Must do in Lucca

We are visiting this spring (May ) what are the must see sights and things to do in 3 hours here?

Definitely walk the wall around Lucca. It is 2.5 miles around, so you can walk part or all of it depending on your level of fitness and your time constraints. There are several places where you can get up onto the wall and go back down. You can also rent bikes to ride on the wall if you like.

Rent bikes and ride the top of the wall around the old city. It’s a wide park now and an easy ride.

If you're up to it, climb the Guinigi Tower for great views.

Guinigi Tower is cool but there is limited space at the top due to the trees and planters they were in. It wasn’t crowded however and we were there in Sept on a DIY cruise stop from Livorno. Those afraid of heights like me could have a hard time because the stairs are open and attached to the walls. It kinda freaked me esp going down.

Lucca is very nice to walk around and have a relaxing day. We walked part of the wall and climbed the tower for nice views. We found a shop that makes scarves in the outer ring of the main piazza with restaurants. The lady running the shop had a beautiful one on the loom that was almost done. We asked if we could buy it as we watched her work on it. We came back a couple of hours later and picked it up. Very nice momento to buy something we watched them make.

We are visiting this spring (May ) what are the must see sights and things to do in 3 hours here?

From about 2 minutes in this shows what I did in my 3 hours there All the best, Tony

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If you're up to it, climb the Guinigi Tower for great views.

+1

Great views

Guinigi Tower is cool but there is limited space at the top due to the trees and planters they were in. It wasn’t crowded however and we were there in Sept on a DIY cruise stop from Livorno. Those afraid of heights like me could have a hard time because the stairs are open and attached to the walls. It kinda freaked me esp going down.

How did you DIY? I have been to Livorno 4 years ago and we booked a full day ship excursion to Pisa and Florence, however this time I would like to plan some DIY days and in this case Lucca seems like a good option. Can you please let me know your thoughts? Thanks

I would just not plan it but just take your time. This is an area to just smell the roses.

In other words start walking and take it in without rushing from one area to the other.

Keith

Some photos from Lucca in April.

Additional Photos:

Keith

More photos:

Keith

A few more:

Keith

Excellent photos Keith1010! It brings back memories from fall of 2016.

My husband has walking difficulties but we found Lucca easy

We had a driver drop us off in central area within walks and provide map of key sites

Some chose to shop

We explored interesting local churches and found inexpensive cafes for coffee and food to just people watch

Having visited Rome and Florence on previous visits we found Lucca a refreshing change

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And don't forget the Alma Mater in Lucca:

Lovely photos. Thanks for the information and photos of Lucca

Gkad you liked the photos

Keith

How did you DIY? I have been to Livorno 4 years ago and we booked a full day ship excursion to Pisa and Florence, however this time I would like to plan some DIY days and in this case Lucca seems like a good option. Can you please let me know your thoughts? Thanks

Lucca is a wonderful place to DIY. It is small enough to not get lost - you can wander around for a few hours and be sure that you will not miss the train back.

I have travelled on RCI and NCL and both have provided shuttles to the train station. I believe that some shuttles to Livorno centre are also available, but then you have to find another bus which is another step in the journey.

The shuttle drops you off beside the station. Follow the crowd. Check the time of the last shuttle, but as long as you leave the ship before 9.30 am you will be back in plenty of time.

You need to buy a ticket - the machines are easy to work, you can change the language to English if you do not speak Italian. The one thing you have to do is to validate your ticket in a little machine - ask someone if you are not sure. Plenty of travellers will know what to do. You need to change at Pisa - so can call there on the way back. The stop before Pisa Centrale is right beside the Tower.

When you get to Lucca you will see the town ahead of you - go explore.

The one thing we found in Lucca is a lack of free wifi. I think I must have been waiting to hear about some exam results or something. It was important. We eventually got it in a nice hotel where we had a second breakfast and we warmed up (it was November).

Next time we go to Livorno I will go back to Lucca, I really liked it.

Thanks for all the excellent advice, photos and video link. We are really glad to be doing this. We have previously been to Pisa and Florence so this sounds a great choice, will post what we do and photos in May