square is a 24-minute walk from the station. Or book a tour: the half-day Pisa tourad is €39 for 6 hours with the Tower optional, and the Pisa, Siena and San Gimignano dayad is €49 for 12. The train and the Tower cost €39.60 together, so a half-day tour buys the coach and a guide, not a saving (GetYourGuide).
Getting there on your own
Fares are Trenitalia’s “from” fares for a second-class single; the Trenitalia app shows the exact fare for your date. Trenitalia changes its timetable in December.
| Direction | Trains | Journey | Fare |
|---|---|---|---|
| Florence Santa Maria Novella to Pisa Centrale | Fast regional at 07:00 (51 minutes) and 07:28 (1 hour); regionals at 06:53, 07:53, 08:05, 07:38 | 51 minutes to 1 hour 25 minutes | From €9.80 |
| Pisa Centrale to Florence | Fast regionals at 15:09 and 17:09 (52 minutes) and at 15:32 and 17:32 (1 hour 1 minute); regionals at 15:54, 16:54 and 17:54 (1 hour 14 minutes) | 52 minutes to 1 hour 14 minutes | From €9.80 |
| Pisa Centrale to Florence, evening | 20:32, 20:42, 21:01 and 21:32 (1 hour to 1 hour 25 minutes) | 1 hour to 1 hour 25 minutes | From €9.80 |
- A fast regional leaves about every hour, with slower regionals between. A Frecciargento connection from €18.60 saves no time.
- Regional trains need no reservation. A paper ticket must be stamped in the green machines before you reach the platform; a digital ticket validates itself at departure.
- From Pisa Centrale to the Piazza dei Miracoli is about 1.8 km, 24 minutes on foot. The Opera della Primaziale Pisana, which runs the square, lists bus Line 1+ from the Stazione 1 stop to Torre 1 every 10 minutes, and Line 4 from Stazione 8 to Del Parlascio every 20 minutes (opapisa.it).
- Flying into Pisa? The airport is 8 minutes from Pisa Centrale on the PisaMover, so the Tower comes before Florence, not after: see airport to the city.
Tours from Florence
A half-day tour is a coach there and back and a guide on the square. Prices are GetYourGuide’s lowest “from” prices for one adult.
Half-day Pisa tour, Tower optional
From €39 · 2,194 reviews · 6 hours
From Florence: Half-Day Pisa Tour and Optional Leaning Towerad covers the Piazza dei Miracoli, the Cathedral and the Camposanto, with a skip-the-line climb of the Tower as the optional extra.
Half-day trip with the Leaning Tower
From €37 · 1,292 reviews · 6 hours
Florence: Half-Day Trip to Pisa with Leaning Towerad is a guided visit of the Piazza dei Miracoli with the Cathedral, Leaning Tower, Baptistery and Camposanto, and has the Tower in its title. It is the cheaper of the two.
Pisa and Lucca
From €59 · 371 reviews · 9 hours · skip the line
From Florence: Pisa & Lucca Day Tour with Buccellato Tastingad adds Lucca, a walled town, and a taste of buccellato, a Lucca sweet bread. The Lucca section of the day trips guide covers the walls.
Pisa, Siena and San Gimignano
From €49 · 11,882 reviews · 12 to 12½ hours · lunch at a winery
Florence: Pisa, Siena and San Gimignano Day Trip with Lunchad is a long day with Pisa as one of three stops. The Siena guide and the San Gimignano guide cover the other two towns.
The Piazza dei Miracoli
The square holds six monuments, all on one set of tickets. Only the Tower needs a time slot.
| Ticket | Price | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Cathedral and Tower | €20 | The Tower at a chosen time, and the Cathedral |
| Complete and Tower | €27 | The Tower, Cathedral, Baptistery, Camposanto, Opera del Duomo Museum and Sinopie Museum |
| Complete, no Tower | €11 | The same five, valid for one year from the date you choose |
| Cathedral and one other | €8 | The Cathedral plus the Baptistery, Camposanto, Opera Museum or Sinopie Museum |
The Cathedral is free with any paid ticket. A free Cathedral-only pass at a fixed time is sold at the ticket offices on the square, not online, and children under 11 with an adult enter the Cathedral without a ticket. The Opera Museum audioguide is €5 for 90 minutes. Prices are from opapisa.it.
The Cathedral and the Leaning Tower on the Piazza dei Miracoli. Photo: Ввласенко, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.
The Leaning Tower
€20 with the Cathedral · timed slot · 251 steps · about 30 minutes · nobody under 8
Choose the time when you buy; the Tower has no reduced prices. The steps are uneven and slippery, and the Opera does not recommend the climb to anyone with a heart or muscle problem. Children must have turned 8 by 31 December of the visit year, so in 2026 that means born in 2018 or earlier, and under-18s need an adult. Arrive 15 minutes before your slot to leave bags in the cloakroom, and expect a hand-held metal detector at the entrance. A late arrival is refused, and an unused ticket is not refunded (opapisa.it). The Opera’s own pages disagree on how far ahead a slot goes on sale, so book as soon as your date is fixed.
