The short answer
The Piazza dei Miracoli (officially Piazza del Duomo) is run by the Opera della Primaziale Pisana, which sells tickets on its own website and at the ticket offices on the square. What to book:
- You want to climb the Tower: book Tower + Duomo on the official site, €20, as soon as you find a time slot that suits you.
- You want to see everything: the full ticket with the Tower costs €27 and adds the Baptistery, the Camposanto, the Museo dell'Opera and the Museo delle Sinopie.
- You are not climbing the Tower: the full ticket without the Tower costs €11 and there is no need to book it far ahead.
- You only want to go into the Duomo: it is free, but you need a timed pass, collected on the spot.
Partner platforms are worth it if the official slots have gone, if you want a guide (the Opera does not offer one) or if you want transport from Florence.
Official Leaning Tower of Pisa tickets and the other monuments
Prices published on the official site of the Opera della Primaziale Pisana:
| Ticket | What it includes | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Tower + Duomo | climb at a fixed time and the Cathedral | €20 |
| Duomo + one monument | your choice of Baptistery, Camposanto, Museo dell'Opera or Sinopie | €8 |
| Full ticket | Baptistery, Camposanto, Museo dell'Opera, Sinopie and Cathedral | €11 |
| Full ticket + Tower | all the monuments | €27 |
| Duomo only | timed pass, collected at the ticket office | free |
There are no reductions for the Tower, not even for teenagers or students. For the other monuments, on the other hand, children under 11 with an adult go in without a ticket (for family visits only, not organised groups). People with disabilities and one companion also go in free. Holders of the card of the Associazione Nazionale Famiglie Numerose (the Italian large-families association) get reduced prices.
A ticket without the Tower is valid for a year from the date you choose, during opening hours: you can see the Baptistery today and come back for the Camposanto another time. A ticket with the Tower, by contrast, is tied to one day and one specific slot. The audio guide for the Museo dell'Opera costs €5, lasts about 90 minutes and is available in five languages.
How to buy on the official site
You can only pay by card (Visa or Mastercard, in euros), and the buyer must be over 18. The ticket arrives by email as a PDF: only the original is valid, on your smartphone or printed. How far ahead sales open is unclear even on the Opera's own site: the terms of sale say 90 days, the FAQ says 15. In practice it pays to book as soon as your date goes on sale. In spring, in summer and at weekends the slots generally run out days or weeks in advance.
The ticket offices on the square open 30 minutes before the monuments and close 30 minutes before closing time.
The Leaning Tower rules
The climb takes about 30 minutes and starts with a short briefing from the Opera's staff. There are roughly 250–270 steps: the official site gives 251 on one page and 273 on another; the higher figures you see around do not come from the Opera. The Tower is 58.36 metres high, leans by about 5 degrees and has seven bells at the top.
Age. Children may climb if they turn 8 by the end of the year of the visit. What counts is the year of birth, not the birthday: a child who turns 8 in December can already climb in January. Children who do not turn 8 within the year stay on the ground, and babies in carriers are not allowed. Under-18s pay the full price and must climb with an adult, who may accompany several children. You may be asked for ID.
Bags. Bags, backpacks and luggage do not go up. They go in the free left-luggage area reserved for Tower ticket holders, where the lockers open with your ticket. Everyone is checked with a hand-held metal detector. A different rule applies to the other monuments: no suitcases or large luggage, but bags and small backpacks up to 20×30×38 cm are allowed. Animals are not admitted, except certified guide dogs.
Punctuality and health. Arrive at least 15 minutes before your slot (Tiqets asks for 20): latecomers are not let in and are not refunded. The Opera advises against the climb for anyone with heart or muscular problems, and the steps are uneven and slippery.
Disability. Visitors with disabilities climb free with a companion, in a few slots at the start and end of the day, with the ticket collected on the spot. You do, however, need to write to the accessibility office beforehand: the site says 3 days' notice on one page and 5 on another, so allow 5.
The free Duomo: how the pass works
Entry to the Cathedral is free, but without a pass you will not get in. Every paid ticket (even the €8 one) includes the Duomo pass, which has no fixed time. If, on the other hand, you only want to see the Cathedral, the free pass has a set time, is limited in number and can be collected only at the ticket offices on the square, on the day itself. It cannot be booked online. Children under 11 with an adult, and people with disabilities with a companion, go in without a pass.
