Pisa, Italy
In March of 2025 I went on a Mediterranean cruise with my daughter, and one of the days our ship stopped in Livorno. None of the excursions the cruise-line offered included climbing the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Some included visiting the Square of Miracles and admiring the tower from the outside, but I really wanted to climb the tower. So we planned our day ourselves.
We took a taxi from the cruise ship to the Livorno train station. From there, using the Trainline app, we purchased tickets on the next train headed to Pisa. The train ride from Stazione Livorno Centrale (Livorno Central Train Station) to Pisa Centrale Train Station is only about 15 minutes and costs just over 3 euro each way. It is well worth the money!
From the station it is only about a 25 minute walk from Pisa Centrale to the Square of Miracles where the Leaning Tower of Pisa is. Make your reservations to climb the tower ahead of time so that you can definitely get in. The square is open all the time, but the buildings on the square don't open until 9 or 10 am. You can visit several different buildings in the Square of Miracles. We arrived on the square before the first building opened at 9, and just walked around and enjoyed the outside of the buildings.
Here is the official website for the Square of Miracles:
Buildings to visit on the Square of Miracles include:
* Leaning Tower of Pisa
* Cathedral
* Baptistery
* Camposanto (cemetery)
* Sinopie Museum
* Opera del Duomo Museum
I recommend purchasing a complete ticket including climbing the tower, which is 27 euro. We visited the Baptistery first, then the Camposanto, followed by the Sinopie Museum and the Opera del Duomo Museum, and finally visited the Cathedral before heading to our 11 am visit to climb the tower. Keep in mind that you cannot have any bags at all - including a small purse or a cross-body bag. There is a luggage locker storage that is free of charge for ticket holders directly next to the palace (the palace is not included in the Square of Miracles ticket). You scan your ticket barcode at a small kiosk in the locker room and a locker opens for you. Put your belongings in the locker and keep the receipt to be able to retrieve your belongings after climbing the tower. The timing worked out for us perfectly to arrive just before 9 am and be finished seeing everything before our 11 am tower climb.
The tower was leaning much more than I expected. I had seen photos of it many times, but seeing it in person and walking all around the outside of the tower leaves you so amazed that it could still be standing! It looked like it might topple over at any moment. Additionally, walking inside the tower was not unlike trying to walk through a fun house at an amusement park! It is hard to keep your balance as you climb up the winding staircases to the top of the tower, feeling the tower leaning as you climb. The tower is hollow on the inside. Most of the winding staircase is enclosed between the walls of the tower. However, the two top levels of the tower are exposed to the air and you can view the surrounding area in all directions as you walk around the tower. I am terrified of heights, and I admit that I was very scared at the top of this tower, both of the top level and on the second to top level. But I knew that I would probably never be in Pisa again, so I gathered all of my courage and finished climbing to the top. You can look down through the hollow inside from the second-to-top floor of the tower, as well as looking up from the bottom of the tower after you climb down. On the top level of the tower are on display the various bells that have been housed in the tower. Climbing the tower is a definite MUST when you visit Pisa!

The Square of Miracles has been known by other names, including Piazza del Duomo (Cathedral Square), Compo dei Miracoles (Field of Miracles), or Meadow of Miracles. Its popular name, The Square of Miracles, originated from a novel written by poet Gabriele D'Annunzio. The Cathedral was built in 1064. Galileo created his theory of movement of a pendulum while watching the swinging of a lamp in the Cathedral's nave. Over the years this building has also started to tilt slightly, although not nearly to the extent as the Leaning Tower.
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Cathedral |
The Baptistery, which is dedicated to John the Baptist, was started in the 1100's but not completed until the 1300's. There is a statue of John the Baptist on top of it. It is the largest baptistry in Italy, and if you count the statue of John the Baptist on top of it, it is actually a few centimeters taller than the Tower.
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Baptistery |
The Tower was the third building on the Square to be built. They began construction in 1173 and spent 177 building the tower. Only five years into construction and three floors up, the tower had already begun to lean when the south side sunk into the ground. Construction was put on hold for a century and eventually the tower stabilized. When they continued building again in 1272, the floors were built with the ceilings on one side of the building higher than the others, to try to adjust the lean of the tower. In 1319 the tower was completed, and had a 1 degree lean. In 1990 its lean was measured at 5.5 degrees. And in 2010 the lean measured at 4 degrees. It is 180 feet high and housed 7 bells, which are on display on the top level of the tower. Climbing the tower includes 296 steps and is not for the faint of heart. It threw off my balance a great deal, and my fear of heights was in full force at the top. Still, I'm very glad I did it once.
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Campanile |
The Camposato is an old cemetery and was constructed beginning in 1278. It wasn't completed until 1464. It was damaged by bombs in WWII, and restoration has been in progress since 1945. People were still restoring the frescoes on the walls when we visited in 2025.
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Camposato |
The Sinopias Museum was originally a hospital, built in 1257. It was converted to a museum in 1976.
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Angels on display inside the Sinopias Museum that once adorned the Cathedral |
The Palazzo dell'Opera was originally housing for the construction workers on the square. It was built in segments beginning in the 14th century and concluding in the 19th century. It has only been a museum since the 21st century - before that it was used as administrative offices.
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view of the tower from inside the museum |
After we completed our tour of the Square of Miracles, we went to the far corner of the square where we found the tower to access the ancient walls of Pisa, the Torre Santa Maria. You don't need to leave the square to be able to access the tower to climb up onto the walls. It only costs 5 euro to climb up the tower onto the ancient walls and then you can walk to the left for a short distance to reach one end of the walls, and then turn and walk to the other end of the walls, which is only a 1.93 mile walk all the way to the end. The walls are 36 feet high. Here is their official website, although you can purchase the tickets at each tower except the last one closest to the Arno river:
While the Leaning Tower was my favorite part of Pisa, my daughter's favorite part was walking on the ancient walls and viewing the city from this high perspective. My fear of heights didn't prevent me from enjoying this walk. It is perfectly safe. They do close it during times of rain, but luckily we were able to get up onto the walls during a break in the rain and, although it did sprinkle on us while we were up there, we were fine and completed the walk without incident. This is another MUST when you visit Pisa!
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The Ancient Walls of Pisa |
After climbing down from the ancient walls, we headed in the direction of the train station, and along the way we happened upon a great little pizza place called Pizzeria da Nando. The pizza and service were both great, and it was crowded! Here is their website:
Nando's Pizzeria We grabbed some pizza and then made our way to the train station, purchased tickets using the Trainline app, and rode the train back to Livorno Centrale, another 15 minute ride. We rode a taxi back to our cruise ship and headed back on board. It was a great day in Pisa!
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Livorno Centrale Train Station |
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Pisa Centrale Train Station |
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statue of three cherubs holding a shield, near the tower at the entrance to Square of Miracles |