Pisa or Florence for short break.

[Mumdiva99]

Hi,

After following MN advice and having an amazing time in Valencia, please can you help with an Easter trip for 2025. We are
wanting to go on a short break to Italy with husband and 3 teenagers.
Which would be better to stay in Pisa or Florence? We are anticipating going to both. (Or is there somewhere else more suited to us).

We want to see some history, eat some pizza, maybe see the sea. We like a museum and a few things to do. (I think Rome might be too built up for me to enjoy - although going to The Vatican is appealing.).

We are happy with nice self catering if enough rooms/beds and easy to buy food.
Or a hotel with b&b available.

Small to medium budget please. But I want it nice - so would rather pay a little more to ensure this.

Thanks in advance.

Fiesole is lovely and great for walking around, especially if you like steep slopes. I nearly cried looking at the route to our restaurant

@AnnaMagnani great suggestions here. Thanks.

@Flossflower that sounds great. Are there small local restaurants too? Whilst I get the point about Florence having more to do Pisa seems very central for day trips out.

Thanks @Mumdiva99 my personal fave is the Medici Chapel in the Palazzo Medici Riccardi. Which also prob needs booking...

It's very very bling, very accessible in subject matter and they only let a few people in so you more or less have the place to yourself for 15 minutes.

Also recommend NOT flying into Florence. It's the flying out again that's hard to do. Got delayed all day, made it by the skin of our teeth onto an evening flight about 10 hours late that was only half full. They also managed to split up two women travelling together and tried to prevent the one that was on the plane from getting off again when she realised they weren't letting her sister on. (Again, half full plane, why wouldn't they let her on?)
And nobody's luggage was on the plane.
They gave an absolutely bizarre reason and refused to compensate.
The trains are so easy so I'd definitely fly into Pisa.

Florence is a beautiful city! Great art, great food, gorgeous to walk around. Boboli Gardens for a picnic overlooking the city, day trips to Sienna or San Gimignano if you fancy a change of scene. Very hilly, very gorgeous area.

Pisa is somewhere to spend a quick hour or so on the way to the airport.

@Mumdiva99
When we stayed in Pisa it was about 20 Minutes walk out of the town. We like walking! I can’t remember the name. The first night they recommended somewhere central, which was very authentic and we were the only tourists. I can’t remember the name or where exactly it was. I think for the rest of the time we ate in touristy restaurants but they were OK. We ate once on the hill at Fiesole. That was great with a good view. Sorry I couldn’t be much more help! Pisa isn’t packed in the evening as many of the tourists are day trippers.

Absolutely Florence, they don't even compare.

We flew into Pisa, took train to Florence for a few days. Then we went back to Pisa by train and stayed one day and night there before flying back the next morning.

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/AttractionProductReview-g187895-d11450563-CookingClasssandLunchhataaTuscanFarmhouseewithLocallMarketTourrfrom_Florence.html

We really enjoyed this in Florence. I'd also recommend doing a walking tour on your first day as it gives you a good feel for the city. You can get some recommendations from the guide for restaurants etc too. Just search free walking tours Florence (you give a tip but you do have to book on them)

@flossflower we like walking too. I also like the idea it gets quieter at night.

@hammering sounds like a possible plan.

@AnnaMagnani it's going on the list. 15 minutes is about the length of attention my husband has for art, churches, museums etc!!!

I would agree if you are looking for good restaurants, atmosphere, restaurants etc but for ease of travelling from the UK, Pisa wins. It was good on the last day knowing we were very near the airport and as I have already said we went into Florence twice by train.

I’d do Florence over Pisa.

But Rome would work or perhaps Sienna.

A few tips:
2025 is the Jubilee Year in Rome so not a great year to visit re prices/crowds.

Easter is very late in 2025 so to avoid the peak Easter weekend you might want to go at the start of April which can be wet and cold like the rest of Europe.

We flew to Pisa, got the train straight to Florence and stayed there for 4 nights. Then the afternoon before our flight home we got the train back to Pisa and stayed there for a night. Saw the tower early evening and went for a nice meal, as PPs said there's not much else to do there. We had a morning flight so staying there on the last night worked for us.

I was bumped off a 3pm flight from Florence last year, too windy and it meant the planes had to loose weight. Not just my plane, every one leaving on that day had an issue.

I was put in a taxi at 7pm with 4 others and driven to Rome, a 3 hour drive to sleep in a really basic hotel and then flew into Heathrow instead of City, lost one day annual leave and £80 cab fare I had to battle BA to pay me back.

On the way out people were bumped from the flight to Florence, a nightmare.

You don't need anyone else to tell you to fly to Pisa, so I won't! I also wouldn't bother with Pisa itself.

I also don't think you need to love art to love Florence. We didn't go to the Uffizi (or any other gallery for that matter, apart from a quick trip to the Accademia to see David). It's just a lovely, lovely city. Another vote for a trip to Fiesole. The ruins and amphitheatre there were great.

Lucca and Siena are both fab to visit. And one of the Tuscan villages if you can squeeze it in (San Gimignano et al) - but you won't get all of that into a short break. Viagreggio is the easiest seaside place to access, but I wouldn't do that as part of a short trip - much better to use your time on all the other places people mentioned. I think you're trying to squeeze too much in seeing the sea if you're there for less than a week.

Siena is FAR nicer than Florence or Pisa. It is utterly beautiful, would recommend.

Don't stop in Pisa not a very pretty or interesting city. Personally I much prefer Rome to Florence and I think it would be more interesting for teens.

Lucca, with a couple of hours in Pisa on your way back to the airport.

Also, as mentioned by someone you can also do a day trip on the train to Viareggio really easily.

Lucca is lovely - city walls, amphitheatre, brilliant buildings.

Depends on the teen.

DD is not too keen on Ancient Rome but loves the Renaissance and the Medici.
She was jealous when I was in Florence last year but utterly indifferent to her best friend visiting Rome just months prior.

We flew into Florence in april and had no problems at all.

We had the absolute best time. 3 kids aged 12 -9. They loved it.

Personally I'd base myself in Pisa. It's more interesting and charming than previous posters are saying. It's also much nearer the sea than Florence (about 15 mins on the train) and a far better base for exploring places like Viareggio (check out Puccini's villa on the lake), Lucca, Florence and even the Cinque Terre. It's also much less frantic than Florence during the evening. It should also be, theoretically, cheaper than Florence.

Morning flight to Pisa, visit the tower and have lunch, then train to Florence for the rest of your stay. You’ll most probably land at Pisa airport anyway for Florence because there isn’t a proper airport in Florence for international flights.

@ginasevern my thinking too. I now just need to find the perfect self catering apartment. (We only want a taste of Italy....so going to 3/4 different day trips will suit us).