Hey there, fellow travelers! Today, we visit Lucca, Italy! Lucca is a beautiful walled city in Tuscany, Italy. As you know, here at Wolters World, we like to prepare travelers with the good, and the bad, of visiting a new travel destination. So these are the five things you’ll love, and the five things you’ll hate about the Tuscan city of Lucca.
Hate #1: Getting to Lucca
As a smaller Tuscan city, Lucca is not on any of the main train lines, so it’s not the easiest town to arrive in. From Florence, you take a regional train that is about one hour and 40 minutes, and there isn’t generally good luggage storage on these regional trains. Try to come in the middle of the day so you can avoid the commuters. From Pisa, it’s an easy 25-minute train. (Spoiler alert: this helps keeps the crowds down, so it’s totally worth the extra effort!)
Hate #2: Getting Around Lucca
As a walled Tuscan village, Lucca is full of narrow, winding lanes. This makes Lucca very special, but when you’ve just arrived from the train and you’re trying to find your accommodation, it can be frustrating to find your way around Lucca. It’s hard to find a good map of Lucca. Wandering around Lucca is great; trying to find a specific address in Lucca is not so great, especially if you did not pack lightly!
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Hate #3: Lucca Has Been “Found”
For many years, Lucca was talked about as a “hidden gem” Tuscan village, so more and more people found out about it and started to come to Lucca. While it’s still nowhere near the popular destination that Florence and Pisa are, Lucca is no longer a hidden gem. It’s definitely on the radar of travelers these days. It’s an especially popular day trip destination and summer days can feel crowded as you walk around the Old Town.
Hate #4: Bicycles
Lucca is the bicycle capital of Italy. You can rent bikes and explore the town, which is great. However, if you are walking around Lucca, the bikes are speeding around and it will feel like they’re trying to kill you. You really have to be careful as you walk around town, whether you’re crossing the street or walking on the city walls. The locals are pretty adept at dodging tourists, but you really have to look out for the other tourists who have rented bicycles for the day!
Hate #5: Choosing a Lucca Restaurant
While Lucca isn’t really a hidden gem anymore, the service industry hasn’t caught up to overcharging tourists for mediocre food like some other cities we won’t mention. This means you can still get really good food at affordable prices so you will have a hard time deciding between all of the authentic Tuscan restaurants in Lucca. It’s a tough problem to have, no?
Love #1: Lucca City Walls
Lucca has some substantially large walls around town. These aren’t skinny walls where you can walk two abreast; the walls here are very wide. There are about three miles of walls surrounding the old town of Lucca. You can walk on the walls and you’ll see locals jogging or cycling on the walls. Spending time on the city walls of Lucca gives you amazing views of the town. We love to pick up picnic supplies and have a picnic lunch up on the walls of Lucca.
Love #2: Prices in Lucca
Lucca is a very affordable travel destination. If you’ve been to Florence, you have probably had sticker shock at some of the prices. Comparatively, Lucca is very reasonably priced, which makes it an excellent base for exploring Tuscany. Hotels in Lucca and restaurants in Lucca are all very reasonably priced and it’s not hard to find something that suits your taste and budget.
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Love #3: Food in Lucca
When you go out to eat in Lucca, you’ll find the typical Tuscan dishes, but the Lucchese put their own twist on Tuscan cuisine. My personal favorite is a polpette, a regional specialty that looks like a smashed meatball. They come in different flavors, but you can buy them easily at the butcher. There are lots of fun little snacks you can buy in Lucca.
Love #4: Wandering Lucca at Night
Most travelers visit Lucca on a day trip, so if you spend the night and walk around at night, you get to enjoy the streets with very few people. The cathedrals and beautiful buildings are all lit up at night and you really feel like you’re in Tuscany.
Love #5: Atmosphere in Lucca
In other parts of Tuscany, you can feel overrun by tourists and overwhelmed by options. Lucca is much more laid-back and you don’t see the big tour groups that go to Florence or Pisa. This lets you enjoy all of the things to do in Lucca at a leisurely pace, with time to soak in the atmosphere from a sidewalk cafe.
If you are wondering where to stay in Tuscany where you can just kick back, relax and take in the culture, Lucca is the place I recommend. Obviously, these hates are quite a stretch and not really anything to hate at all. I can’t recommend Lucca highly enough as a home base for your Tuscany vacation. Want more tips for traveling in Italy? Check out these other blog posts: