Pisa

Pisa is done in a single day, in a loop that starts and ends near the station. The main draw is the Piazza dei Miracoli with the Leaning Tower, and the loop closes along the Arno and a mural near the platforms, where the train carries on through Tuscany.

Pisa's own airport, Galileo Galilei (PSA), is in the city itself. From there it's the PisaMover (people mover) to Pisa Centrale station, about 5 min, for €6. From the station it's about twenty minutes on foot to the Piazza dei Miracoli, or a few stops by city bus, €1.50 (kiosk), €2.50 (onboard) a ride.

The grassy square on the northern edge of the centre holds all four of the city's main buildings side by side, and the first image is always the same: a white tower whose lean is visible from the moment you enter the square. Entry runs in timed slots, so in summer, when the crowds around the square peak, buy the ticket ahead.

The Duomo stands in the middle of the same square, with its own entry. The Baptistery and the Camposanto cemetery are seen together, on one ticket, and neither has a closing day.

A few minutes' walk from the square is the Piazza dei Cavalieri, once the city's administrative centre under the Knights of St Stephen. The square itself and the façades around it are free to see; the Palazzo della Carovana on it isn't permanently open to the public, so it stays an outside view.

From there the route drops towards the river and follows the Arno embankment to Santa Maria della Spina, a small Gothic church that looks carved like jewellery right on the waterline. It is closed Monday–Wednesday.

The walk along the river leads back towards the station. On the wall of the former Sant'Antonio church, close to the platforms, stands Tuttomondo, the last mural Keith Haring painted in 1989 — visible from the street at any hour, free of charge. From there it's a few steps to Pisa Centrale, where the train carries on through Tuscany, Florence included.