A Day Trip In Pisa At San Rossore Park – Joy For Families

If you are spending a few days in the Versilia area with your family and you are looking for a nice place where your kids can enjoy the open air spaces and nature, you cannot miss Parco di Migliarino and San Rossore Park.

I have spent one day with friends and our children, enjoying ourselves without much worries about possible risks.
 

The Park entrance is located near Pisa city centre, which makes it also suitable in combination with a short trip to the Leaning Tower.

The entrance is free and, apart from the natural environment, the Park includes the Hippodrome ring, where in  winter time horse races are still up and going, and a few historical buildings which were once upon a time, noble dwellings of the King and Princes of Italy.
 

Most buildings have now been refurbished and hosts different activities, from restaurants to stalls and visitor centres.

We headed to the Cascine Vecchie where we had lunch at the Bottega del Parco, which is a small food shop which sells typical products of the area and also provides cold dishes and sandwiches for picnics on grass or light lunches in the outdoor gazebos. Just next to it, you may find one of the best restaurants in the area, called Poldino, whose menu is strictly based on local dishes traditionally cooked.
 

After lunch we were ready to move to the Casale La Sterpaia, another huge building surrounded by meadows, just passed the Hippodrome, which houses a restaurant and conference rooms and hosts summer camps which children of all ages, introducing them to environmental education, as well as many sport activities.

There we could lay on the grass which was a perfect and safe playground for children; we visited stalls and fed horses and ponies; we had a 2 hour trip on a horse-drawn carriage through the pinewood. As far as the latter is concerned, we had the shortest tour, as I was bearing my youngest 6-months-old baby, but I shall recommend the 3 hour tour, where you can reach for the sea and the wildest areas of the park, where spotting horses in the wild, boars, deer and many different bird species.
 

Children were totally caught by the park facilities and exhausted in the end.

The park also allows many different kind of excursions, by train, by bike, on foot, but most of all by horse for beginners or proficient riders as well as for children on ponies.

For more infos, check out the visitor’s centre website: http://centrovisitesanrossore.it/
 

I recommend to book your excursions in advance in order to avoid queues or to loose the chance to make a ride because it is already booked out. Many local people live the park and its facilities, therefore in Summer time or vacation periods, I would rather make a reservation in advance.

Also, note that the Park is composed of several different area, which are all worth a visit, especially with children, as they all arrange didactic itineraries for them, such as:

Oasi Lipu Lago di Massaciuccoli

Via del Porto, 6 - loc. Massaciuccoli 55050 Massarosa (LU)

Tel. e fax 0584.975567 - fax 0584.975488

E-mail: oasi.massaciuccoli@lipu.it

Website: www.oasilipumassaciuccoli.org
 

Centro Visite Villa Borbone

Viale dei Tigli - Loc. La Lecciona - Torre del Lago (Viareggio)
Ufficio Promozione Educazione Ambientale Ente Parco
Tel. 050.539381 – Fax 050.533650
E-mail: promozione@sanrossore.toscana.it - legambienteversilia@yahoo.it
Website: www.legambienteversilia.blogspot.com
 

Travel tip shared by Wishversilia
www.wishversilia.it