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The Leaning Tower of Pisa is one of the world's most famous towers. People come to the Italian city of Pisa in Tuscany to see the tower for only one reason - it looks like it's going to fall over.
Pisa timecodes, click to jump
00:01 intro
00:42 walk route
2:26 train station
3:05 Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II
3:57 Corso Italia
6:02 Arno
6:43 Piazza Garibaldi
7:00 Borgo Stretto
7:45 to Piazza Dante
9:05 Borgo Stretto
9:41 Pasticceria Federico Salza
11:42 walk map route
12:22 Piazza dei Cavalieri - Via Mille
14:33 arrive at Leaning Tower
15:56 climb tower
18:40 Pisa Cathedral
21:38 evening walk
23:27 arrive train station
People play around taking funny pictures and acting silly. If it were standing straight up, nobody would bother to come here to see it, but it is slanted, which makes it a fascinating object. Maybe it's going to fall down. Why is it tilting? People are fascinated. But this tower is only the tip of the iceberg of things to see in Pisa. You'll discover this city has much more to offer.
The tower is one small part of a fascinating city that we are going to show you in the program that we will get back to the tower later, but first we're going to take you on a walking tour through the beautiful town of Pisa, walking along the main pedestrian lanes, and ending up at the tower and the Cathedral.
The buildings are old, but the population is young, with nearly half the people, students at one of Europe's oldest universities.
Set in a historic location with buildings going back to the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, a fascinating mix for you to discover and enjoy.
The pedestrian zone extends for about two kilometers from the train station through the heart of the old town up to the tower, a place to relax, sit back, have a drink and do some people watching - a truly magnificent area to explore on foot, as we'll show you in the program.
Many people visit Pisa on a daytrip from Florence, which is ideal because it's only one hour away by train, with frequent service.
In the Florence train station, the easiest way to buy your ticket is just go to the machine, put your credit card in there, punch the buttons - very simple -and your ticket comes right out at the bottom - much better than waiting online at the ticket window.
Find your platform, get on board, sit down anywhere in second-class, no seat reservations required, enjoy the scenery as you go along. It's mostly green hills and farmlands, quite pleasant, best to avoid rush-hour so you'll have plenty of seats available. Before you know it you will be rolling into Pisa.
It's so easy and cheap by train. You do not need to purchase an expensive tour to Pisa from Florence on a tour bus. Just do it yourself, and watch this video for tips on how to explore.
The train station is right on the edge of the pedestrian zone, so it's so easy for you to get off the train and start walking, no taxi or bus connection required.
There is a bus stop here, but don't bother, just walk - It's easier and just as quick, and a lot more fun.
The first site you'll come upon, right away, is Piazza Vittorio Emmanuele II, and in our case when we arrived, there was a beautiful fleamarket going on with all kinds of things for sale, including some food. That was a nice surprise. You might not always run into it, but maybe you'll get lucky. The Piazza is always a popular gathering spot, and underneath is a parking lot for almost 400 cars created after several years of reconstruction.
Now just around the corner on via Giuseppe Mazzini look for the mural by Keith Haring, who visited Pisa and fell in love with the town, creating this amazing big mural.
Along the north edge of the Piazza you'll find a large popular gellateria with some of the most fresh and delicious gelato in town, La Borsa.
We've now entered the main street of Pisa. It's the Corso. It's the place where all the locals come out to shop, have a drink, get something to eat and enjoy the passegiatta, the great strolling activity of Italy.
We started from the train station, went to the Piazza, heading for the tower along this dotted line route, and we're now walking along that Corso, the busy shopping street.
There are some historic buildings and sculptures along the way such as this statue of a Renaissance artist Nicola Pisano in the Piazza Carmine. We will see his work later in the Cathedral.
This street can get quite crowded in the late afternoon, which is when we’re strolling along, even on a Sunday like this when most shops are closed. Actually the video was photographed during several visits to Pisa.
Occasionally it was a little less crowded, if walking earlier in the day, but the crowds offer ideal subject for people-watching, with 50,000 students in a town population of 100,000.