The Cathedral opens to visitors from 10:00 and closes earlier than the other monuments: on some autumn days visiting hours end at 14:00, while the Tower and the museums stay open until 20:00. Hours change on Sundays and on religious holidays. During Mass visitors stay in a roped-off area, with no photos and no explanations. Appropriate clothing is required, and the museum bookshops sell shawls. Inside, look out for Giovanni Pisano's pulpit (1302–1310) and Cimabue's Saint John in the apse mosaic.
The other monuments: is the full ticket worth it?
- Baptistery: founded in 1152, it is the largest in Italy, with a pulpit by Nicola Pisano from 1260. There is still restoration scaffolding inside, but it is open.
- Camposanto: the monumental cemetery, founded in 1277, with Buffalmacco's Triumph of Death, frescoes by Traini and Benozzo Gozzoli, and Roman sarcophagi.
- Museo delle Sinopie: it displays the preparatory drawings in red ochre found beneath the Camposanto frescoes after the fire in the Second World War.
- Museo dell'Opera del Duomo: the newly rearranged route begins with the Porta di Bonanno.
If you have half a day, take the full ticket with the Tower at €27. With two hours, the Tower and the Duomo are enough, plus the Camposanto for the frescoes. You may only walk on the lawns of the square in the marked areas.
Official or partner tickets: an honest comparison
The official ticket is cheaper and more flexible; the Tiqets one costs €25 and cannot be refunded. The partners' advantage is not the price: sometimes they still have slots when the official site has none left, and they offer an app and support in several languages. GetYourGuide sells the Tower and the Duomo with an audio guide from €20.10: read the cancellation terms carefully before you pay.
| No. | Option | Platform | Rating | Duration | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Pisa Leaning Tower & Cathedral Official Ticket & Audio Guide cheapest | GetYourGuide | 4.1 (513) | 1h 30m | €20.10 |
| 02 | Pisa: Entrance Ticket to Leaning Tower & Cathedral | GetYourGuide | 4.5 (14,459) | — | €24 |
| 03 | Leaning Tower of Pisa & Pisa Cathedral: Entry Ticket | Tiqets | 4.5 (2,533) | — | €25 |
| 04 | Leaning Tower of Pisa & Pisa Cathedral: Fast Track Ticket + Audio Guide | Tiqets | 4.2 (219) | 01:00 | €30 |
Partner prices change often: we check them regularly, but the price you see when you book is the one that counts.
For the Cathedral with the Baptistery or the Camposanto, Tiqets sells tickets with an audio guide from €20. On the official site the same combination, without the audio guide, costs €8: only buy them if you really want the audio guide.
Guided tours
The Opera della Primaziale does not run guided tours. When a reseller talks about an "official guided tour", the guide is the reseller's own. Tiqets' guided tours include the Tower and start at €49. If you also want the Baptistery, the fuller version starts at €81 and can be refunded up to the start of the slot.
A half-day trip from Florence
If you are coming from Florence and do not want to deal with trains, half-day coach trips last about 6 hours and start at €39 on GetYourGuide. The Tiqets tour starts at €59. Always check whether the Tower climb is included or only "optional". On the classic tours that also take in Siena and San Gimignano, the stop in Pisa is short: long enough for a photo, not for the Tower at a relaxed pace.
From Florence: Half-Day Pisa Tour and Optional Leaning Tower
(2,163 reviews) from €39
Book on GetYourGuide
Our reviews: Tiqets, GetYourGuide, Opera della Primaziale.
Getting to Pisa
From Florence by train. From Santa Maria Novella to Pisa Centrale the regional train costs €9.80. The fastest take 51–60 minutes, the others 1 hour 10–20 minutes, and there are 2–3 departures an hour. Some trains continue to Pisa San Rossore, the station closest to the square (about 5–10 minutes on foot), at the same price. From Pisa Centrale to San Rossore takes 3–7 minutes and costs €1.70. Trains to and from Lucca also stop at San Rossore.
From the station on foot. From Pisa Centrale to the Tower is about 1.5–2 km, 20–30 minutes: head north along Corso Italia, cross the Arno on the Ponte di Mezzo, then take Borgo Stretto or Via Santa Maria. It is the loveliest way into the city.