The Leaning Tower on the Piazza dei Miracoli. Photo: John Samuel, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
The Cathedral, Baptistery and Camposanto
Cathedral free with any ticket · Baptistery, Camposanto and museums on the €11 and €27 tickets
The Cathedral is a place of worship, so dress and behave appropriately. The Camposanto is the cloister of the monumental cemetery, the Opera del Duomo Museum holds works from the Cathedral and the Sinopie Museum the preparatory drawings for the Camposanto frescoes. With two hours, do the Tower and the Cathedral on the €20 ticket. With a half day, take the €27 ticket and see all six.
The Baptistery on the Piazza dei Miracoli. Photo: Vyacheslav Argenberg, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0.
Order for a day trip
- Book a Tower slot between 10:00 and noon, so the walk from the station and a coffee come first.
- Climb the Tower, then take the Cathedral, which is on the same ticket.
- Add the Baptistery and Camposanto if you hold the €27 ticket, and finish at the Opera del Duomo Museum.
- Walk back to Pisa Centrale, 24 minutes.
The Camposanto cloister in Pisa. Photo: Monica Rondoni, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Hours and bag rules
Hours for the Tower, Baptistery, Camposanto, Opera Museum and Sinopie Museum are the same; the Cathedral opens an hour later. The Baptistery admits visitors up to 30 minutes before closing.
| Dates | Tower and museums | Cathedral |
|---|---|---|
| To 18 October 2026 | 09:00 to 20:00 | 10:00 to 20:00 |
| 19 to 31 October | 09:00 to 19:00 | 10:00 to 19:00 |
| 1 November | 09:00 to 19:00 | 10:00 to 19:00 |
| 2 to 30 November | 09:00 to 18:00 | 10:00 to 18:00 |
The Cathedral can open later on Sundays and religious holidays. The Camposanto is free on 1 and 2 November. Some areas can close for restoration. Across the square, only small bags or rucksacks up to 20 x 30 x 38 cm are allowed; suitcases are not, and only guide dogs are admitted. Online purchase is by Visa or Mastercard, in euros, for buyers aged 18 or over, and the tickets arrive as PDFs. The ticket offices sit at the square’s entrances and open 30 minutes before the monuments.
A day, hour by hour
| Time | What |
|---|---|
| 08:05 | Regional from Santa Maria Novella, arriving at Pisa Centrale at 09:22 |
| 09:30 | Walk to the square, or Line 1+ to Torre 1 |
| 10:30 | Tower slot, then the Cathedral |
| 12:00 | Baptistery, Camposanto and the museums on the €27 ticket |
| 15:09 | Fast regional back, arriving at 16:01 |
The 20:32 to 21:32 trains leave time for dinner in Pisa. For a longer day, the Pisa and Lucca tourad is 9 hours.
Pisa is one of the day trips from Florence, alongside Siena, San Gimignano and the Cinque Terre, which several tours pair with Pisa. Florence public transport covers the way to Santa Maria Novella, and airport to the city covers Pisa’s airport. What to book before you go to Florence has the city tickets, 3 days in Florence shows where a day away fits, and where to stay in Florence compares the areas.
Common questions
How long is the train from Florence to Pisa?
51 minutes on the fast regional from Firenze Santa Maria Novella to Pisa Centrale, hourly or better; the slower regionals take 1 hour 11 minutes to 1 hour 25 minutes. The fare is from €9.80 each way on Trenitalia. Regional trains need no seat reservation, but a paper ticket must be stamped in the green machines before you reach the platform.
How much is the Leaning Tower of Pisa?
€20 for the Tower, which includes a free pass for the Cathedral, and €27 for the Tower plus the Cathedral, Baptistery, Camposanto and two museums. Without the Tower, the complete ticket is €11. You choose a time slot when you buy, and a late arrival is refused without a refund.
Can children climb the Leaning Tower?
Only from the age of 8: the child must have turned 8 by 31 December of the year of the visit. Under-18s need an adult and may be asked for ID. There are 251 steps, the floor is uneven and slippery, and the visit takes about 30 minutes.
Where do I leave my bag at the Leaning Tower?
In the free cloakroom, which you should reach 15 minutes before your slot. Across the whole Piazza dei Miracoli only small bags and rucksacks up to 20 x 30 x 38 cm are allowed, and suitcases are not.
Is a Pisa tour from Florence worth it?
It saves the planning, not money. The train is €19.60 return and the Tower €20, €39.60 together, and the half-day tours are €37 and €39 on GetYourGuide. A tour is worth choosing for Pisa with Lucca, or Pisa with Siena and San Gimignano, in one coach day.
