A mum decided to fly her kids to Italy for just 24 hours ‘to eat some pizza’ as she realised it was cheaper than a trip to London would have been.
Roxanne Balciunas, 39, jetted off with her two children, 14-year-old Tayo and six-year-old Cherry, landing in Pisa at 10pm on 23 June after picking the kids up from school and driving straight to Manchester Airport for their 7pm Ryanair flight.
They checked into a hotel, which cost £150 for the night, to have a good sleep before enjoying a full day exploring the following day.
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They didn’t fly home until 6pm the next evening, meaning they had plenty of time to squeeze in some sight-seeing and lots of Italian fare like pizza and gelato.
Roxanne, from Sheffield in South Yorkshire, said: "It's a cheaper alternative to a day out at home.
"If we were to go to a theme park it would cost a couple of hundred for the day with food, travel and the tickets.
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"It was definitely cheaper than a trip to London for sure.
"It cost us around £39 each for return flights and £118 in total and then it was £150 for the hotel for the night.
"We only spent £50 on expenditures on the trip for food and a few souvenirs.
"We walked through the city and got some trinkets like fridge magnets and keyring and then had some gelato.
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"We visited the leaning tower of Pisa and went to the cathedral and the Opera del Duomo Museum and this was all free.
"We enjoyed pizza whilst we were there too. It was covered in salami and pepperoni and my son said it was the best pizza he had ever eaten.
"We sat outside and ate it. It was lovely and the atmosphere was great."
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Hospitality worker Roxanne shared the highlights from the trip and TikTok and Facebook, captioning the video: “24 hours in Pisa to eat some pizza.”
While in Pisa they ticked off everything from the Leaning Tower of Pisa to the Pisa Cathedral and the Opera del Duomo Museum – all of which were all free to explore.
The family also didn’t spend a penny on public transport as they were able to walk everywhere – including to the airport.
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Roxanne believes 24 hours is enough to see most cities after doing similar trips to Amsterdam and Belgium, and already has plans to visit the likes of Copenhagen and Ireland.
She said that they normally wouldn’t have any plans on a Saturday so it was a great use of time – and a good way to reduce her kids’ screen time.
Roxanne added: "We've done these kinds of day trips before. We've been to Amsterdam before and Belgium for the day too and I'm taking Tayo to Copenhagen for the Christmas markets in November.
"Ireland is one of the next trips on the list too.
"It's just cheaper and I think in some cities, 24-hours is enough to see everything.
"The kids loved it and were really excited. The kids love seeing the Leaning Tower of Pisa and took lots of photos."
After Roxanne shared her TikTok video, many others praised her ‘brilliant’ travel hack, with one commenting: "What a great idea."
Someone else said: "This is brilliant. Thanks for sharing."
A third wrote: "We need to do a trip like this one day!"
Jess Hardiman