By bus. Line 1+ runs every 10 minutes from the Stazione 1 stop to Torre 1. Line 4 runs every 20 minutes from Stazione 8 to Del Parlascio. In the evening there is line 21, every 30 minutes.
From the airport. The PisaMover, an automated shuttle, links Galileo Galilei airport with Pisa Centrale in about 5 minutes. It runs every 5–15 minutes from 06:00 to midnight, until 01:00 from 1 June to 30 September, and costs €6.50 with no reductions. At Pisa Centrale you board on the platform 14 side, following the "Aeroporto" signs. You can buy it together with your train ticket, or get it on Tiqets at the same price.
Pisa: One-Way Shuttle From/To Pisa Airport and Pisa Central Train Station
(23 reviews) from €6.50
Book on TiqetsBy car. The historic centre is a ZTL (a limited traffic zone, closed to most private cars). The most convenient car park for the square is Park Pietrasantina, which is also the terminus of line 1+. The rest of the city is easy to explore on foot.
Pisa in Tuscany: beyond the Piazza dei Miracoli
If you only see the Tower, you miss the university city on the Arno, which you can explore on foot in an afternoon.
The Lungarni. The streets along the Arno are the city's living room, with the small Gothic church of Santa Maria della Spina on the Lungarno Gambacorti. On the evening of 16 June, for the Luminara di San Ranieri, the palazzi are lit by tens of thousands of small lamps. On 17 June there is the Regatta of San Ranieri, and on the last Saturday of June the Gioco del Ponte on the Ponte di Mezzo.
Palazzo Blu. On the Lungarno Gambacorti, the permanent collection of the Fondazione Pisa includes a room devoted to Artemisia Gentileschi. The ticket costs €5 (reduced €3, family €9, free under 6): it is no longer free, as some guides still say. It is open Tuesday to Friday from 10:00 to 19:00, and Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays from 10:00 to 20:00; it is normally closed on Mondays. The big temporary exhibitions have a separate ticket.
Tuttomondo. Keith Haring's mural, painted in June 1989 on the back wall of the convent of Sant'Antonio Abate, is one of his last public works: about 180 square metres on the theme of peace, free and outdoors, a few minutes from Pisa Centrale.
Piazza dei Cavalieri. The heart of Medici Pisa: the Palazzo della Carovana with Vasari's sgraffito façade, now home to the Scuola Normale, the church of Santo Stefano dei Cavalieri, and the Palazzo dell'Orologio, linked to the tower of Count Ugolino described by Dante.
When to go, and at what time
The square is open every day, with hours that change with the seasons and a calendar published a few months ahead on the official site. In autumn the Tower and the monuments are generally open from 09:00 to 20:00. From mid-June to the end of August they stay open late, the Tower until 22:00. Last entry is 30 minutes before closing. In summer, a Tower ticket from 19:30 onwards also includes the pass for the Camposanto, which is free to visit on 1 and 2 November.
- January: not recommended or closed
- February: not recommended or closed
- March: good
- April: best time
- May: best time
- June: good
- July: good
- August: good
- September: best time
- October: best time
- November: good
- December: not recommended or closed
best time good not recommended or closed
From mid-June to the end of August the Tower stays open until 22:00 and the other monuments until 22:30. On 16 June the Luminara lights up the riverside, and on 17 June comes the Regatta of San Ranieri. In spring, in summer and at weekends, Tower slots sell out earlier.
Mistakes to avoid
- Trusting old prices. A "Tower, Duomo and Baptistery" ticket for less than €20 cannot exist: the Tower alone costs €20. Either the price list is out of date, or the Tower is not included.
- Buying a package to skip the queue at the Duomo. The pass is already included in every paid ticket, even the €8 one.
- Going to the toilet without a ticket. The public toilets cost €1, cashless payment only, but they are free with a paid ticket. The museum toilets are reserved for ticket holders.
Where to go from Pisa
Lucca is half an hour away by train and pairs well with Pisa on the same day. To the north lies the Versilia coast, and La Spezia, the gateway to the Cinque Terre, is just over an hour away by regional train. More ideas in our day trips page.