In the summer of 2019, my family and I took a trip to Italy for about two weeks. We spent time in Rome, Florence, and the Amalfi Coast. I loved every minute of it and was beyond grateful to be learning more about my Italian culture. One of the best mornings we had was spent visiting the Tower of Pisa. Most people aren’t able to make the trip to Pisa because they are already too busy seeing everything else in Italy or they stay near Pisa and spend lots of wasted time in a place that does not offer much for large amounts of tourists.
We decided to visit the Tower of Pisa for one morning from our stay in Florence. I think it was one of the greatest decisions we made for our trip because we got to see the famous tower without crowds, which has been finished since the mid-1300s. The reason for the building of the tower was to create a bell-tower for the churches around it.
So, many people ask why the Tower of Pisa leans when all other ancient Italian structures stand tall and straight. When we were there so many people were able to help explain the real reason. When the construction originally began in 1173 everything was built on flat soft ground, so by the time they got to the third story it had begun to lean. They continued to build the tower as it was because it had taken 10 years just to built the first 3 stories. One of the most interesting things we learned about the Tower of Pisa was how it was not only leaning already, but that the tower falls closer to the ground every year. While it has been falling every year since it was finished, we scientists don’t know when it will officially fall to the ground.
I am so grateful we planned out a morning trip to visit the Tower of Pisa because we were able to take lots of photos without any crowds in backgrounds of our pictures. After about 10:00am hundreds of people started flowing into the area and most of our pictures after than had lots of people in the photos.
So, from Florence we took a train into Pisa which was about 25 minutes long. The train station was close enough to the tower and church area that we walked ourselves. You are able to get into the area surrounding the tower for free in which you can see the Tower of Pisa, take photos, walk the area, and visit the churches all with no cost.
However, if you want to climb up the Tower of Pisa you must purchase tickets. The prices vary for what you want to see in the surrounding area. The ticket prices range from 27€ to 7 €. You must select the date and how many attendees you will be buying for when purchasing, so it is important to plan out ahead of time when you will be visiting the Tower of Pisa. You don’t want to wait until last minute and there be no tickets left, when you could have purchased early in advance. The options to purchase allow you to buy for up to 4 months in advance and since the Tower of Pisa is very popular it does sell out.
I highly recommend climbing the tower itself. For so many reasons, the tower was beautiful and outstanding. Climbing up and down the uneven spiral staircase was in itself fun. The little windows inside the tower show you how detail orientated the ancient Italians were when building it. I truly loved seeing the inside of the tower because it makes you appreciate it more.
Once you get to the top you are able to see the entire town of Pisa. It was gorgeous looking from the top out towards the entire town. The window blocks at the top let you see different views from all angles of the tower and you are able to see all the bells at the top. I thought that this experience was like no other and highly recommend seeing the Tower of Pisa on your trip to Italy. Make the time to do so, even if it is just a morning adventure as we did.
