Pisa Airport is officially called Aeroporto Galileo Galilei. It is Tuscany’s largest airport, with a single terminal just 2 kilometres or so south of Pisa city centre, which makes it one of the easiest airports in Italy to get away from. Getting from Pisa Airport to the city centre is simple: the automated PisaMover shuttle runs from a station just outside the terminal to Pisa Centrale in 5 minutes for €6.50 (around £5.45), and from there trains run all over Tuscany. For most people the PisaMover is the best option, whether you’re staying in Pisa or heading on to Florence.
Plenty of people land in Pisa without staying there. If you’re going to Florence, you can choose between the train via Pisa Centrale and direct buses from the airport, and if you’re heading for Lucca, Livorno or the Cinque Terre, the train is almost always the right call. Here you’ll find every option with prices, journey times, stations and pitfalls, both for Pisa itself and for the journey onwards.
If you’d rather drive yourself from the airport, you can compare prices on car hire at Booking.com.
Contents
Quick overview
- PisaMover: €6.50 (around £5.45) one way or €13 (around £11) return, 5 minutes to Pisa Centrale, running every 5 to 8 minutes at busy times and every 12 to 15 minutes early and late, daily from 6am to midnight (until 1am in summer).
- Train from Pisa Centrale: Florence Santa Maria Novella about €9.30 (around £7.80) and 50 to 80 minutes, Lucca about €4 (around £3.35) and 25 to 30 minutes, Livorno about €3 (around £2.50) and a quarter of an hour, La Spezia about €9 (around £7.55) and roughly 1 hour.
- Direct bus to Florence: Flibco from €12.90 (around £11) and about 1 hour to Guidoni on the outskirts of Florence (to Santa Maria Novella at night), Bus4Fly from €3.99 (around £3.35) to Piazzale Montelungo by Santa Maria Novella, but with few departures a day.
- City bus and walking: city ticket €2 (around £1.70); line 21 runs directly from the airport to the station and the tower, but only in the evening. During the day, take the PisaMover and line 1+ from the station, or walk the roughly 2 kilometres to Pisa Centrale and Corso Italia in 25 to 30 minutes.
- Taxi: about €11 (around £9) to Pisa Centrale and about €15 (around £13) to Piazza dei Miracoli as a fixed fare from the rank, 5 to 15 minutes. To Florence about €220 (around £185) plus motorway tolls.
- Private transfer: from about €185 (around £155) to Florence, with the driver waiting in the arrivals hall holding a sign.
- Car hire: the rental companies are based in a separate car hire building about 500 metres from the terminal, with a free shuttle bus. Perfect for Tuscany, useless in central Florence.
How to find the transport at the airport
Pisa Airport has just one passenger terminal, and the arrivals hall is on the ground floor, so you can’t go wrong. When you walk out of the arrivals exit, you’re on the forecourt, Piazzale D’Ascanio. The PisaMover station is just outside the terminal and signposted “PisaMover” all the way from the baggage reclaim. The buses to Florence stop on the forecourt less than 50 metres from the arrivals exit, and the taxi rank is directly opposite the exit from the arrivals hall. You’ll find the airport’s own transport pages at Toscana Aeroporti, which runs the airport.
Car hire isn’t in the terminal. The rental companies are in a separate building about 500 metres away, which you can reach on foot in 5 minutes or by the free shuttle bus that stops on the arrivals side. Drivers from private transfer companies wait inside the arrivals hall with a sign bearing your name.
1. PisaMover from Pisa Airport to the city centre
The PisaMover is a driverless people mover on rubber tyres that shuttles back and forth between the airport and Pisa Centrale, with one intermediate stop at San Giusto/Aurelia, where the airport’s large Aurelia and Goletta car parks are. The whole journey takes about 5 minutes including the stop, and it is quite simply the fastest and most predictable way to get from the plane to a train. You arrive at Pisa Centrale at the former platform 14 and walk through the station underpass to the other platforms and to the forecourt, Piazza della Stazione.
It runs every day all year from 6am to midnight, and from June to September until 1am. During the busy hours in the middle of the day, two trains run with departures roughly every 5 to 8 minutes, while early in the morning and late in the evening there can be 12 to 15 minutes between trains. During maintenance periods only one train runs, and then the frequency is also 12 to 15 minutes, so never count on catching a train at Pisa Centrale with only ten minutes to spare.
Prices and tickets
A single ticket costs €6.50 (around £5.45) and a return costs €13 (around £11), so there’s no discount for buying a return straight away. On the other hand, the ticket is valid for 180 days from purchase, so you can easily buy your return journey on the day you arrive. Prices are listed at PisaMover, which also states that there are four ticket machines at each of the three stations and that you can buy up to ten tickets at a time. You can also buy your ticket online from PisaMover before you land.
