Pisa & Florence

Pisa

After the Cinque Terre, we wanted to go to Florence. It’s so famous for arts, we thought we couldn’t really miss it. When booking the train tickets from Genoa to Florence, I realized the train went through Pisa so I couldn’t help myself but plan a little 2-hour stopover.

Pisa is VERY small. We left our suitcases in the left luggage at the station and then walked from the station to the Torre in around 20 minutes. There is a huge piazza with the tower, the duomo, and the baptistery. It’s quite expensive to go in and to be honest, we didn’t have much time so decided not to go in.

For me, Pisa is a beautiful city but definitely not an Italian must-see. The tower is absolutely stunning so if you are near the city, you should go! However the crazy number of tourists and the fact that Pisa is so tiny doesn’t really justify spending a lot of time there.

Florence

Very unpopular opinion about Florence : I didn’t really enjoy my time there. The city of art, bridges, and… tourists. I have travelled to a lot of touristy places and for me there is a difference between having lots of tourists around and suffocating because of it. In Florence, I felt like I didn’t enjoy most of the places I went to because of the mass of people everywhere.

We stayed 3 days which was enough for what we had planned to do but due to the number of places to visit, you could easily stay a week!

We had booked tickets for the Galleria degli Uffizi in advance (great move) so we spent a whole morning there. It’s so huge that you should totally look up what you want to see beforehand. The museum is full of treasures of the Renaissance such as Primavera and The Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli.

Despite of the tourists, we magically managed to get into the Duomo quite easily. Apparently, visiting around lunch time is the best bet as most people are having pasta and pizza in surrounding restaurants.
I was actually quite disappointed by the inside Duomo. Contrary to Milano where I was shocked by the perfection of the pillars and the beauty of the marble work, the inside of the Florence Dome left me quite frustrated. Don’t get me wrong, the outside is absolutely stunning and the Brunelleschi dome is out of this world but the whole space isn’t as magical as I had anticipated.

As usual, we walked a lot in the city and discovered so many little squares and streets. We also went to San Miniato Al Monte which is a small basilica overlooking Florence. The view is incredible from up there. We then walked to Piazzale Michelangelo where people usually go to watch sunset. It is indeed a great spot but still, so many tourists…

Quite mixed feelings about Florence but I would love to go back maybe in a less busy time of year (if it even exists). Did you enjoy Florence?