AT FULL TILT!

Meet your private driver outside your accommodation and enjoy a day trip to the hometown of the Leaning Tower.

Pisa, with its 3,000 years of history, record-breaking academic and scientific achievements, culinary feats and artistic wonders is an obligatory stop on every trip to Tuscany. Your guide will be waiting for you in the city centre ready to lead you back down the centuries on an exciting discovery journey of this once powerful maritime republic, feared ruler of the Mediterranean Sea and Italian trade routes. You will retrace the history of Pisa, from its Etruscan origins, through its development and growth as a Roman port, to the city’s rise and expansion in the 11th, 12th and 13th centuries, when many of its striking, much praised monuments were built and the city’s commercial and military might reached an unprecedented pinnacle.

As you wander through the UNESCO-listed Field of Miracles, your attention drawn to the four magnificent buildings, your guide will paint a vivid scene of life in Pisa in medieval times and explain to which gifted artists and enlightened patrons the city owes this celebrated complex. You will take a peek inside the 11th century Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta to admire the precious mosaic of Saint John the Evangelist by Cimabue and Giovanni Pisano’s skilfully carved pulpit, a true masterpiece of Gothic sculpture. You will also explore the grandiose Baptistery of St. John, the largest in Italy, housing Bigarelli’s splendid baptismal font and Nicola Pisano’s proto-Renaissance pulpit. Another not-to-be missed sight is the Monumental Cemetery, according to tradition built on soil carried back from the Holy Land, famous for the ancient Roman sarcophagi preserved here as well as spectacular 14th century frescoes. The beauty of these sparked Pisa’s fame in the 1700s and led the city to become a must-see destination for Europe’s Grand Tour visitors.

But what draws thousands of enthusiasts to Pisa every year is the 12th century Leaning Tower, the town’s most cherished jewel, one of Italy’s most iconic monuments and an authentic miracle of statics known worldwide for its extraordinary tilt. Who’s up for a climb to the top of its 251 spiralling steps? From here, 55 metres above the ground, you’ll have earned a privileged 360-degree view over this remarkable city which has itself become a monument to human genius and creativity.

After some free time for lunch your chauffeur will drive you back to your accommodation in Florence.