Hey hey!
It’s been nearly a year since I last posted a blog. How did that even happen?!
The last year has just flown by and here I am, finally getting around to writing all about my first European city break since the dreaded C. I went to Corfu 2 weeks prior to Italy, but that was definitely not a ‘city’ break…it was an all inclusive sunbathing holiday. There was also skiing at the beginning of the year which I completely forgot to blog about; that was not a city break either so technically I'm not lying...Italy is my first European CITY break since Covid haha!
This was also mine and Sam's first city break abroad together...wahooo!
There are so many places on my list to see and visit in Italy. On this trip we stayed in Pisa for 2 nights as our central location and ventured out to Florence and Cinque Terre for day trips.
Day 1- Cinque Terre:
In traditional Zoe style, we had an early flight on the Saturday morning; landing in Pisa at 12:05pm. We managed to get to our hotel by train and a short walk, check in to our hotel and head out for the afternoon by 2:00pm.
Our first stop on our Italian adventures was Cinque Terre; 5 villages all along a stretch of coastline, giving off Amalfi Coast vibes. We took the train from our hotel to La Spezia and then the express train straight to top Northern village, Monterosso al Mare. After a short stop to explore the town we made our way onto the next village and so on, until we reached the final village, Riomaggiore. The villages in Cinque Terre are a must see for their views and their own personal characteristics; each one is slightly diffrerent. We took a short stroll up the hiking trails to see the views of the villages at different heights. I think my favourite of the 5 villages (although we didn’t visit Corniglia) was Manarola and Riomaggiore, the two both had a picturesque harbour, quaint shops and coast line restaurants.
It is a mission to complete the 5 villages in one day, or even one afternoon in our case. I would have loved to have more time, especially as we had to give one village a miss in order to get as much done as possible before our last train.
Monterrosso al Mare has a nice beach, that although it was packed with sun umbrellas and sun beds, it would have been nice to have gone for a dip and chill on the beach for an hour. We aimed to have dinner in a nice restaurant somewhere in Riomaggiore, however by the time we got there most places were full or the best seats were taken. We had a quick adventure round the village whilst it was still light and then went on the hunt for food. It wasn’t just for the convenience of Riomaggiore being the closest station to La Spezia that we chose to eat at this village, it was also as its recommended in the evening for the best sunset views…oh my they weren’t kidding!!
As restaurants were full, we found a takeaway pizza restaurant, ordered a pizza, grabbed a drink and headed down to the rocks to watch the sunset. Dinner with a view…
Food in our bellies and photos on the camera roll, we headed for the train, back to our hotel and ready to get a good night sleep.
Day 2- Florence:
Starting our day from Pisa S Rossore train station, we headed off to Florence- 'Firenze' in Italian. The hour long train journey boasts views of Tuscany’s mountains and countryside. We aimed straight to the main square, Piazza Del Duomo, where most of the monuments are located. Seeing how great these buildings are on the outside lead us to want to go inside them too; so we decided to go and grab some tickets. As we arrived before 10am in Florence it was still reasonably quiet and the queue for the ticket office was short (I have read online that ticket office lines can be long in peak seasons).
We bought the Giotto pass for €20 (each) which enables entry into; the Bell Tower, Baptistry, Museum and Santa Raparata. Entry to the Dome is with a separate ticket selection called the Brunelleschi Pass- unfortunately these were all sold out. Once you have your tickets you can visit each monument once in your own chosen order, there are no timed entry tickets. We also visited Florence on a Sunday which meant the Cathedral was closed.
The first one we went in was the Bell Tower and it was the best decision for many reasons. Reason 1, there’s a lot of steps to walk up so doing this in the morning before all the rest of our roaming around Florence was a good plan. Reason 2, in the morning it’s a a cooler temperature than the rest of the day and trust me, you definitely build up a sweat walking to the top!! The 3rd reason is it's less busy, in the tower and the queue outside! (FYI- the tower is just a spiral of steps all the way to the top, so when crowded I can imagine navigating these can be quite slow!)
We then did the other buildings one by one after the Bell Tower before stopping for ice cream!
There is so much to see in Florence and we just about managed it all in a day; there was a lot of walking!
If you head away from the main Piazza you will reach the river which is a beautiful sight and gives views of the Ponte Vecchio bridge. A famous bridge with jewellery shops the whole way along. If you cross over the river and follow signs to Michelangelo Square. You will pass by some refreshing water fountains, cute back streets and gardens on your route to the best viewpoint in Florence.
We stopped at the top and grabbed some lunch at 'Vips Bar', based right on the edge of the square overlooking the views.
