Florence to Pisa by private car: drive time, the tower, Lucca and what a driver costs

Florence to Pisa is about 97 km (60 mi) by road from the historic centre of Florence to the Piazza dei Miracoli, roughly 1 hour 15 minutes on a clear road. Those are routed estimates from the public OSRM network; the motorway between the two cities is busy, and a weekday morning can add time.

For most visitors, Pisa is not a destination for a night but a half-day: the tower, the cathedral and the baptistery on one lawn, then on to somewhere else. That is where a private car is useful. It turns Pisa into one stop on a longer day with Lucca, or into the last sight of the trip on the way to a flight from Pisa Airport.

How long does it take to get from Florence to Pisa by car?

The road route runs west along the Arno valley on the main highway, with the A11 motorway via Lucca as the northern alternative. Your chauffeur picks the faster road on the day. Either way, the distances are short enough that the timing of the day depends far more on your tower slot than on the drive.

All rows except the last are routed estimates from OSRM; the Florence to PSA distance is the one used on our Florence price list.

See Florence prices and reserve

The tower climb sets the timetable

The Leaning Tower is climbed on timed tickets sold by the Opera della Primaziale Pisana, which runs the monuments of the Piazza dei Miracoli. Its advice before you buy is worth reading carefully, because it shapes the whole day:

• Late arrivals lose their slot. The Opera says that if you are late for any reason you will not be allowed in and the ticket is not refunded.
• Children. Children who will not have turned 8 by the end of the year are not permitted to climb, and anyone under 18 must be with an adult.
• Bags. Handbags, bags and luggage must be left at the cloakroom before the climb and collected afterwards.
• The climb. There are 251 steps, on foot, and the visit takes about 30 minutes.

For a car day, this means two things. First, book the tower slot before you book the car, and give us the time. The desk sets the pickup in Florence so you reach the square with a sensible margin, rather than racing a motorway clock. Second, the luggage rule matters on a departure day: your suitcases stay locked in the car with the chauffeur, so you only need the cloakroom for a day bag.

The rest of the square, the cathedral, the baptistery and the monumental cemetery, sit on the same lawn. The Piazza del Duomo in Pisa is on the UNESCO World Heritage list, and an hour or two covers it well after the climb.

Lucca: the reason to make it a full day

Lucca is the stop most visitors wish they had planned. Its intact circuit of sixteenth and seventeenth-century walls runs for more than 4 km (2.5 mi), and you can walk along the top of them, looking down on the old town inside. Visit Tuscany's Lucca page is a good place to plan the walk.

Because Lucca is 19 km (12 mi) from Pisa, the two combine easily:

• Morning in Lucca, afternoon tower slot in Pisa. Leave Florence around nine, walk the walls before the heat, lunch in Lucca, then 27 minutes to Pisa for the climb.
• Morning tower slot, afternoon in Lucca. Better in summer, when early slots are cooler and Lucca's shaded walls suit the afternoon.

Either version fits within an eight-hour full-day chauffeur from Florence, with about two and a half hours of driving in total.

Vinci, for the Leonardo detour

Vinci, the hill town whose name Leonardo carried, is about 41 km (25 mi) from Florence and lies roughly between the two cities, about an hour from Pisa. It makes a calm morning stop before the tower for travellers who have already seen Lucca, or for families with older children who want the Leonardo story. Choose Vinci or Lucca, not both, unless you have a long summer day.

What the drive costs

There are two ways to price a Florence and Pisa day.

As a day trip from Florence. The full-day chauffeur on the Florence price list keeps a car and driver with you for eight hours, back to your hotel at the end. If you prefer to build a shorter day, book by the hour with a three-hour minimum.

As a transfer to Pisa Airport with a stop. Pisa International Airport (PSA) has a published fixed fare to and from Florence's historic centre, the same in either direction. Add a stop at the tower in the web booker and the desk returns a fixed price for the whole journey.

Every fare is per vehicle, never per person, and includes the chauffeur, taxes and standard gratuity, with airport meet and greet on the PSA fare. Motorway tolls and parking are billed at cost.