If you’re continuing by train, you can buy the PisaMover and train ticket together. Choose “Pisa Aeroporto” as your departure station in the Trenitalia app or at Trenitalia ticket machines and you’ll get one ticket covering both the shuttle and the train, which saves you queuing at the machine at Pisa Centrale. Residents of the Pisa municipality can buy heavily discounted tickets, but only with Italian ID, so as a tourist you can forget that discount.
Where should you get off?
You’ll almost always want to ride to the end of the line at Pisa Centrale. The intermediate stop at San Giusto/Aurelia is only relevant if you’ve parked in the airport’s long-stay car park or are collecting a car there. From Pisa Centrale it’s a 10-minute walk along the pedestrianised Corso Italia to the River Arno and the town centre, and about 25 minutes to Piazza dei Miracoli and the Leaning Tower, so if you’re staying in the centre you’ve essentially arrived when you step off the PisaMover.
2. Trains from Pisa Centrale onwards in Tuscany
Pisa Centrale is one of Tuscany’s most important rail hubs, which is why Pisa Airport works so well as a gateway to the whole region. From here, regional trains run towards Florence, Lucca, Livorno, Viareggio and La Spezia several times an hour for most of the day, and you don’t need to reserve a seat. The train is cheaper than the buses to Florence once you factor in Lucca and the Cinque Terre, and it runs regardless of motorway traffic.
Regional trains come in two types: the Regionale, which stops everywhere, and the Regionale Veloce, which skips the small stations. To Florence, the Regionale Veloce takes about 50 minutes, while an ordinary Regionale can take up to 1 hour and 20 minutes. The fare is the same, so look out for the fast one if you have the choice. Also check the final destination on the departures board, as some trains terminate at Firenze Rifredi rather than Santa Maria Novella.
Prices and tickets
Regional trains have fixed fares based on distance, and they only change when the region adjusts its tariffs. From Pisa Centrale, a single ticket costs about €9.30 (around £7.80) to Florence Santa Maria Novella, about €4 (around £3.35) to Lucca, about €3 (around £2.50) to Livorno and about €9 (around £7.55) to La Spezia Centrale. The easiest way to buy is in the Trenitalia app, where the ticket is valid for the train you choose. If you buy a paper ticket from the machine, you must validate it in the small green machines on the platform before boarding, or you risk a fine. Trenitalia’s page on connections to Pisa Airport explains how to combine your train ticket with the PisaMover.
Pisa San Rossore: the station near the tower
Pisa has another small station that few people know about. Pisa San Rossore is about a 10-minute walk west of Piazza dei Miracoli, and regional trains towards Lucca and Viareggio stop here as the first stop after Pisa Centrale. So if you’re staying up by the tower with heavy suitcases, you can take the PisaMover to Pisa Centrale and hop on a train for one stop instead of walking through town. And if you’re taking a day trip to Lucca from a hotel by the tower, San Rossore is the station to use.
3. Direct bus from the airport to Florence
If you’re heading to Florence and want to avoid changing at Pisa Centrale, direct buses leave from the forecourt in front of the terminal. The route follows the Fi-Pi-Li motorway and takes about 1 hour without traffic, but it can drag on at rush hour and in summer, when there are often queues into Florence. The advantage is that your suitcase sits in the luggage hold the whole way. The downside is that during the day the buses don’t go all the way to Santa Maria Novella.
Flibco and Caronna Tour
The most frequent service is sold by Flibco and operated together with the Tuscan coach company Caronna Tour. Tickets cost from €12.90 (around £11) online, typically around €15 (around £13) close to departure, and children aged 4 to 13 travel for less. There are about 11 departures a day, so almost hourly, from early morning to late evening, and the bus runs non-stop. One suitcase and one piece of hand luggage are included, and you can use your ticket for an earlier or later departure on the same day if your flight is delayed. Timetables and prices are on Flibco.
Here’s the catch: during the day, the bus stops at the Guidoni coach park on Via Guidoni on the north-western outskirts of Florence, not in the centre. From the stop it’s a few minutes’ walk to the Guidoni tram stop on line T2, and the tram takes you to Unità by Santa Maria Novella in about 20 minutes for €2 (around £1.70). It works fine, but allow 1 hour and 30 minutes from the airport to your hotel lobby. At night, when the tram isn’t running, the bus does stop directly at Santa Maria Novella.
