Holiday lettings in Pisa

Pisa is divided into historical quarters which are then split into smaller neighbourhoods. As a city of less than 100,000 people, Pisa is easy to navigate, but take a look at apartments in the most central neighbourhoods to make getting around easier. The four quarters of Pisa are San Francesco; San Martino; Sant’Antonio and Santa Maria. Located outside of the historic city walls, San Francesco is a great base for many of the city’s places of interest, and along with Santa Maria is the main centre of Pisa’s nightlife. Santa Maria, to the west of San Francesco, is home to the Leaning Tower, as well as the Cathedral and several other important buildings. Stay here for great nightlife, and to be right in the centre of Pisa’s history. San Martino is packed with markets and shops, as well as bars and restaurants. Across the River Arno from Santa Maria sits Sant’Antonio which contains some majestic architecture as well as being well connected to the other areas.

First stop has to be the Piazza dei Miracoli (Field of Miracles) just to the north of the city centre, to see the Torre Pendente - better known as the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Originally build as the Cathedral’s bell-tower, construction took 176 years - this startlingly long time was to do with time and money constraints caused by war rather than the lean however. In fact, it’s thought that these delays actually caused the soil to compress: a happy accident which has kept the tower upright all this time. The tower is now safe to climb and tickets are available for €17. We recommend you buy them online well in advance. Other architectural and artistic must-sees are the Duomo di Pisa, a beautiful cathedral containing wonderful artwork by some major Italian artists, and the Battistero, a religious Gothic Baptistery made of domes roofed with lead and tiles and topped with a bronze sculpture of John the Baptist. Sightseeing tours are popular, and a great way to see everything the city has to offer.

As with any Tuscan town, visitors are spoiled for choice when it comes to eating out in Pisa. Avoid the tourist crush around the Leaning Tower, and head just ten minutes walk into the city centre. Piazza delle Vettovaglie is a cute square with a vegetable market in the middle and several decently priced eateries sprinkled around the edges. The atmospheric Via San Martino which runs alongside the river is also a good destination for a good Tuscan meal at a reasonable price. Pisa is a busy university city, with 60,000 students to its population of 100,000, and so the nightlife is much busier and more eclectic than in many similar sized towns. Summer visitors should head straight to the river with a bottle of wine, and join the throngs of Pisans who gather there to socialise over drinks brought out from nearby bars.

Pisa is not a large city, and most of the city’s main monuments and sites of interest are well within walking distance of each other - a half hour wander at the most. A great way to explore the city is to rent a bike - or take one of the available cycling tours. There is a regular bus service in the city and tickets can be bought at corner shops or at vending machines in the station or airport. If you have time for some side trips, then Pisa is well placed for exploring the Tuscan region. Trains go directly from Pisa Centrale station to Florence, a city packed with Italian history and art, and Lucca, a city of a similar size to Pisa with history going back to Ancient Rome and defensive city walls designed by Leonardo da Vinci himself.