The departure-day plan: tower on the way to the plane

This is the use we book most for Pisa. You check out of your Florence hotel, the chauffeur loads the cases, and the car drives to the Piazza dei Miracoli for your tower slot. Your luggage stays in the car with the driver while you climb and walk the square. Then it is 8 km (5 mi), roughly 19 minutes, to the terminal.

Leave a generous buffer before your flight: the tower slot cannot move, and neither can the check-in desk. A late-morning climb before an evening flight is comfortable; a climb an hour before boarding is not. Tell us both times and the desk will tell you whether the plan is realistic before you reserve.

The arrival version works too. Landing at Pisa from a European hub, the chauffeur meets you in arrivals with a name board and tracks the flight, with complimentary waiting after a tracked landing. If the flight is on time and your energy holds, a short stop at the square on the way into Florence costs little extra time.

Train, bus or car: a fair comparison

The train is a reasonable way to see Pisa from Florence for light travellers. Visit Tuscany describes trains between Pisa Centrale and Florence roughly every hour taking from 50 minutes to 1 hour 20 minutes, and the PisaMover shuttle linking Pisa Centrale to the airport in about 5 minutes, every 5 to 8 minutes. From Pisa Centrale, the tower is on the far side of the old town, so allow time to cross it.

• Choose the train if you are one or two people with day bags, you only want the tower, and you do not mind the walk or a local bus at the Pisa end.
• Choose a car if you want Lucca and Pisa in one day without two separate train journeys, if you have children or older travellers, if you are combining Pisa with a flight and checked luggage, or if your group is large enough that one vehicle is simpler than a dozen tickets.

A self-drive rental is also possible, but Florence's historic centre is a limited traffic zone, so the car is awkward at your hotel end, and you will be looking for parking near the tower at the other. Our chauffeur vs car rental page sets out the trade-offs.

A sample day, hour by hour

Here is how a typical Lucca and Pisa day runs for a family staying near the Ponte Vecchio, with a 2 p.m. tower slot booked weeks ahead.

• 9.00. The chauffeur collects you at the closest legal point to the hotel, inside or at the edge of the limited traffic zone, and heads west.
• 10.00. Lucca. A walk along the top of the walls, then the old town's squares and a coffee. The car waits nearby or meets you at an agreed gate.
• 12.15. Lunch in Lucca, unhurried.
• 13.15. The 27-minute drive to Pisa, leaving a comfortable margin before the slot.
• 14.00. The tower climb, then the cathedral and baptistery.
• 16.00. Back in the car, and in Florence before the evening traffic builds.

That is seven hours, inside an eight-hour full day, with an hour in hand for a slow lunch or a queue at the cloakroom.

Choosing the vehicle

Capacities come from the fleet page. For a day trip without luggage, a Business Sedan for up to three or a Business SUV for up to six is enough. For a departure day with suitcases, size by bags: a sedan takes two, an SUV six and an Executive Sprinter twelve. Child and booster seats are fitted on request before pickup.

Pisa within a bigger Tuscan plan

Pisa pairs naturally with the coast. If the Cinque Terre is also on your list, our guide to Florence to Cinque Terre by car shows how Pisa or Lucca fit as stops on the way north, though doing everything in one day is too much. For inland days, Siena, San Gimignano and Chianti are in our Florence day trip guide.

Our Florence partners also cover private city tours inside Florence, and the same desk books Rome, Venice and Milan when your trip moves on.

How to book

1. Enter your Florence hotel, the Piazza dei Miracoli with your tower time, and either your return address or Pisa Airport with the flight number.
2. Choose the vehicle class.
3. Reserve a published fare with Reserve now, or receive a fixed price from the web booker for the custom route. Confirmation comes by email.

Book any address

Rides in Florence are operated by licensed, commercially insured local chauffeur partners vetted through the Limousine Worldwide network; Elly8.net takes the booking, fixes the price and runs the 24/7 desk. Cancellation is free more than 72 hours before pickup, 10% at 72 hours or less, 50% at 48 hours or less and 100% at 24 hours or less or for a no-show, refunded to the original card. Elly8.net is a member of LimousineWorldwide.Directory, LimousineAssociation.International, HotelsWorldwide.Directory and VacationsWorldwide.Directory. Our travel partner for flights and hotels is BookingWorldwide.net; Elly8.net books the car only.