What is the Pisa self-guided walking tour?
The Pisa self-guided walking tour gives you a storyteller without putting you in a group: open the World City Trail app, follow the map, and recorded narration begins at each landmark on the way. The route has 10 stops and is 2.8 km long; plan on roughly 3 hours, and expect to be on your feet for only 34 minutes of them. On Pisa's level streets the legs between stops are short, so most of the time goes on the stories.
At Tuttomondo the narration explains how Keith Haring covered a convent wall with 30 interlocking figures in 1989, one of his last public works. Santa Maria della Spina comes with the thorn said to be from Christ's crown and with the year 1871, when the church was taken apart and rebuilt higher up, out of reach of the Arno's floods. At the Galileo Galilei statue you hear the famous story of the balls dropped from the Leaning Tower, and on Piazza dei Cavalieri that of Count Ugolino, starved in a tower that Dante put into the Inferno. At the cathedral the legend of the swinging lamp, said to have set Galileo thinking about the pendulum, joins them.
- Durationabout 3 hours
- Walkingabout 34 min · 2.8 km
- Stops10
- LanguagesEnglish, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Dutch
How the walk unfolds
Stop and listen
Reach a stop and the narrator takes over: when the place came about, who left a mark on it, which legend goes with it and what to look out for. Prefer reading? The full text is on screen too.
On to the next stop
Google Maps shows each next leg, 34 minutes of walking over 2.8 km in all, and nobody sets the speed but you.
Stop when it suits you
Sit down for a coffee, spend an hour in a museum or call it a day: the walk resumes exactly where you paused, later on or on another day.
Make the route yours
Tips on local food and shops come with each section, and the app lets you begin at a different stop or put the stops in another order.
See the route and attractions →
How it works
- Book online Choose the number of people. Your booking reference arrives by email straight away.
- Get the app Download the World City Trail app from the App Store or Google Play and enter your booking reference.
- Walk when you like Start whenever you are ready, walk at your own pace and pause any time. No guide, no fixed schedule.
Made for these visitors
Curious minds
If you want to know why a square has its shape or who paid for a church, the narration has the answer.
Couples and friends
Everyone listens on their own phone, yet you walk together and talk over what you have just heard.
Short stays
About 3 hours covers the centre, and the rest of your day stays free.
Good to know
- Bring a charged smartphone with mobile data; a power bank helps.
- No entry tickets needed: everything happens outside the buildings. Going inside is optional and paid separately.
- Family friendly; children must be accompanied by an adult.
- Not suitable for wheelchair users and difficult with strollers.
- Groups of up to 5 work best; larger groups split up, one ticket per person.
- Every purchase helps support stray cats and dogs in Greece.
From Haring's mural to the Piazza dei Miracoli
10 stops · about 34 min walking · start: Tuttomondo (Keith Haring) · finish: Baptistery of St John
The walk opens at Keith Haring's Tuttomondo near Pisa Centrale station and heads for the river, where Santa Maria della Spina and the blue façade of Palazzo Blu look out over the water from the Lungarno Gambacorti. Over the Ponte di Mezzo you reach Piazza Garibaldi at the start of Borgo Stretto, then the Galileo Galilei statue, Piazza dei Cavalieri and Vasari's Palazzo della Carovana. The last three stops stand side by side: the Leaning Tower, the cathedral and the Baptistery of St John. Every stop is outside, and in the app you decide which one comes first.
Open the route map ↗
1Tuttomondo (Keith Haring)Start
The American artist Keith Haring painted this mural in 1989 on the rear wall of the convent of Sant'Antonio Abate, near Pisa Centrale station. Its title means all the world, and 30 interlocking figures celebrate peace and harmony. It was one of his last public works, as Haring died in 1990.
2Santa Maria della Spina
This small Gothic church on the Arno embankment takes its name from a thorn said to come from Christ's crown of thorns, kept here from 1333. Enlarged in the 14th century, it is covered with pinnacles, statues and tabernacles. In 1871 it was taken apart and rebuilt at a higher level to protect it from the river's floods.
3Palazzo Blu
Palazzo Blu stands out on the Lungarno Gambacorti thanks to the blue façade that gives it its name. The building has medieval origins and was later turned into a noble residence. It opened as an exhibition centre in 2008 and hosts art exhibitions and a permanent collection.
4Piazza Garibaldi
Piazza Garibaldi lies at the northern end of the Ponte di Mezzo, the central bridge over the Arno. A statue of Giuseppe Garibaldi, the general of Italian unification, stands in the square. The arcaded Borgo Stretto, Pisa's elegant shopping street, starts right here.
5Galileo Galilei Statue
Galileo Galilei was born in Pisa in 1564 and studied and later taught mathematics at the city's university. This statue honours the scientist who, according to a famous story, dropped balls of different weights from the Leaning Tower to show that they fall at the same speed. In 1610 he discovered four moons of Jupiter with his telescope.
Read the full story →
6Piazza dei Cavalieri
This square was the political centre of medieval Pisa. In the 16th century Cosimo I de' Medici made it the seat of the Order of the Knights of St Stephen, founded in 1561, and Giorgio Vasari redesigned its buildings. In the Palazzo dell'Orologio is the old tower where Count Ugolino starved to death, a story told by Dante in the Inferno.
Read the full story →
7Palazzo della Carovana
Giorgio Vasari remodelled this palace between 1562 and 1564 as the headquarters of the Knights of St Stephen. Its façade is covered in sgraffito decoration with allegorical figures and zodiac signs, and busts of Medici grand dukes. Today it is home to the Scuola Normale Superiore, a university founded in 1810 under Napoleon.
8Leaning Tower of Pisa
The cathedral's bell tower was begun in 1173 and started to lean during construction because of the soft ground beneath it. Building took about two centuries, and the builders tried to correct the tilt by making the upper floors slightly curved. Engineering work between 1990 and 2001 reduced the lean and stabilised the tower, which is about 56 metres tall.
9Pisa Cathedral
Pisa Cathedral was begun in 1063, funded by spoils from a Pisan naval victory over the Saracens near Palermo. Its white and grey marble façade with rows of small arches set the model for the Pisan Romanesque style. Inside is Giovanni Pisano's carved pulpit, and legend says a swinging lamp here inspired Galileo's study of the pendulum.
10Baptistery of St JohnFinish
The Baptistery of St John, begun in 1152 by the architect Diotisalvi, is the largest baptistery in Italy. Its round body combines Romanesque arches below with Gothic decoration above, added in the following centuries. Inside stands Nicola Pisano's pulpit of 1260, and the dome is famous for its echo.
Only logged in customers who have purchased this product may leave a review.
Rene– Germany –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Alles