After an amazing day exploring all of Florence we headed back to the hotel to freshen up before heading out for dinner in Pisa. Considering we stayed in Pisa, we hadn’t seen a bit of it other than the train stations until that evening. We headed down towards Piazza Dei Miracoli, somewhere we knew would have a few options for nice restaurants. The walk was only 10 minutes and we managed to find a table, sat outside, just off one of the streets to the side of the Leaning Tower. Opting for pasta over pizza we enjoyed a nice impromptu date night.
Day 3- Pisa:
Our final day in Italy and we were ready to see the sights of Pisa...and of course take some pictures holding up the Leaning Tower!
Being a 10 minute walk away from the main piazza was a bonus on our last morning as it meant we could still have a small lay in before having to check out of the hotel and get to the Leaning Tower. I had tickets for the Tower already that I had booked in advance as you have to have a designated time slot.
An FYI- when visiting the tower you have to leave all bags, no matter how big or small in a cloakroom; no bags are allowed up with you in the tower.
There are 296 steps in the tower that spiral all the way to the top. It’s bizarre being in the tower as at some points you can feel yourself walking up steps on an incline and other times you don't even notice. There are some great views of Pisa from the top of the tower, including views of the rooftop to the Cathedral. Once we had finished in the tower we then moved on to visit the Baptistry, Cathedral and other monuments all included in our ticket. We booked tickets online before heading to Italy; it doesn't save you any money, however it does guarantee you a slot into the Tower for the day and time you want. Our tickets were €27 each for all the monuments. There is a ticket office located within the Piazza where you can purchase tickets on the day.
Although Pisa is beautiful, there is little to see other than the main Piazza, monuments and river. Let's also not forget to mention that you will see a lot of arms in the air in the main Piazza as everyone tries to get that all important shot of holding up the tower!
Having one day in Pisa is definitely long enough if anyone is planning this into a trip to Italy. We killed some time before heading to the airport by ordering one last pizza and an aperol Spritz.
That brings me to the end of all the things we got up to on our 3 day adventure around a small section of Itay. If you are travelling to Italy soon and wish to find out more about my tips and advice for using trains in Italy then please carry on reading. Alternatively, I won't be offended if its not something you need to know and you stopped reading now haha!
It's been great to blog again...hopefully I won't leave it too long to write another!
Train travel tips!:
Train travel is surprisingly cheap and very easy in Italy; a lot easier than I thought it would be. Here are some things that are really helpful to know:
There are TICKET MACHINES that have English language options and are easy to use if you know where you're going. I would advise you look up trains on the TrainLine site online for routes and be aware that some stations are not the same in Italian as we would search them in English. For example, Florence's central train station is Firenze Santa Maria Novella. Using maps and searching for train stations via maps is a good way to plan where to go to.
VALIDATE TICKETS; once you have bought your train tickets, at a machine or from a cashier desk, you need to validate them. There are green machines at the end of most platforms where you have to insert your ticket for it to be date stamped. Without this your ticket is invalid and if a ticket officer asks for your ticket on a train and you have not validated it you could be fined. If you book tickets online and your ticket shows both a date and time then there is no need to validate it at the station. Italy have their ticket validation system to prevent people passing on tickets to other travellers for dual use.
PISAMOVER; If you're travelling into Pisa Airport and need to get into the centre of Pisa there is a designated train shuttle that goes between the airport and Pisa Central (Pisa Centralle in Italian) for €5 each way. A much more affordable and convenient way to travel compared to a taxi or transfer. These depart every 10 minutes from each station.
Know the TRAIN ROUTE you're taking and where it's final destination. This will help you when looking for the train platform and finding the correct train. For example when you want to get to Vauxhall in London, you may not be on a train that is titled to 'Vauxhall', instead it is titled as 'London Waterloo' as that is the trains final destination. A lot of the main station platform boards in Italy do not show you each an every single train station the train stops at with its title; like we have 'London Waterloo' calling at.... This isn't on every board. This is a situation where knowing the destination/route of your train will help.
ALLOW TIME for purchasing tickets and getting between platforms. A lot of Italian train stations that we experienced all have stairs up to each platform, meaning changing trains or getting to your train from the entrance can take longer that you anticipate. Don't forget that you also need to allow time before your train departure to validate your ticket. If in doubt of what platform to be on or your struggling to find the train you need then find an official staff member and ask; everyone I spoke to were very helpful!
TRAVEL MONEY TIP:
Get a CurrenSea card!!
It links with your bank account and acts as a debit card, offering the best exchange rates when making purchases in foreign currency. The bonus with the card is you get emailed receipts of all purchases and a break down of the cost in the currency and in GBP along with how much you have saved compared to using your standard bank card.
I hope my blog and travel tips have helped you have an incredible insight to my adventures in Italy and will inspire you to go and do the same!
Love,
Zoe
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