Bus4Fly to Piazzale Montelungo
Bus4Fly is a joint service run by Tiemme, Busitalia and Florentia Bus, and it runs from Piazzale D’Ascanio in front of the terminal to Piazzale Montelungo, just behind Florence Santa Maria Novella. Fares start at €3.99 (around £3.35) for the cheapest online tickets, which is the cheapest way you can possibly get to Florence. On the other hand, there are only a handful of departures a day, so the bus only works if your flight time fits the timetable. Tickets can be bought online, contactless on board or at the ticket office in the airport, and an extra suitcase beyond the one included costs €5 (around £4.20). Departures are listed at Bus4Fly.
FlixBus also runs between Pisa Airport and Florence as part of its longer routes, stopping at Gate B near the PisaMover station and on Piazzale D’Ascanio. Prices vary a lot and departures are few, so I’d only look at FlixBus if the other two buses don’t suit. Once you’re in Florence, you can walk to most of what I describe in my guide to the sights in Florence directly from Santa Maria Novella.
4. City bus and walking to Pisa city centre
The regular city bus from the airport is less useful than you might think. Autolinee Toscane’s line 21 runs from the Via dell’Aeroporto stop to Pisa Centrale in 4 minutes and on past the Leaning Tower (the Torre di Pisa 1 stop) in about 20 minutes, but it only runs in the evening, roughly every half hour from just before 9pm to just after 11pm. Times are on Autolinee Toscane’s line 21 page. If you land in the evening and are staying by the tower, it’s actually a good tip, as it saves you the walk through town.
During the day, take the PisaMover to Pisa Centrale instead and change to line 1+ from the Stazione 1 stop in front of the station. It runs towards Park Pietrasantina about every 10 minutes and drops you at the Torre 1 stop right by Piazza dei Miracoli, which is also what Opera della Primaziale, which runs the tower and the cathedral, recommends. A city ticket costs €2 (around £1.70) and is valid for 70 minutes in Pisa, and you can buy it in the AT app, at tabacchi shops or contactless with your card on board. If you buy it from the driver, it costs €3 (around £2.50). Prices are listed at Autolinee Toscane.
Walking from the airport
Pisa is one of the few airports in Europe where you can genuinely walk into town. From the terminal, follow Via dell’Aeroporto and Via Corridoni north, and after about 2 kilometres and 25 to 30 minutes you’re on Piazza della Stazione in front of Pisa Centrale with Corso Italia straight ahead. The route is flat with a pavement the whole way, but it isn’t pretty, and with two suitcases in 30 degrees it’s no fun. If you want to go all the way to the Leaning Tower, allow about 4 kilometres and 50 minutes, so there I’d take the PisaMover and the bus, or walk from the station through the centre instead.
Where should you get off?
Pisa Centrale and Corso Italia: Get off here and you have the pedestrian street, the River Arno and most of the town’s hotels within a 10-minute walk, and you’re close to the trains for day trips. If you’re staying here, you can see hotels in central Pisa here.
Torre 1 by Piazza dei Miracoli: The stop for you if you want to wake up with a view of the tower. The area is packed with tourists during the day but quiet in the evening once the day-trippers have left. If you’re unsure which part of town suits you, read my guide to where to stay in Pisa, where I go through the areas and the hotels.
5. Taxi from Pisa Airport
Prices and fixed fares
Pisa’s taxis are run by the Co.Ta.Pi. cooperative, and the rank is directly opposite the arrivals exit. From the rank, fixed fares apply to the most popular destinations in town: about €11 (around £9) to Pisa Centrale and about €15 (around £13) to Piazza dei Miracoli and Cisanello hospital. The fixed fares include surcharges, but they’re adjusted from time to time, so treat the figures as approximate. If you book a taxi by phone or in the Taxi Move app, you pay the meter plus a booking surcharge, which usually works out slightly more expensive.
For trips out of town, Co.Ta.Pi. has guide prices, and they’re not for the faint-hearted: about €220 (around £185) to Florence, €75 to €95 (around £65 to £80) to Lucca depending on the route, about €70 (around £60) to Livorno and about €250 (around £210) to La Spezia, all plus motorway tolls. Prices are listed at Co.Ta.Pi.. To Florence, then, the train is more than 20 times cheaper, and even with four people and lots of luggage a pre-booked transfer is still cheaper than the taxi.
A taxi makes sense if there are three or four of you with suitcases staying in Pisa, if you land after midnight when the PisaMover has stopped, or if you’re going to a hotel outside the centre. For one person heading to Pisa Centrale it’s pure luxury, as the PisaMover makes the same trip in 5 minutes for €6.50.
