Visit Pisa travel guide: Aerial view of Pisa Cathedral, Pisa Baptistery, and Leaning Tower of Pisa with green lawns and surrounding cityscape

Visit Pisa: The Complete Pisa Travel Guide for First Timers

Planning to visit Pisa? Don’t stop at the Leaning Tower of Pisa. This Pisa travel guide shows you the best things to do in Pisa beyond the photo op, from quiet corners like Piazza dei Cavalieri to overlooked gems like the Botanical Garden Pisa and Museo Nazionale di San Matteo. Whether you’re building a Pisa itinerary, traveling with kids, or wondering is Pisa worth visiting, you’ll get real tips from someone who’s been more than once. Find out where to stay, what to eat, how to get around, and when to go. Pisa rewards travelers who slow down. Start here.

View of Pisa by boat along the Arno River, showing colorful riverside buildings and the Church of Santa Maria della Spina, part of the route when sailing up the Arno River to Pisa.

Sailing Up the Arno River to Pisa: Best Navigator’s & Visitor’s Guide

Yes, you can sail up the Arno River to Pisa, and it’s one of the most unique ways to experience Tuscany. In this guide, I share our full sailing itinerary from Portovenere to Nautica 180 Pisa, where we moored stern-to in calm river current. Along the way, we passed Retoni fishing huts, watched the sunrise over the water, and explored Pisa by boat with a slow, local rhythm. You’ll find route tips, marina advice, and a walking tour from the dock to Piazza del Duomo Pisa. Perfect for anyone planning a Mediterranean sailing itinerary including Pisa.

Life in a French village in Provence. Traditional hilltop village in the South of France with stone houses and green valley

Life in a French Village. The Realities of Moving to the South of France

Thinking about moving to a small village in the South of France? Before you pack up and chase the dream, read this honest guide to what life in a French village really looks like. I share the real costs, the slow pace, the beauty, and the challenges of building a life far from cities. From buying property and budgeting as an expat to learning village etiquette and dealing with isolation, this guide covers what no one tells you. Living in a small village in Provence is rewarding, but it demands more patience, resilience, and work than you might expect.

View over Romania during descent on Animawings Airbus A220-300 flight from Nice to Bucharest, with engine and wing visible

Review: Animawings Flight from Nice to Bucharest (17 April 2025)

Flying Animawings from Nice to Bucharest with a toddler? Here’s my honest review of the inaugural flight AWG607 on 17 April 2025 aboard the Airbus A220-300. From check-in problems and confusing customer service to surprise help from the PR team and baby-friendly inflight moments, I’m sharing everything you need to know. This is not a sponsored post, it’s a real story about traveling with a child on Animawings, what worked, what didn’t, and whether I’d fly them again. If you’re considering direct flights from Nice to Romania, especially with kids, read this first.

Scenic coastal view of La Réunion near Saint-Philippe with rainbow, ideal for first-time visitors to La Réunion, featuring black sand beaches and lush coastline

What I Wish I Knew Before Visiting La Réunion for the First Time

La Réunion is beautiful. It’s also intense. While visiting La Réunion island, I expected hikes and views, markets, and Creole food. I got all of that. But I also climbed more than I ever had before, nearly gave up on a trail, slept in a gîte without a single window, and got rescued by someone’s GPS watch on a foggy volcanic ridge. My husband and I went to visit his best friend and our témoin, who had recently moved there, and we ended up with the kind of local insight you can’t pay for. Still, there were things we got …

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