DestinationsLucca
Lucca.
Where it sits
Lucca & the GarfagnanaLucca is the small Italian city that puts most others to shame, and the reason to base a week in the northwest. Its four kilometres of intact Renaissance walls were never breached, and are now a tree-topped park at rooftop level that you walk or cycle around in an hour, looking down into the city on one side and out to the Apuan Alps on the other.
Inside, it is dense with churches, palaces and the unhurried restaurant culture the rest of Tuscany sometimes only pretends to. Puccini was born here; the Piazza dell'Anfiteatro is built into the oval of a Roman amphitheatre; and the whole place is flat, walkable and cooler in summer than the inland hills.
Don’t miss
- Four kilometres of intact, walkable Renaissance walls
- Piazza dell'Anfiteatro, built in a Roman amphitheatre
- Puccini's birthplace and the summer opera festival
- Cooler than the inland hills; the coast 20 minutes away
On the Walls, and in the Town
Hire a bike and ride the wall circuit first; it orients you and is the loveliest hour in the city. Down inside, the Piazza dell'Anfiteatro keeps the oval of the Roman arena it was built over, the Torre Guinigi grows oak trees from its top, and the churches of San Michele and the Duomo anchor a centre made for slow wandering.
Puccini, Food and the Coast
Lucca is Puccini's city, with his birthplace a museum and a summer opera festival at nearby Torre del Lago on the lake. It is also a serious food town, quieter and more local than Florence. And the Versilia coast — Forte dei Marmi, the beach clubs — is twenty minutes away, which makes Lucca a rare base that pairs a proper city with the sea.
Villas near here
Frequently asked
- What is Lucca known for?
- Its complete, walkable Renaissance walls, for being Puccini's birthplace, and for one of the best food-and-restaurant cultures in Tuscany.
- Is Lucca worth visiting?
- Very — a flat, walled, walkable city, cooler in summer than the hills, and an easy base with the Versilia coast 20 minutes away.
- Where do you stay near Lucca?
- In the Lucca and Garfagnana sub-region, the coolest, greenest corner of Tuscany.
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