Booking Pisa

The big tour companies (EF, Explorica, etc.) that stop at Pisa in Italy do what I call a drive-by - out of the bus and snap a photo of the tower and its famous lean, back on the bus and on your way. But they're missing something fantastic - a walk up those 296 crooked steps gives you a new appreciation for solid, flat ground. I think there are two reasons why they don't go up - it's expensive, and it's a headache to book. But we've been making the climb every year since 2006, and it's worth the money and effort. The trick is to count back 45 days from the day you will be at the tower, mark it on your calendar, and make sure you don't miss booking the tickets on that day. There is a window of opportunity to book tickets between 15 and 45 days before you arrive in Pisa, and I've found with 54 people I have to book them on the first day they are released. So it's 45 days to Pisa, and in a few hours the tickets will be released for on line booking - 10 per time slot. So I've got to book us in 6 different time slots, which are 20 minutes apart from each other. Which works out great when we are there, because there is so much more to see around the tower - and while one small group is climbing the stairs, the rest of us are enjoying the cathedral or the baptistry or the souvenirs or some great pizza!