6. Private transfer
A private transfer is a pre-booked car with a driver who waits in the arrivals hall with your name on a sign and takes you straight to the door. For Pisa itself it’s overkill, but to Florence, to an agriturismo in Tuscany or to Lucca with a family and heavy suitcases, it’s the most relaxing option money can buy. Prices to Florence start at around €185 (around £155), so it’s on a par with the taxi, but with the difference that the price is agreed in advance, the driver keeps an eye on your flight, and you don’t have to negotiate anything after a long day of travelling.
Book a private transfer from Pisa Airport here.
Remember to enter your flight number when booking, and check whether the price is per car and how many people and suitcases it covers. Some providers require booking several days in advance, so it’s not something you sort out in the arrivals hall.
7. Car hire from Pisa Airport
Pisa is the obvious airport if you want to drive around Tuscany. The Fi-Pi-Li motorway towards Florence and Livorno starts more or less at the airport, the A12 towards Versilia and the Cinque Terre and the A11 towards Lucca are just a few minutes away, and you’re out of town before you’ve found the right radio station. All the big rental companies such as Avis, Hertz, Europcar and Sixt are represented, and rentals are handled from a separate car hire building about 500 metres from the passenger terminal. You can walk there in 5 minutes by turning right outside the terminal, or take the free shuttle bus that stops on the arrivals side. The rental desks are usually open from early morning to late evening, but if you land late, check your company’s opening hours, or you’ll be left with a key you can only collect the next morning. The region’s own overview of car hire is at Visit Tuscany.
Now for the warning. A hire car is excellent for the vineyards of Chianti, the Val d’Orcia and the little hill towns, but it’s useless in Florence. The entire centre is a ZTL, a restricted traffic zone monitored by cameras for most of the day on weekdays and Saturdays, and in summer also on several nights a week. If you drive in, you’ll get a fine for each entry, sent months later via the rental company with a hefty admin fee on top. If you’re staying at a hotel inside the zone, the hotel must register your number plate; otherwise, park outside the zone. The rules are set out by Florence’s official tourist office. Pisa also has a ZTL around its centre, so the same applies there.
My recommendation is therefore to plan Tuscany in two parts: the cities first without a car, then the car for the days you’re heading into the countryside. Hire the car when you leave Florence, or pick it up in Pisa and drive around the cities to an agriturismo. In my guide to where to stay in Tuscany, I go through the areas where a car really makes sense. The easiest way to compare car hire prices from Pisa is via the link at the top of this article.
Onwards from Pisa to Florence, Lucca and the Cinque Terre
Most people who land in Pisa are heading somewhere else, so here’s my take on the best option for each of the main destinations.
Florence
Take the PisaMover to Pisa Centrale and a Regionale Veloce to Florence Santa Maria Novella. Total cost about €15.80 (around £13), total time about 1 hour and 15 minutes including the change, and you arrive in the middle of the city, a 10-minute walk from the Duomo. The Flibco bus is a good alternative if you can’t face the change, but factor in the tram from Guidoni at the end. Santa Maria Novella is on the western edge of the centro storico, and if you’re staying nearby, you can walk from the train to your hotel. You can see hotels in central Florence here, and if you want to know which neighbourhood to choose, read my guide to where to stay in Florence.
Lucca
Lucca is the easiest onward journey of them all. The PisaMover to Pisa Centrale and a regional train to Lucca in 25 to 30 minutes for about €4 (around £3.35), with trains running roughly every half hour to hour for most of the day. Lucca station is just outside the city walls, so you walk in through the gate and you’re in the centre in 5 minutes. A taxi costs €75 to €95 and only makes sense with a full car and lots of luggage. If you want to stay within the walls, you can see hotels in Lucca here.
Cinque Terre and La Spezia
Pisa is the best airport for the Cinque Terre because the trains run straight up the coast. From Pisa Centrale, the regional train to La Spezia Centrale takes about 1 hour for about €9 (around £7.55), and in La Spezia you change to the Cinque Terre Express, which stops at all five villages on the way to Levanto. Some regional trains towards Genoa also stop directly at Monterosso, so check the Trenitalia app to see whether you can skip the change. Allow 1 hour 45 minutes to 2 hours 30 minutes from the airport to your village. You can happily forget the car here, as the villages are largely car-free and parking is expensive and far away. I’ve rounded up the villages and hotels in my guide to where to stay in the Cinque Terre.
Livorno and the Tuscan coast
If you’re joining a cruise from Livorno or taking a ferry on to Sardinia or Corsica, the regional train from Pisa Centrale to Livorno Centrale takes about a quarter of an hour for about €3 (around £2.50). From Livorno Centrale there are buses or taxis out to the port. For the beach resorts of Viareggio and Forte dei Marmi north of Pisa, the trains towards Lucca and La Spezia take you to Viareggio in around 20 minutes.
Getting back to the airport
From central Pisa, take the PisaMover from Pisa Centrale. The station is at the end of the platform underpass by the former platform 14 and is signposted from the main concourse, but give yourself five minutes to find it the first time. It runs from 6am, so if you have a flight before 7am it can be tight, and a taxi for about €11 from the centre is the safe option. If you’re staying by the tower, line 1+ runs back to the station during the day, and in the evening line 21 runs all the way to Via dell’Aeroporto.
From Florence, the key is to work backwards with plenty of margin. The train from Santa Maria Novella to Pisa Centrale takes 50 to 80 minutes, the PisaMover 5 minutes plus waiting time, and on top of that come check-in and security at an airport that is small and often packed in the morning. I’d be at Santa Maria Novella at least 3 hours before departure, and take a Regionale Veloce, not a Regionale that stops everywhere. The buses from Guidoni and Piazzale Montelungo run directly to the terminal, but they depend on traffic on the Fi-Pi-Li, so I’d only use them with extra time to spare.
If you’re returning a hire car, follow the signs to the car hire building and allow an extra 10 minutes to walk or take the shuttle bus to the terminal. Fill up the tank before returning it, or the rental company will add a charge.
Which should you choose?
Here’s my recommendation based on where you’re staying:
Central Pisa and Corso Italia: Take the PisaMover to Pisa Centrale for €6.50 (around £5.45) and walk the last bit. You’ll be there within a quarter of an hour of the baggage reclaim.
By the Leaning Tower: The PisaMover and line 1+ from the station to the Torre 1 stop, or line 21 directly from the airport if you land in the evening. With lots of luggage, the taxi for about €15 (around £13) is worth the money.
Florence: The PisaMover and a Regionale Veloce to Santa Maria Novella for about €15.80 (around £13) in total. Flibco’s bus if you don’t want to change and have time for the tram from Guidoni.
Lucca, the Cinque Terre and Livorno: The train from Pisa Centrale, every time. No bus or car beats it on either price or time.
If you land at night: The PisaMover stops at midnight, or 1am in summer, and trains from Pisa Centrale become infrequent late in the evening. For Pisa, a taxi from the rank is easiest, and for Florence a pre-booked transfer or Flibco’s night bus to Santa Maria Novella are the only real options.
3 to 4 people or lots of luggage: For Pisa, the taxi at about €11 to €15 is cheaper than four PisaMover tickets. For Florence, the train is still by far the cheapest, but a private transfer costs roughly the same as the taxi and is far more comfortable.
Touring Tuscany: Hire the car at the airport and drive straight out into the countryside. Save Florence and Pisa for car-free days so you avoid the ZTL fines.
Practical tips for transport from Pisa Airport
Buy the PisaMover and train as one ticket. If you choose “Pisa Aeroporto” as your departure station in the Trenitalia app, you get both the shuttle and the regional train in the same purchase, and you avoid queuing at the machines twice. Remember that the PisaMover ticket is valid for 180 days, so feel free to buy your return straight away.
Check that the train goes to Santa Maria Novella. Some regional trains from Pisa terminate at Firenze Rifredi, and Frecce trains use Campo di Marte. If the board doesn’t say “Firenze S.M.N.”, wait for the next one or change along the way.
Validate paper tickets for regional trains. Tickets from the machine must be validated in the green machines on the platform before you board. Tickets bought in the app are automatically activated for the chosen train, so that’s the easiest option for most people.
Expect queues at the airport. Pisa Airport is small, and in the summer months and around weekends there are often long queues at security in the morning. That’s yet another reason to leave plenty of time when coming by train from Florence.
Consider whether you should fly to Florence instead. Florence has its own airport, Peretola, with a tram straight to the centre. If you’re only going to Florence, it can be the smarter choice, even though there may be fewer direct flights from the UK, and I cover the transport from there in my guide from Florence Airport to the city centre. If you want to see Pisa, Lucca and the Cinque Terre as well, though, Pisa is the right airport.
Never buy your bus ticket to Florence before you know your arrival time. Flibco’s ticket can be moved to another departure on the same day, but it’s only valid for the date you’ve chosen. If you land late in the evening, check whether your departure stops at Guidoni or Santa Maria Novella, as that decides whether you’ll need the tram afterwards.
Travel ressources & websites I use all the time 👇
• Booking.com has the best offers on hotels and unique places to stay
• GetYourGuide is the best place to book tours & activities with free cancellation
• Welcome Pickups is the best & safest place to pre-book airport transfers
Psst 👀 Have you subscribed to my Youtube channel and my Instagram where I provide more useful travel tips?